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Oh dear, oh dear, where was I? Ah yes, the football action from the past weekend. Let’s get into it. Starting off with the Premier League. And unlike the first two gameweeks, gameweek three was a breeze. Saturday and Sunday. No Friday. No Monday. Just simple, weekend football. And perhaps as it should be? That’s a debate for another day. Chelsea and Fulham kicked us off on Saturday afternoon at Stamford Bridge, the home side winning 2-0 courtesy of a Joao Pedro tap-in and a neatly-struck Enzo Fernandez penalty to seal the deal for the Chels. Of course, if you weren’t already aware, there was a little bit of VAR/officiating controversy on the day (naturally, am I right?) Fulham had a goal chalked off for offside. Joshua King thought he had scored his first Premier League goal, yet he was adjudged to have made a foul in the build-up which, when looking back, was a little bit harsh. Either way, I don’t support Fulham, but it’s hard not to feel sorry for the lad. Lad? God, I’m starting to sound like Neil Warnock here. There was also a teensy-weensy bit of controversy about the penalty Chelsea were awarded. You can all go see for yourselves, there’s not really much point talking about it now, but yeah I guess on another day Fulham might have come away with something.

Right then, moving on to some of the 3pm games. Manchester United v Burnley was one hell of a game, wasn’t it? At a Manchester rain-strewn Old Trafford, the Red Devils stole it right at the death via Bruno Fernandes from 12 yards in the 97^th minute. Sceeennnesss. Burnley gave it a right good go to be fair. But there’s no denying this is a huge result for Ruben Amorim’s team. I mean, they were up against it. They needed a response after what happened in Grimsby. You’re getting slapped by the fishes. No, there was no fishy business on Saturday: United, eventually, got the job done. As for Burnley, I mean, look, I think they ought to have got something from that game. It’s always a bitter disappointment to lose a game in the 97^th minute. That will be a tough pill to swallow. That result would’ve been huge. But there’s still 35 games to go. Burnley will dust themselves down and move on to the next one, I’m sure. They have a good set of players, particularly Jaiden Anthony (no, he’s not Jadon Sancho and Antony merged into one) and he has started this season in impressive form. He looks to be the key man in Burnley’s attacking department- so if he can stay injury-free they have one hell of a chance of staying up. And for United, well, they got away with one here if I’m being honest. But who cares if you’re a United fan, right? Three points in the bag. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

Okay, now the other 3pm games. We had Wolves taking on Everton at Molineux, which finished 3-2 to The Toffees. Everton were literally the toffee in Wolves’ mouth that wouldn’t go away: persistent, sticky, and hard to break down. Just retire already, man. Super Jackie Grealish seems to be loving life as an Everton player right now. Two games, four assists- that is unreal! For context, he only managed three league assists in his last two seasons at Man City. But it isn’t just the assists he offers. It’s the smile. It’s the bravado. It’s the flair, the honesty, the commitment, and the creativity he offers too- and in bucketloads. And Everton right now are in a good spot. Ever since Moyes came in halfway through last season, they have gone from strength to strength. Things are finally, genuinely, looking on the up for The Toffees. Let’s hope it stays that way. As for Wolves, they finally scored some goals! But worrying for them is they have now lost their first three league games of the season. Still very early days, of course, but not how you want to be starting a season. I am a big fan of Vitor Pereira- Wolves’ manager- and I’m sure his side will get up and running. However, I am a bit concerned about their lack of transfer business in the window just gone. Hopefully they have enough to pull through.

Moving on then to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and we had Spurs taking on Bournemouth. There was only one goal to be had in this match- slim pickings if you ask me- and it went to the away side courtesy of Brazilian striker Evanilson. Good on you, son. This was honestly a bit of a surprise result in my opinion. Spurs had started the season really strongly, but this latest result just demonstrates why we love the Premier League. On any given day, anyone can beat anyone. And don’t get me wrong, Bournemouth aren’t a bad team (far from it, they’re a really good team) but nevertheless this is a really impressive result for The Cherries. And it’s been an excellent start to the season for Bournemouth. They gave a great account of themselves at Anfield on MD1, and again ground out a good win at home to Wolves, before coming to North London and picking up a solid 1-0 win. It would be amazing if Bournemouth could get into a European spot this season. They have the ambition, and the quality. Have they got the execution?

And then the final 3pm game we had was between Sunderland and Brentford at the mighty Stadium of Light, where the Black Cats got the cream and secured a 2-1 home win, with a 96^th minute winner coming from Wilson Isidor. Absolute scenes! I’m honestly so happy with how well Sunderland have started this season. Two wins from three is massive. Their home form is mighty. And it’s gonna have to stay that way if they want to not only stay up, but maybe even push a little bit higher up the table. An excellent blend of young players and more senior heads. Let’s see if they can keep it up. As for Brentford, it is obviously disappointing to lose a game in the 96^th minute (just as Burnley did) and results like that can hurt the most. But on this occasion I do think Brentford have to hold their hands up and say they weren’t at their best, and didn’t do enough to win the match or even draw it. It’s definitely been a mixed start to the season for Brentford. They have obviously lost their two best players in Mbeumo and Wissa, plus Christian Norgaard, but they do still have a lot of quality in their ranks. But so do others. And that’s the worry. And the same goes for Sunderland too.

Leeds United 0-0 Newcastle. That’s all to be said.

Credit to Brighton and Hove Albion who inflicted a second straight league defeat for Man City at AMEX Stadium on Sunday. I was able to catch some of the game, and Brighton upped the ante in the second half, whilst City kind of lost their way a bit. This is a huge result for Fabian Hurzeler. I’ll be honest, I was having a few slight doubts about Brighton and his abilities- particularly how Brighton tailed off a bit towards the end of last season. But this will do Hurzeler and his side the world of good. I still think there’s a bit more gelling to do with this side, but when Brighton get it right they are a joy to watch. Fluid, attacking football- that’s what we love to see. Manchester City, on the other hand, looked a little bit stale and predictable. Get the ball to Reijnders, let him drive through the centre of the pitch, ping it out wide to Oscar Bobb or Marmoush and feed it into Haaland. Sure, it worked a couple of times- and led to their only goal of the game- but they never really adapted. More of their players are gonna have to step up and find that big-game energy again because this is not the Manchester City of old in my opinion. Then again that’s more of a fact than an opinion these days. Anyway, well done to Brighton.

Then in the other 2pm game we had Nottingham Forest taking on West Ham United, and this might honestly be the most surprising result of the round, with West Ham coming away with a 3-0 win thanks to goals from Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Callum Wilson. This is a huge result for The Hammers. What a way to get your first win of the season, eh? A 3-0 away win at City Ground- literally the opposite of their 3-0 defeat up in Sunderland on MD1. Hats off to the hammers! Big question is can they kick on from here? They certainly have the quality: well, at least in attack. But don’t get me wrong, I know West Ham have been bantered a lot this season, but their side is still littered with some excellent players. Thomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez but to name a few. As for Nottingham Forest, well there isn’t much more to say other than onto the next one!!

Now onto the main event of the Premier League weekend. A perennial rivalry steeped in tradition, prestige and history. Liverpool v Arsenal, in the mecca that is Anfield. A tantalising prospect. But in the end, it turned out to be a rather damp squib. Until a thunderbolt from the boot of Dominik Szoboszlai, a free-kick from the heavens, a goal made for games like these, put Liverpool 1-0 up in the 83^rd minute and wins them the game. Liverpool deal the first major blow in the title race. Arsenal trekked up to Anfield in their numbers, and trekked back down to London with nothing to show for their efforts. As an Arsenal fan, that game was there to be won. And as it has been said time and time again, on another day things could’ve gone differently. But still, after Szoboszlai’s humdinger of a goal, I can only hold my hands up and say a goal of that quality deserves to win any game of football.

And finally we had Aston Villa taking on Crystal Palace to round off proceedings in Gameweek Three. And it was the Eagles who dared to do at Villa Park, managing to secure their first win of the season with a highly impressive 3-0 win. This really does have the makings of a season like no other for Crystal Palace. Their fans must be giddy with excitement: and of course buoyed by the fact that club captain Marc Guehi will remain a Crystal Palace player- until January at the very least! Epic adventures both on home soil and on the continent await. The same goes for Aston Villa, although there is less of a giddiness and more of an unshakeable hangover concerning their start to the season. They haven’t scored a goal. And they haven’t won a game. Then again, as I’ve already said, very early days. Still dark clouds loom over Aston Villa, but I’m sure that with a couple of good results they’ll be right as rain once again.

And that ends this latest post from Football Review Show. Thanks again for reading guys! I’ll be back soon with some content over the international break. What were your standout moments from this weekend gone by, how has your club started this season, and also will you be following any of the action over the international break? Let me know down below. As always, I’ll catch you in the next one!

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Okay, so first and foremost I’ll chat about the Premier League- and I must say, again, it felt like a bit of a long Prem weekend similar to last week, didn’t it? Is that a good thing? Let me know. I suppose it’s cos the action began on Friday night at London Stadium with West Ham losing 5-1 to Chelsea, and concluding with a blockbuster 3-2 Liverpool win at St. James Park against Newcastle. But still, it did feel looooong.

Anyways, yes I mentioned Chelsea’s hammering of the, well, Hammers. It was exactly that, and honestly West Ham had very little to offer. Chelsea totally deserved to win this one. Two goals and an assist from Joao Pedro gets him off the mark in the league this season for Chelsea. There is a lot of turbulence surrounding West Ham right now. Potter doesn’t seem to have the backing from most West Ham fans; unless he can turn it around, which of course he can, it could be the beginning of the end for him at West Ham. As ever, we’ll have to wait and see.

Moving on to Saturday’s action, and Spurs arguably pulled off the result of the day with a 2-0 away at Manchester City, with goals coming from Brennan Johnson and Joao Palhinha. Honestly, excellent stuff. Man City looked really insipid: I really didn’t know what to make of their performance, other than it was well below par. They need to up their game and sharpish. Brentford got their first win of the season, defeating Unai Emery’s Aston Villa 1-0 at home thanks to a goal from new signing Dango Ouattara. Nice to see them get up and running for the season. As for Aston Villa, no goals in their opening two games: something isn’t clicking in attack for them. Ollie Watkins has barely had a sniff on goal up to this point. And all of a sudden, their next game at home to Crystal Palace is a big one- they’ll be hoping to get some goals and more importantly three points on the board. Burnley also got off the mark with a 2-0 home win over fellow promoted side Sunderland. It was a shame to see Dan Ballard get subbed off after 10 minutes due to injury- hopefully it isn’t anything too serious! And in the final 3pm game Bournemouth got off the mark with a 1-0 home win against Wolves thanks to another Antoine Semenyo goal: that’s three goals in his opening two games!

Arsenal fans, such as myself, were treated to a very pleasing tea-time game at Emirates Stadium as the Gunners thrashed Leeds United 5-0 in the glorious North London sunshine. The main headline from that game, of course, is that two of the goals came from our new number nine: Victor Gyokeres, a.k.a. ‘the man behind the mask’. Well, he certainly wasn’t masquerading today: he was the real deal, and showed exactly what he was brought in to do: score, score, score (technically ‘score, score’ as he got a brace but whatever). Max Dowman also got a run out towards the end of the game and yet again impressed, winning the penalty for the fifth goal. Shoutout to Jurrien Timber who scored two goals and provided an assist for Bukayo Saka’s first half goal. And that fabulous result was unfortunately marred by the fact Saka will be out injured for four weeks, and Odegaard might be out for a couple of weeks too. But hey, that’s football and we move.

A quick note on Sunday’s action too. Man United’s search for their first win of the season goes on (yes, it’s only two games in) as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage by Marco Silva’s Fulham. This was a game where Man United’s attacking talents didn’t really shine: Matheus Cunha was arguably the away side’s most impressive attacker but couldn’t find the back of the net. Bruno Fernandes skied a penalty as well which obviously didn’t help. And fair play to Fulham: that’s two games in a row now they’ve managed to come from behind and secure a draw, after last weekend’s dramatic stoppage time equaliser at Brighton. That is definitely a good sign for them: that ability to make something out of nothing will definitely bump up their points total come the end of the season.

In the other games on Sunday it was Crystal Palace versus Nottingham Forest- where Mr Marinakis was very much persona non grata to the Palace supporters. Long story short, it’s to do with UEFA. Anyway, both sides played out an entertaining 1-1 draw. So Palace still yet to pick up their first league win of the season, but remain unbeaten, as do Forest who move onto 4 points. And who could forget good old Everton, or rather new Everton as they played their first competitive match inside their brand spanking new Hill Dickinson stadium on the banks of the River Mersey. And it was a grand old day for The Toffees, sweeping aside Brighton 2-0 thanks to goals from Iliman Ndiaye and James Garner, with a little help from new signing Jack Grealish who provided the assists for both goals. Cracking stuff from Everton, and much needed too after losing their opening game 1-0 to Leeds. As for Brighton, it’s obviously early days, but again like some other teams without a win so far, their next game in the league becomes that bit more important.

And then arguably the best for last on Monday night, as Liverpool snatched victory right at the death in a pulsating 3-2 win against Newcastle. I actually didn’t watch the game, but I know that a lot went down on Monday night. Just ask Antony Gordon. But no, in all seriousness, the plaudits have to go to Rio Ngumoha, who on the eve of his 17^th birthday became Liverpool’s youngest ever scorer in the Prem with a 100^th minute winner for The Reds. The stuff dreams are made of.

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Ok let’s quickly go over some results across Europe that caught my eye over the weekend. In La Liga, it was business as usual for Barcelona and Real Madrid who both picked up wins. Villarreal too seem to have started the season off with a bang after two wins from two. But Atletico seem to be faltering, even at this early stage in the season, after a disappointing 1-1 draw against Elche CF. In the Bundesliga, Bayern trounced RB Leipzig 6-0 on Friday night (honestly I was not expecting that result at all) with a hatty from Harry Kane, and a debut goal plus two assists for Luis Diaz. Sensational stuff from the Bavarians. Dortmund let a two goal lead slip in their 3-3 draw against St. Pauli, while newly promoted side FC Koln picked up a 1-0 win away at Mainz. Excellent stuff. One of my favourite Arsenal players Lukas Podolski played for FC Koln before joining the Gunners and that’s why I have somewhat of a soft spot for the German side. In Serie A, it was Inter Milan who stole all the plaudits after their 5-0 win against Torino. Meanwhile, their city rivals AC Milan lost 2-1 at home to Cremonese. Two very different stories for the Milan clubs this weekend. In other news, Napoli picked up a 2-0 win over Sassuolo thanks to goals from Scott McTominay and Kevin de Bruyne. Lovely stuff. AS Roma got their season off to a great start with a 1-0 home win in their match, with Irish striker Evan Ferguson providing the assist for the goal. Also shoutout to Como who won their opening game 2-0 against seasoned Serie A side Lazio, which included an absolute beauty of a free kick from Nico Paz. And then in Ligue 1, PSG defeated Angers 1-0 at Parc des Princes with Fabian Ruiz scoring the game’s only goal. Marseille beat Paris FC 5-2 at Stade Velodrome which included two goals from ex-Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Good on you son!

And a quick mention to St Mirren who managed to hold Rangers to a 1-1 draw at SMISA Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Aside from the Arsenal one, that result from the weekend was the one I was most pleased with.

And that guys is my very rapid, very rough recap of the latest football action from Europe’s Top Five leagues. To be honest guys I’m not sure if I’ll keep this weekly review post going every week. I just feel like I’m regurgitating things that most of you already know and things that have already been said. I’ll keep it going until the international break. Then we’ll evaluate. I think going forward, I’ll go back to writing pieces that are away from the weekly football mill as trying to keep up with current football affairs is both exhausting and has a short shelf life.

But again thank you everyone for reading this latest post from Football Review Show. I’ll catch you in the next one!

Twenty teams. Ten fixtures. Three promoted sides. And one Norwegian robot. And much more than that, of course. We also had the return of both Ligue 1 and La Liga which, admittedly, are leagues I am interested in though to a lesser extent than the Prem. We’ll be looking at them in a separate post. For now, we’ll be taking a look at some of the major, and perhaps more minor, talking points from across the Premier League.

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Of course, the curtain-raiser for the new (and improved?) season was between champions Liverpool and a defensively depleted Bournemouth. How did it all pan out? Well, I’m sure that 99% of folk reading this probably already know, but just to remind you all Liverpool won 4-2, thanks to goals from Hugo Ekitike, Cody Gakpo, Federico Chiesa and Mohammed Salah capping off an excellent and emotionally-charged night. Indeed, tributes were given to Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva both prior to, during, and long after the game, both inside Anfield and across the world. For me it is still so difficult to comprehend Diogo Jota’s passing. A minutes’ silence was observed at kick-off, but before that there was a particularly poignant moment as the Anfield crowd jointly sang You’ll Never Walk Alone- the anthem made famous by Gerry and the Pacemakers, sang before each and every Liverpool home match. But this time it felt different.

But now I will respectfully move back to the action on the pitch. This was an impressive performance from Liverpool, more so in an attacking capacity as opposed to defensive. Still, at the end of the day, it’s the three points that matter most. For Bournemouth, they obviously aren’t the team of last season. I mean, they’ve essentially lost the entirety of their defence from last season this summer. So it’s no surprise they conceded four on Friday. Bournemouth’s two were scored by Antoine Semenyo- I want that to be the main headline involving him, not the other one sadly. But indeed the ‘other one’ has somewhat overshadowed the talk surrounding this game. During the match, Semenyo was reportedly racially abused by a Liverpool fan. It goes without saying, that is vile, unacceptable and sickening. Racism is a hate crime, and should be punished in accordance with the law. Anyway, well done Semenyo for your outstanding performance.

Onto Saturday’s action then, and well done to Sunderland who marked their long-awaited return to the top flight with an emphatic 3-0 dismantling of West Ham United at Stadium of Light. Great to see big man Dan Ballard in and amongst the goals from centre-back. Go on son! Most people mightn’t know that he is an Arsenal academy graduate. Fantastic to see him smashing it in the Prem. In the lunchtime game it was a pretty drab 0-0 draw between Aston Villa and Newcastle United. Two sides with lofty ambitions this season, but both had to settle for a point here, and a result both sides will probably be contented with. Brighton conceded a 96^th minute goal to draw 1-1 with Fulham, whilst Spurs swept aside newcomers Burnley in a 3-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Richarlison scoring a brace- including a humdinger of a bicycle kick. In the teatime game, Manchester City showed their class coming away 4-0 winners against Wolves at Molineux. Erling was the darling of Wolverhampton after picking up a tidy brace to get his and City’s season up and running. And what a debut for Tijjani Riejnders- a goal, an assist, and some wonderfull all-round play from the Dutch international. On Sunday, Chelsea and Crystal Palace played out the second nil-nil draw of the weekend- a game where Ebere Eze’s spectacular free kick effort was ruled out after Marc Guehi was adjudged to have been too close to the wall under some niche rule. Whatever next. Nottingham Forest swept aside Brentford in a 3-1 win, which included a brace for Chris Wood, giving new Bees boss Keith Andrews a harsh reality check. And then it was a hard-fought win for the Gunners in the final game on Sunday, as Arsenal defeated Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford. As an Arsenal fan, I’ll take the three points and run as far away from that performance as possible! In short, we weren’t very good.

And finally we had Monday night’s game between Leeds and Everton at Elland Road, which I didn’t get around to watching: yet it was an impressive result for The Whites as they defeated the Toffees 1-0 to mark their return to the Prem with a bang.

Anyway, that’s it from me for now guys. Thanks for reading this short and sweet post. Who was the standout performer from the weekend in your opinion? Let me know down below. I’ll be back soon with more posts for you lovely lot.

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So over the weekend the Eredivise kicked off for the 2025/26 season, and obviously the Big Three took the limelight, with Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord winning their opening games. Shoutout to Ivan Perisic who at the age of 36 still delivers the goods in abundance with two assists and a goal in PSV’s 6-1 demolition of Sparta Rotterdam. And another quick mention to Irishman Troy Parrott who scored a brace in AZ Alkmaar’s 4-1 win against Groningen. Always good to see. Honestly I’m not a huge follower of the Dutch league but I thought I’d quickly chat about it. And another quick mention this time to the promoted sides for this season- Excelsior (sounds like Darth Vader’s capital Star Destroyer ship, what a cool name), Telstar and FC Volendam. It was a tough week for the promoted teams on the whole, with FC Volendam being the only side of the three to avoid defeat after a 1-1 draw at Heerenveen.

Moving on and the Turkish Super Lig got under way this weekend, although strangely only one of the Big Three sides (Turkish fans, don’t come at me) played, as both Fenerbahce and Besiktas’ games were postponed, whilst Galatasaray picked up a 3-0 win on the road on Friday night against Gaziantep. Apparently, both Fenerbahce and Besiktas had written to the Turkish Football Federation requesting for their opening matches to be postponed due to their involvement in European qualifying action. Jog on, honestly. St Patrick’s Athletic played Besiktas on Thursday and were in action again on Saturday in a 3-0 win over Sligo Rovers. But hey that’s just my opinion.

There were also a whole host of friendly games over the weekend; indeed, it was almost as if every team played twice over the weekend such was the sheer volume of games! I’ll mention a few results but I was most pleased with Arsenal’s one: a 3-0 win against Athletic Club, with a first Arsenal goal for Victor Gyokeres, plus goals for Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz rounding off a very pleasant afternoon. On a deeper level, the overall performance from the team was really encouraging and at a much higher level than any of our previous 2025 pre-season games. I was particularly impressed with how we transitioned from defence to attack. Then again, no disrespect to Athletic Club, but we do have to temper our excitement a little as Man United did score 7 against them last season. Also, there are definitely still a few things that need to be ironed out before our opening match. It was reassuring to see Gabriel back in defence, however I worry about how we are still very reliant on the output of Bukayo Saka. Martinelli was good against Bilbao I suppose but can he maintain those levels? I’m not so sure. Anyway, onwards and upwards.

I also watched Chelsea’s friendly against AC Milan on the telly on Sunday, and I must say I was very impressed with what I saw from The Blues. Some standout performers included Reece James: solid in defence and recoveries plus excellent going forward, providing the cross for Chelsea’s opener. I also thought Cole Palmer was once again the nexus of the Chelsea attack: spraying passes left, right and centre and getting shots off all across the attacking third. He deserved a goal for his efforts. Liam Delap getting a brace certainly strengthens his case to start the opening game. And then Moises Caicedo looked imperious in the midfield. Honestly Chelsea have an excellent team and squad: but have they got the mentality and consistency to last the whole campaign, and not just up until Christmas? We’ll have to wait and see.

And there appears to be a strange atmosphere surrounding Spurs this summer, or maybe it’s just me. A disappointing 4-0 loss to Bayern Munich certainly dampened what was an otherwise decent pre-season. And look, it’s a pre-season game so one can’t really look into it too much. But a number of Spurs fans are once again criticising the ownership, namely ENIC and Daniel Levy. I’m no Spurs fan (thank God) but I honestly wouldn’t get too worked up when the season hasn’t even started. Give Thomas Frank time. Indeed, I’m sure Spurs fans will do. The question is if the owners will do the same. Also best of luck to Spurs legend Heung-min Son who left Spurs after a decade with them to join Los Angeles FC in the MLS.

A quick mention to the Scottish Premiership, and the two clubs that I follow: Celtic and St. Mirren. Celtic picked up a solid result away from home, winning 2-0 at Pittodrie against Scottish Cup holders Aberdeen. That’s now two wins from two for Celtic in the league this season and two defeats on the bounce for The Dons. Meanwhile, St. Mirren were held to a 0-0 draw against Motherwell, a game which could’ve gone either way if I’m being honest. And quickly a word on Rangers who had to settle for a point against Dundee FC after a 92th minute penalty from James Tavernier levelled the game. That’s two draws in two league games for Rangers now, who already find themselves four points behind The Bhoys. Still, very early days.

Also a quick note on the Community Shield, and congratulations to Crystal Palace who defeated Liverpool 3-2 on penalties to win it this year after a 2-2 at the end of normal time. It was a dream debut for Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, the German playmaker providing the assist for the Frenchman’s first goal for The Reds. And also a debut goal for the flying Dutchman Jeremie Frimpong. And how could I forget the English Championship, League 1 and 2. To be fair I didn’t follow the action too extensively, but a couple of result that caught my eye included Southampton winning 2-1 against Wrexham, Birmingham’s entertaining 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town on Friday night, Leicester winning 2-1 against Sheffield Wednesday, and Bristol City hitting Sheffield United for four in an impressive 4-1 away win.

Finally, to round off this post, let’s look ahead to next weekend, where we have the return of most of Europe’s top leagues, including the Premier League, La Liga and Ligue 1, whilst the Bundesliga kicks off the week after, and Serie A the week after that.

That’s all from me for now folks. Thanks for reading this latest post from Football Review Show. Let me know if I missed any interesting stories out! I’ll be back soon with some more posts for you lovely lot, but until then keep up the beautiful game!

But before I do, a massive credit to FBREF.com and Transfermarkt.com who were super useful in my research for this post. Okay, in no particular order…

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1. Arsenal and Barcelona- 14 deals

• In July 2000, Emmanuel Petit joined Barcelona for £12.5 million from Arsenal.

• In July 2000, Marc Overmars joined Barcelona for £24.5 million from Arsenal.

• In August 2003, Giovanni van Bronckhorst joined Barcelona on a season-long loan from Arsenal, then moved permanently in July 2004 on a free transfer.

• In September 2003, Cesc Fabregas joined Arsenal for £2.68 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2007, Thierry Henry joined Barcelona for £20 million from Arsenal.

• In July 2008, Alexander Hleb joined Barcelona for £14.2 million from Arsenal.

• In July 2011, Hector Bellerin joined Arsenal for £420k from Barcelona.

• In August 2011, Cesc Fabregas joined Barcelona for £28.5 from Arsenal.

• In August 2012, Alex Song joined Barcelona for £16 million from Arsenal.

• In July 2014, Alexis Sanchez joined Arsenal for £35.6 million from Barcelona.

• In August 2014, Thomas Vermaelen joined Barcelona for £16 million from Arsenal.

• In January 2019, Denis Suarez joined Arsenal on a six-month loan from Barcelona.

• In January 2022, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Barcelona on a free transfer from Arsenal.

• In September 2022, Hector Bellerin joined Barcelona on a free transfer from Arsenal.

Best deal: Alexis Sanchez. Won two FA Cups with Arsenal. Easily their best player during the Emirates Era as of today in my opinion.

2. Arsenal and Chelsea- 11 deals

• In August 2006, Ashley Cole joined Chelsea for £6.2 million from Arsenal.

• In August 2006, William Gallas joined Arsenal on a free transfer from Chelsea.

• In August 2011, Yossi Benayoun joined Arsenal on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

• In August 2015, Petr Cech joined Arsenal for £11.72 million from Chelsea.

• In January 2018, Olivier Giroud joined Chelsea for £14.24 million from Arsenal.

• In August 2019, David Luiz joined Arsenal for £7.29 million from Chelsea.

• In August 2020, Willian joined Arsenal on a free transfer from Chelsea.

• In July 2022, Omari Hutchinson joined Chelsea for an undisclosed fee from Arsenal.

• In January 2023, Jorginho joined Arsenal for £9.46 million from Chelsea.

• In July 2023, Kai Havertz joined Arsenal for £62.8 million from Chelsea.

• In August 2024, Raheem Sterling joined Arsenal on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

Best deal: Raheem Sterling. Nah, only joking. It pain me to say, but I have to say Ashley Cole. Won the Prem in 2010 and the Champions League in 2012.

3. Arsenal and Juventus- 7 deals

• In July 1980, Liam Brady joined Juventus for £500,000 from Arsenal.

• In August 1999, Thierry Henry joined Arsenal for £13.48 million from Juventus.

• In July 2005, Patrick Vieira joined Juventus for £16.75 million from Arsenal.

• In August 2012, Nicklas Bendtner joined Juventus on a season-long loan from Arsenal.

• In July 2018, Stephan Lichtsteiner joined Arsenal on a free transfer from Juventus.

• In August 2018, Stephy Mavididi joined Juventus for £1.26 million from Arsenal.

• In July 2019, Aaron Ramsey joined Juventus on a free transfer from Arsenal.

Best deal: The King. Thierry Henry without a shadow of a doubt.

4. Arsenal and Man Utd- 6 deals

• In August 2008, Mikael Silvestre joined Arsenal for £800,000 from Man Utd.

• In August 2012, Robin van Persie joined Man Utd for £25.71 million from Arsenal.

• In September 2014, Danny Welbeck joined Arsenal for £16.75 from Man Utd.

• In January 2018, Henrik Mkhitaryan joined Arsenal for £28.5 million from Man Utd.

• In January 2018, Alexis Sanchez joined Man Utd for £28.5 million from Arsenal.

• In February 2025, Ayden Heaven joined Man Utd for £1.5 million from Arsenal.

Best deal: RVP. Goes to United. Top scorer in first season as he fires them to Premier League title.

5. Chelsea and Leicester- 7 deals

• In January 2015, Mark Schwarzer joined Leicester on a free transfer from Chelsea.

• In July 2016, N’Golo Kante joined Chelsea for £30 million from Leicester City.

• In August 2017, Danny Drinkwater joined Chelsea for £31.74 million from Leicester City.

• In August 2020, Ben Chilwell joined Chelsea for £42 million from Leicester City.

• In August 2022, Welsey Fofana joined Chelsea for £67.33 million from Leicester

• In August 2023, Cesare Casadei joined Leicester City on a six-month loan from Chelsea.

• In July 2024, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall joined Chelsea for £29.65 million from Leicester City.

Best deal: 24% water— I mean, N’Golo Kante. Yeah easy one that.

6. Chelsea and Liverpool- 7 deals

• In July 2010, Yossi Benayoun joined Chelsea for £5.86 million from Liverpool

• In July 2010, Joe Cole joined Liverpool on a free transfer from Chelsea.

• In January 2011, Fernando Torres joined Chelsea for £49 million from Liverpool.

• In August 2011, Raul Meireles joined Chelsea for £11.31 million from Liverpool.

• In January 2013, Daniel Sturridge joined Liverpool for £12.56 million from Chelsea.

• In September 2013, Victor Moses joined Liverpool on a season-long loan for £1 million from Chelsea.

• In July 2017, Dominic Solanke joined Liverpool on a free transfer from Chelsea.

Best deal: To be honest, not many of these were good deals. But it has to be Fernando Torres. Scored big goals for Chelsea, specifically against Barcelona in the 2011/12 UCL Semi-Final 2nd leg, and in the 2012/13 Europa League Final against Benfica.

7. PSG and Benfica- 6 deals

• In January 2017, Goncalo Guedes joined PSG for £25 million from Benfica.

• In September 2022, Julian Draxler joined Benfica on a season-long loan for £2 million from PSG.

• In August 2023, Goncalo Ramos joined PSG on a six-month loan from Benfica, then signed permanently in January 2024 for £54.43 million.

• In September 2023, Juan Bernat joined Benfica on a season-long loan from PSG.

• In August 2024, Joao Neves joined PSG for £53 million from Benfica.

• In August 2024, Renato Sanches joined Benfica on a season-long loan from PSG.

Best deal: Probably Joao Neves. I mean, he won the Champions League and the Treble with PSG in his first bloody season.

8. PSG and AC Milan- 8 deals

• In July 1995, George Weah joined AC Milan for £5.78 million from PSG.

• In August 1997, Leonardo joined AC Milan for £7.12 million from PSG.

• In July 2012, Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined PSG for £17.59 million from AC Milan.

• In July 2012, Thiago Silva joined PSG for £35.17 million from AC Milan.

• In July 2014, Jeremy Menez joined AC Milan on a free transfer from PSG.

• In July 2014, Alex joined AC Milan on a free transfer from PSG.

• In September 2020, Alessandro Florenzi joined PSG on a season-long loan for £420,000 from AS Roma

• In July 2021, Gianluigi Donnarumma joined PSG on a free transfer from AC Milan.

Best deal: Maybe some recency bias here as I never saw Weah nor Leonardo play, yet I have heard they were amazing players, but nevertheless for me it’s between Thiago Silva and Gigi Donnarumma. For me I’ll go with Donnarumma as he was instrumental in helping PSG win the UCL last season, but it feels wrong not to go with Thiago Silva.

9. Atletico and Barca- 9 deals

• In August 2007, Thiago Motta joined Atletico Madrid for £1.67 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2013, David Villa joined Atletico Madrid for £1.76 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2015, Arda Turan joined Barcelona for £28.47 million from Atletico Madrid.

• In July 2019, Antoine Griezmann joined Barcelona for £100 million from Atletico Madrid.

• In July 2020, Luis Suarez joined Atletico Madrid for £7.54 million from Barcelona.

• In August 2021, Antoine Griezmann joined Atletico Madrid on a two-year long for £8.3 million, then moved permanently in July 2023 for £18.42 million.

• In January 2023, Memphis Depay joined Atletico Madrid for £2.5 million from Barcelona.

• In September 2023, Joao Felix joined Barcelona on a season-long loan from Atletico Madrid.

• In August 2024, Clement Lenglet joined Atletico Madrid on a season-long loan from Barcelona.

Best deal: Not too many great deals to choose from here, but the Luis Suarez deal in 2020 stands out for me. He moved to Atleti and powered Los Colchoneros to the title.

10. Chelsea and Real Madrid- 10 deals

• In August 2003, Claude Makelele joined Chelsea for £16.75 million from Real Madrid.

• In August 2007, Arjen Robben joined Real Madrid for £29.31 million from Chelsea.

• In August 2010, Ricardo Carvalho joined Real Madrid for £6.7 million from Chelsea.

• In August 2012, Michael Essien joined Real Madrid on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

• In July 2017, Alvaro Morato joined Chelsea for £55.27 million from Real Madrid.

• In August 2018, Thibaut Courtois joined Real Madrid for £29.31 million from Chelsea.

• In August 2018, Mateo Kovacic joined Chelsea on a season-long loan from Real Madrid, then signed permanently in July 2019 for £29.31 million.

• In July 2019, Eden Hazard joined Real Madrid for £101 million from Chelsea.

• In July 2022, Antonio Rudiger joined Real Madrid on a free transfer from Chelsea.

• In August 2023, Kepa Arrizabalaga joined Real Madrid on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

Best deals: Some stellar names on this list, but for me the best deal of the lot has to be Claude Makelele moving from Los Blancos to The Blues in 2003, as he was instrumental in Chelsea’s 2004/05 and 2005/06 back-to-back Premier League title-winning campaigns. Honourable mention though would be Mateo Kovacic, who won the Europa League and Champions League during his time in London.

11. Chelsea and Barca- 11 deals

• In July 2001, Emmanuel Petit joined Chelsea for £9.6 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2006, Eidur Gudjohnsen joined Barcelona for £10 million from Chelsea.

• In August 2007, Juliano Belletti joined Chelsea for £4.61 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2008, Deco joined Chelsea for £8.37 million from Barcelona.

• In August 2011, Oriol Romeu joined Chelsea for £3.85 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2014, Cesc Fabregas joined Chelsea for £27.64 million from Barcelona.

• In August 2015, Pedro joined Chelsea for £22.61 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2022, Andreas Christensen joined Barcelona on a free transfer from Chelsea.

• In September 2022, Marcos Alonso joined Barcelona on a free transfer from Chelsea.

• In September 2022, Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang joined Chelsea for £10 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2024, Marc Guiu joined Chelsea for £5 million from Barcelona.

Best deal: Cesc Fabregas, it pains me to say. But when you look at it, you can’t really argue about it. He won two Premier League titles at Chelsea, as well as a League Cup and an FA Cup.

Thanks so much for reading this latest post from Football Review Show guys. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know down below which deals piqued your interest, or which deals you had literally no idea about, and whether you agree or disagree with my ‘Best Deal’ picks. Catch you in the next one!

September 2016 marked the beginning of a new era for one of Electronic Arts most popular mobile games, FIFA Mobile. FIFA Mobile was to be both the continuation and revolution of EA Sports’ football/soccer mobile game series which had run on an annual basis since its advent in 2009 with the release of FIFA 10 Mobile. But what was so significant, so special, so universally adored about FIFA Mobile? In today’s post, come with me on a trip down memory lane as I take a look back at FIFA Mobile Season 1, how it revolutionised the FIFA Mobile landscape, how it amassed such a wide-reaching global following and fanbase, what praises and criticisms it garnered, and ultimately, why it was such an amazing game. So without further ado, let’s get into the video.

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Facts about FIFA Mobile 17

FIFA Mobile, or FIFA 17 Mobile, was released globally on 10th October 2016, just under a fortnight after the console version release of the same name. It was available to download for both Android and IOS devices and its initial file size clocked in at 84.6 mb. Moreover, the game required an internet connection for it to run, although this was not unfamiliar to the regular FIFA Mobile user at the time, as the previous iterations of the game- FIFA 16 Mobile and FIFA 15 Mobile New Season- also required internet. The app icon for the game was, well, iconic; specifically, Marco Reus donning the 16/17 Borussia Dortmund Home Kit, controlling a Bundesliga adidas ball- but I'm sure you already knew that.

Official Trailer

FIFA Mobile 17 Trailer

A FIFA Mobile launch trailer was released after the game’s release- take a look at it yourself (see above) it’s still available on EAFC’s YouTube channel- where we caught a glimpse of the game’s user interface, a marked divorce from the usual interface of the previous FIFA mobile games in the series. FIFA Mobile 17’s user interface featured a world map which was unlike anything I’d seen before- with various checkpoints on this world map scattered about with some sort of ‘missions’ or ‘live events’ with a timer next to them as to when they would unlock or expire. In the trailer you have the likes of Champions, In-Form Players (which was essentially Team of the Week), Daily warm up, Attack Mode event (which would prove to be an integral game mode of the game), Scouting and ‘Rags to riches’ on the left side of the screen. One familiar aspect of the game was the in-game currency, of which there were two usual ones such as coin balance and fifa point balance; however, a new currency that was introduced was stamina, which is the blue bar with the lightning bolt adjacent to it, as well as an inbox, trophies and info section.

We also saw a glimpse of the game mechanics, a pack opening player reveal for 99 rated CF James Rodriguez Domination card with +3 Finishing and + 2% coins, a glimpse at the ‘My Team’ section of the game where, instead of having your usual Starting XI, subs and reserves displayed you had an entire roster to choose, split into attack, midfield and defence.

For instance, in the trailer, you can see 8 spots for attackers, also view items, best lineup (which essentially meant the game would automatically input your highest overall players into your team), tactics (which decided which formation you would play) and starting XI which would highlight the players from your roster that would be in your starting xi and grey out the rest of your squad, as well as at the top of the screen displaying your team overall and your level. We were given short clips of gameplay and, well, it’s fair to say the game’s graphics weren’t well-received, with one user commenting the graphics were akin to FIFA 12-13.

However, many users overlooked this as it ensured lower-end devices with lower processing power could run the game more smoothly. Indeed, from the developer’s perspective, this was a canny move as naturally the more eligible devices that can be accommodated, the more users the game creates which, in turn, creates more revenue in the form of FIFA Points and limited time packs. Now, of course, the trailer at the time would certainly have left more questions than answers, as it omitted a number of key features the game had to offer, namely Leagues, Plans (a kind of knock-off Squad Builder Challenge section) and Market. As with any FIFA game, users were welcomed with a Welcome Pack upon downloading the game to get them started, which was nothing to write home about, essentially just bronze cards which was the lowest rarity in the game.

Plans

We’ll talk a bit about Plans, which were a highly integral part of the game. As I mentioned, Plans were essentially FIFA Mobile’s version of SBC’s- a new addition to the console version- where players would trade player items and tokens in exchange for exciting rewards. Users would obtain these tokens from packs, the market, live events et cetera. A number of these Plans coincided with specific Live Events and Packs. For instance, the Team Heroes plan coincided with the Team Heroes Live Event and Packs. Later on in the game cycle, Team of the Year and Team of the Season plans also coincided with events and packs pertaining to that promo. And in fact, I would say 90 to 95%, maybe even 100% of all promos that season; FUT Freeze, Thanksgiving, Boxing Day, Retro Stars, Flashback, Lunar New Year, Domination would follow a simple food chain-like structure. Use stamina to play live events to obtain necessary tokens and players, with the aid of packs and the market, to put into plans to obtain more tokens and players to put into more plans to obtain more tokens and players, play some more live events, open some more packs, put those alongside your previously-obtained tokens and players into a ‘masterplan’ to obtain a huge overall player.

In essence, everything in the game was geared towards the user completing plans, a means to an end one could say. And hey, it was fun, it was novel, but it was also frustrating as it certainly created a gulf between the so-called pay to win (P2W) or whale players and the road to glory/play to win users. Now most plans in the game could theoretically be completed by any user irrespective of putting money into the game, but obviously the process of completing these plans could be expedited with the purchase of FIFA Points (microtransactions, yay) to avoid the gruelling tedious grind one would have to endure to complete these plans. And then there were some plans that, let’s be totally honest, were only possible if you spent money. But who is honestly surprised I mean we’re talking about EA here.

The FIFA Mobile 17 Community

Now, let’s discuss the FIFA Mobile online community, specifically the most prominent YouTube content creators creating FIFA Mobile content for the masses. Here, I’m going to talk about the content creators that I remember consuming their content the most across the season. You had Stopde, JoebilineHD, Nicknoobkill213, BGS, WKHHD, FUTFreak (personal favourite I must say) Chillboy to an extent (although he rose more to prominence in FIFA 18 I recall), i most likely forgot to include a number of YouTubers here so forgive me let me know if i missed any out. In my opinion the majority of YouTubers creating content for FIFA Mobile 17 were P2W-oriented i.e. loading a copious amount of FIFA Points onto the game and opening packs- pack opening videos- and completing plans- which were fun and enjoyable i have to admit. There were also gameplay videos of Versus Attack which were enjoyable but it was a bit of a shame, looking back, that there weren’t more road to glory/F2P (free-to-play) videos for the game. I did manage to find one- and a very dedicated one at that- created by the YouTuber TVM although I didn’t watch that series which I am aware does sound hypocritical on my part! My own experience of FIFA Mobile 17 was predominantly free to play; I cannot recall many instances where I bought FIFA Points on my account (thankfully) because I found that I didn’t really need to and I simply enjoyed what the game had to offer just by playing it.

Promos

In the next section I’m gonna run through all of the promos of that season and kind of give my take on them, what was the best promo, what was the worst and all that, and hopefully conjure up some nostalgia for you lot. But one thing I forgot to mention before we get into that was the player rating system in this game, which was largely the same from the previous FIFA Mobile iterations; bronze, silver and gold cards carried over into the new game but players rated 80 and above were now classed as Elite cards instead of Gold ones, identifiable by their distinctive red colour card design. And I cannot stress enough to you the hype and thrill I felt when packing one of these cards, as I’m sure you can attest to. Just beautiful. Now, let’s get into those promos.

Okay, so this might not be an exhaustive list but here goes. So we had Top Transfers to kick things off, which centered around the biggest transfers from the Summer 2016 transfer window.

We then had the MLS Cup Promo, centred around the MLS Cup- I remember there was a sexy Sebastian Giovinco card and a beautiful Nicholas Lodeiro card representing Toronto and Seattle Sounders respectively and either Giovinco or Lodiero would receive an upgrade depending on who won the Cup (it ended up being Seattle Sounders).

We had Thanksgiving, Team Heroes, Flash Sale, Movember, Scream Team, Ultimate Flashback, Game Changer, product red with a very exclusive Lars Bender card, La Liga Rivalries, Club Champions, for the Club World Cup, FUT Freeze, which was like FUTmas, Premier League Boxing Day, New Year, Team of the Year, Lunar New Year, Record Breaker (which was basically a pack-only promo), Out of Position (known today as Shapeshifters), Calcio A Master packs, AFCON, Heartbreakers, Carniball, MLS Is Back, In Form Players which was then rebranded to TOTW, Impact Players (who remembers that Giovani Dos Santos Card!?), St Paddy’s Day, Blue Star Hazard, Ligue 1 Masters, Player of the Month, Bundesliga Masters, EAster promo, la liga rivalries version 2, El Clasico, UCL Promo, Golden Week (Keisuke Honda), TOTS, Fathers’ Day (yes there was even a promo for Fathers Day, what next, a promo for Bastille Day?) Oh yeah, they did that too.

Community team of the week, which encouraged the fan base to vote for previous team of the week players to be reincarnated with a new souped up card from their original card, Share a Coke (the most useless promo ever), Canada Day, 4th of July, Retro Stars, Koln v Hamburg promo (yep, you heard that right, Koln v Hamburg), England Heroes (bosh) Community player of the month, End of an Era (which was way above my paygrade as they say), Summer Stars, and last but not least pre-season. Oh and plus that you had year-long promos such as Attack Mode, National Heroes, Mobile Master, Domination (two domination events- James Rodriguez and Angel di Maria) League versus League, Team Heroes (two versions to that too). It was honestly crazy how many events and promos EA incorporated into the game that year. I mean, go big or go home, right?

My Opinion on FIFA Mobile 17 Promos

Now there is a case to be made for the game being oversaturated but honestly for me at the time I didn’t think so; in fact, I think for a mobile game in particular the more content the better. In terms of my favourite promos, I would have to pick FUT Freeze and Summer Stars (cos it was released during the xmas holiday and summer holiday and so got a chance to play that event more than others that were say released during school term time), pre season as well due to its novelty although i wasn’t able to play as much of it as i would have liked as it coincided with the beginning of the new school year, retro stars similar to summer heat was released during summer hols, TOTS was ok but very pay-to-win oriented, definitely Global Tour which was released near the end of the game’s cycle and included some amazing easy to obtain high ovr players. I obtained neither James Rodriguez nor di Maria from the domination event which was sad and I couldn’t obtain Marco Reus Mobile Master either, and I never completed a Team Hero plan. Some of my favourite players from that season were Theo Walcott CTOTW card, Hazard Blue Stars. It’s hard to remember some of my best pack pulls from that season, but my brother was lucky enough to pack a TOTY Toni Kroos on my old ASUS laptop and he sold for well over a million coins (which was a LOT of coins back in the day).

Conclusion

Overall, my lasting impressions on this mobile game are largely positive. I was at an age where every sense and colour was heightened, and so the novel features and colours of FIFA Mobile really enticed me back in the day. I loved the card art and the events, playing an odd two-minute game of VS Attack at home, on the bus or in the car. It was just a very simple but effective game: nothing complicated, pure fun. Obviously I am older now and mobile games don’t have the same draw as they once did, but I’m so glad I was able to play FIFA Mobile 17. Comment down below if you played any of the FIFA Mobile games, or any other football games for that matter. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks so much for reading Football Review Show, a place for all football fans and all things football: football fashion, football video games, football gossip, football stories and more. If you enjoyed today’s post, feel free to check out all of my other posts! Catch you in the next one.

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Club World Cup Reaches Its Climax

So we are now nearing the CWC endgame as we enter the semi-final stage. At the time of writing, last night Chelsea defeated Fluminense 2-0 at MetLife stadium to reach the final, with goals coming from ex-Fluminense player Joao Pedro on his full Chelsea debut. It doesn’t get more “dream debut” than that. In fact, his goals pocketed Chelsea £22m in prize money, which is nearly half his transfer fee! But honestly it was no surprise to see Chelsea advance here (no disrespect to them, fair play for getting to the final) but comparing the two sides’ wage bills and player rosters there was only ever gonna be one winner. But Fluminense can hold their heads high after an amazing tournament: stopping Borussia Dortmund from scoring, defeating UCL Finalists Inter Milan 2-0 and defeating a star-studded Al Hilal side. They won’t be forgotten about.

And of course tonight’s billing sees two European heavyweights pitted against each other, PSG and Real Madrid, for the right to play Chelsea in the final. The interesting talking point surrounding this game is the team news: will Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe both start for their respective sides? Will Vinicius Jr. keep his place in the side after a poor run of form? Will the teenage goalscoring sensation Garcia Gonzalez continue his red-hot form? All will be revealed. In terms of predicting which way this game’s gonna go, I honestly couldn’t tell you. But I will. I think it’s very hard to look past PSG to be honest. They are the reigning European champions, and the fact Los Blancos are without the suspended Dean Huijsen means a weak Madrid defence is further weakened. I have PSG going through. But aside from that, I am hoping for and predicting a high-scoring encounter, something akin to the Nations League Semi-Final between France and Spain last month.

Gold Cup

A quick note on the Gold Cup, which for those of you who aren’t familiar, is the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean) equivalent of the European Championships or Copa America. There was an amazing underdog story, with Guatemala, ranked 106th in the Fifa rankings, reaching the Semi-Finals of the tournament, defeating Jamaica, Guadeloupe and Canada along the way. But in the end it was a USA-Mexico final. I didn’t watch the game, but the game finished 2-1 to Mexico: Chris Richards scored the opener for USA, seasoned finisher Raul Jimenez equalised midway through the first half, before big man Edson Alvarez scored the winner in the 77th minute. Congratulations to Mexico.

Transfer News

And finally to wrap up this post a quick word on the transfer window, and sorry if there are any Manchester United fans reading this because it is not looking very rosy for you right now. Matheus Cunha is in the door, sure, but much more needs to be resolved before the start of the season for the Red Devils. What’s happening with Rashford, Antony, Sancho and Garnacho? Will they get the Mbeumo deal over the line, or abandon it and go for cheaper alternatives like Vardy, Calvert-Lewin or Callum Wilson? Will Jonny Evans have to come out of retirement?! It’s all very much up in the air at Manchester United, much like how Sean Dyche plays football. Arsenal announced the signing of Martin Zubimendi during the week, and he will wear the number 36 shirt. Viktor Gyokeres to Arsenal looks very likely at this moment in time. And Chelsea recently signed Jamie Gittens for a cool £55m. Do Chelsea really need any more attackers at this point? The more the merrier I suppose. And before I forget Antony Elanga has signed for Newcastle United from Nottingham Forest for £55m: a good signing that for Newcastle who are known for their shrewd business.

Well that’s it from me guys. Thanks for reading this latest post from Football Review. Let me know in the comments which player you want your club to sign this window, and I’ll catch you in the next one.

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Group A:

Palmeiras- current player Felipe Anderson played at West Ham for a couple of years and wasn’t very good. Gabriel Jesus played for Palmeiras before joining Manchester City in January 2017.

Al Ahly- Manuel Trezeguet strutted his stuff at Aston Villa a few years ago.

Inter Miami- Luis Suarez of course used to play for Liverpool FC and was one of their greatest ever strikers. Their manager Javier Mascherano played for West Ham United and Liverpool for a period of time.

FC Porto- Fabio Vieira had a brief and unsuccessful spell at Arsenal.

Group B:

PSG- Renato Sanches, fresh back after his season-long loan at Benfica, once spent a year on loan at Swansea City during the 2017/18 season. Also Vitinha played 22 games for Wolves during the 20/21 season, scoring once, bagging the winner in an FA Cup tie versus Chorley Town. Also Carlos Soler and Marco Asensio have had loan spells at West Ham and Aston Villa respectively.

Botafogo- Alex Telles used to play for Manchester United, played 50 games, scored 1 goal which was a beauty against Villarreal in the Champions League in 2021. Also midfield general Allan, who spent the 2020/21 season at Everton playing under Carlo Ancelotti.

Atletico Madrid- Julian Alvarez won the Treble at Man City. Clement Lenglet had an unsuccessful loan spell at Spurs in 22/23. Conor Gallagher used played for Crystal Palace and Chelsea. Cesar Azpilicueta is a Chelsea legend. Saul Niguez had a loan spell at Chelsea in 21/22 and did alright to be fair. And I’ve just found out that Alexander Sorloth played 20 games for Crystal Palace between January 2018 and January 2019, scoring once, in 2018 versus Swansea City in the Prem. Yes, I’m as shocked as you are.

Seattle Sounders- Ryan Kent, ex-Liverpool youngster but better known for his time at Glasgow Rangers. Also striker Jordan Morris who’s done very well at Seattle had a six-month loan spell at Swansea in 2021, played 5 and scoring none.

Group C:

Benfica- Nicolas Otamendi and now-departed Angel di Maria played Man City and Man Utd respectively.

Bayern Munich- of course, Harry Kane, Spurs’ all-time top scorer. Also former Fulham player Joao Palhinha, Arsenal academy graduate Serge Gnabry, former Crystal Palace star Michael Olise, ex-Chelsea wunderkind Jamal Musiala, and their manager Vincent Kompany, who as a player won many titles with Manchester City, and as manager guided Burnley back to the Premier League in 2023.

Boca Juniors- some very interesting names here. Marcos Rojo, formerly of Manchester United, plays his football for Boca. Also more ex-United players such as Sergio Romero, who is reserve ‘keeper, Ander Herrera who starts for them, and Edinson Cavani!

Auckland City- no connections to the Premier League as far as I’m aware!

Group D:

Flamengo- Filipe Luis, their coach, played for Chelsea during the 2014/15 campaign, winning the Premier League and League Cup. Danilo (the right back Danilo) notched up 60 games for Man City, and was part of the famous Centurions team in 2017/18 that won the Prem. Also midfielder Jorginho, who had a successful four-and-a-half years at Chelsea, winning the Champions League, Europa League and more.

Esperance de Tunis- no connections as far as I’m aware

LAFC- Olivier Giroud has just left LAFC probably for the best as he didn’t have a good spell there. Of course ‘keeper Hugo Lloris plays there at the moment.

Group E:

Inter Milan- Henrikh Mkhitaryan, ex-Arsenal and Man Utd player. Matteo Darmian once played for United.

Monterrey- head coach Domenec Torrent was once assistant coach at Manchester between July 2016 and June 2018.

River Plate- Gonzalo Montiel- the guy who scored the winning penalties in the 2022 World Cup Final and the 2023 Europa League Final- had a loan spell at Nottingham Forest where he played 19 times for them. Manuel Lanzini who played for West Ham United, scored that wondergoal versus Spurs in 2020, and won the Europa Conference League in 2023 with the Irons.

Urawa Red Diamonds- no connections as far as I’m aware.

Group F:

Borussia Dortmund- new signing Jobe Bellingham recently departed newly-promoted Sunderland. Emre Can used to play for Liverpool of course. Felix Nmecha is a Manchester City academy graduate. Pascal Gross of course had a successful spell at Brighton. Marcel Sabitzer had a brief loan spell at Man Utd in 22/23 and won the League Cup with them. Chelsea-bound Jamie Gittens is a Man City academy graduate like Nmecha. Sebastian Haller once played for West Ham United.

Fluminense- defensive maestro Thiago Silva currently plays for the Brazilian side. Of course had that successful spell at Chelsea where he won the Champions League in 2021.

Mamelodi Sundowns- no connections as far as I know.

Ulsan HD- no connections that I know of.

Group G:

Juventus- Weston McKennie had a loan spell at Leeds in 22/23. Lloyd Kelly was signed from Newcastle United and he also played for Bournemouth. Douglas Luiz is a Manchester City academy graduate and played in the Prem at Aston Villa. Brazilian midfielder Artur had a very forgettable loan spell at Liverpool.

Al-Ain- current coach Vladimir Ivic was once Watford FC coach between August 2020 and December 2020. Veteran ‘keeper Rui Patricio had a successful spell at Wolves.

Wydad Casablanca- current player Nordin Amrabat played for Watford FC during the 2016/17 season and also spent four months at Hull City from January 2025 to May 2025, playing 10 games and scoring none.

Group H:

Real Madrid- recent arrivals Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold both had successful spells at Bournemouth and Liverpool respectively. Antonio Rudiger played had a five-year spell at Chelsea, winning the Champions League for the Blues in 2021. Thibaut Courtois is another former Chelsea player now on Madrid’s books and has won two UCLs there. Head coach Xabi Alonso of course won the Champions League as a player for Liverpool in 2005. Dani Ceballos spent two seasons on loan at Arsenal, winning the FA Cup in 2020. Luka Modric played under Harry Redknapp and others at Spurs back in the day before moving to Madrid in 2012. Brahim Diaz played at Manchester City for a short while. There are many players in history who have played at both Real Madrid and in the Premier League.

Al Hilal- ex-Fulham player Alexander Mitrovic is currently Al Hilal’s frontman. A couple of ex-Prem Portuguese players now play for Al Hilal in the form of Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo. Centre back Kalidou Koulibaly who recently netted against Man City in the Club World Cup spent the 22/23 season at Chelsea. Full-back Renan Lodi spent the 22/23 season on loan at Nottingham Forest, contracted to Atletico Madrid at the time.

RB Salzburg- surprisingly just the one connection. Current player Bobby Clark is a Liverpool FC academy graduate. Of course in recent years the likes of Patson Daka (Leicester City), Erling Haaland (Man City), Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool), Takumi Minamino (ex-Liverpool) and Hwang Hee-Chan (Wolves) have played there.

Thanks for reading guys- I’ll catch ya in the next one, hopefully sooner rather than later this time!

Anyways, what shall we talk about today? The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and as ever the football world keeps on spinning. Of course we are just over 24 hours away from the opening match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, which is being played in the US, as Inter Miami ‘host’ Egyptian side and serial winners Al-Ahly. What is gonna happen in that game? But more interestingly, what is it gonna look like?

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As you might have seen during the week, it’s been reported that tickets for the opening game have drastically undersold, and FIFA are up against the clock to get enough bums on seats in time for kick-off. It’s not a good look. But then again, when you think about it, can anybody really be surprised? I also had another thought: for some MLS sides this must feel really strange. Cos in the midst of a domestic campaign you have a major continental club competition happening on your front door (sort of). For instance, in LA, you will have LA Galaxy playing in MLS whilst you will have LAFC playing in the CWC. That is bizarre. Imagine if the CWC were to be held in England, and it coincided with the Premier League, and if Manchester City were to have a game in the CWC whilst Man Utd had a game in the Prem, that would be proper weird wouldn’t it?

Anyway, if we’re talking about predictions, who do you guys have down as winning this comp? For me, I’ve gone with a wild prediction: Borussia Dortmund. Don’t ask me why. But they do have a knack for cup comps. But I would imagine that most people’s pick for the CWC would be Man City, Bayern Munich or PSG. Especially when you think about the prize money that’s on offer. And I hate to say it, but that’s the main reason why these big guns are gonna go all out for this trophy, not necessarily for the privilege of having some golden FIFA badge on their kit for the next four years.

But of course, it’s not just the big guns i.e. Europeans that are taking this seriously: it’s the other teams too. I recently found out that each win grants $2 million, and each draw $1 million, as well as $5 million just for participating. That is some serious money to quite a few of the teams in this competition.

It will be interesting to see which non-European team goes the furthest in this group. I’m gonna drop a screenshot of my FIFA Bracket Prediction below and actually check who I’ve got:

Never mind it’s not big enough to insert here, but for some bizarre reason I’ve got Ulsan HD to make the QFs, which let’s be honest will not happen. Also I’ve got FC Porto to knock out PSG in the RO16 (what am I smoking?).

I was listening to a podcast from CBS Sports Golazo, which didn’t include the familiar faces from CBS iykyk, but rather some American soccer pundits (dunno who they were) but the gist of what they said was the tournament isn’t gonna get ‘real’ until the knockout phase. And to be honest, I think they’re right. I can safely say that bar Atletico Madrid and RB Salzburg, every European team will top their group. That is kind of boring. The group stage will be all about the non-European teams vying for those knockout places. And that has lots of jeopardy, but potential for mega riches.

I’ve also just realised there are a lot of ‘oldie-goldies’ playing in this tournament, a last hurrah for these players one might say. Those players include the likes of Leo Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba for Inter Miami. You have Edinson Cavani for Boca Juniors. Thiago Silva for Fluminense. Thomas Muller for Bayern. Sergio Ramos for Monterrey. And Marcos Rojo for Boca! Equally this will be the first of many tournaments, and indeed the first of many CWC’s, for the likes of Estevao at Palmeiras, Madrid-bound Franco Mastantuono at River Plate, and Rayan Cherki at Man City, to name a few.

Anyways, what are your guys’ predictions for the FIFA CWC? How are you feeling about it? Do you care about it? Will you be watching? Or for that matter have you got a ticket? If there are any going, I’ll pass: Arsenal aren’t even in the goddamn tourney.

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Of course, where else to start than last night’s Nations League final? Did you watch the game? If so what are your thoughts on it? Personally, I found it to be a very even match-up. Spain and Portugal both had periods with the ball. I think Spain were the better side in the first half of normal time, but Portugal definitely improved in the second half and a draw at full-time was a fair result. I noticed that Lamine Yamal’s performance was quite laboured for much of the second half of normal time. He was quite good in the first half though, providing the cross that led to Spain’s opener. But for me there were three players that the night belonged to. And none of them were Spaniards. Those players were Diogo Costa, MOTM Nuno Mendes and Cristiano Ronaldo, the man who scored Portugal’s second.

Diogo Costa saved Spain’s fourth and final penalty which allowed Ruben Neves to score the winning penalty for the Portuguese. Nuno Mendes had an amazing game; scoring Portugal’s first, keeping Yamal quiet for the entirety of the game, and despatching an emphatic penalty in the shootout. And Cristiano Ronaldo, who last night won his second Nations League title, aforementioned scored Portugal’s second goal and seems to defy his current age of 39 years. Overall a great final. And I have to say I really liked the venue for the final, the Allianz Arena, which now has hosted both this year’s Champions League and Nations League final.

Anyway, what does this all mean for the Ballon d’or now? Does the Nations League have an impact on who will win it, with there being no Copa America, World Cup or Euros to determine the outcome? Surely it will have some bearing on the outcome, but honestly not a huge amount in my opinion. There were rumours that Cristiano Ronaldo could be in the running should he win the Nations League, which he has done, but I honestly don’t see it. Heck, I’d put Victor Gyokeres ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in the running for the Ballon D’or. I think the most likely candidates now would have to be PSG and Barcelona players. Obviously Vitinha is right up there. Nuno Mendes maybe has an outside shout. But surely you’d also be looking at PSG’s attackers; Kvaratskhelia, Dembele and Doue. Are any Barca players still in the running do you reckon? At this current moment, maybe just maybe Yamal, Pedri and Raphinha have an outside chance. And surely Mohammed Salah has a chance, albeit a very small one.

Anyway, the Nations League final wasn’t actually my favourite game from yesterday. That title goes to the competition’s third-placed match between France and Germany in Stuttgart, as Les Bleus came out 2-0 winners with goals from Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise. No goals for Rayan Cherki nor Florian Wirtz, but nevertheless that won’t dampen the hype surrounding both players. In terms of the match itself, I really enjoyed it. I watched it from minute 1 to 90, and it felt like a derby, for indeed it was a derby as both countries share a border. I found Karim Adeyemi’s performance particularly amusing; nothing really came off for him! He thought he had won a penalty for his country but it was rightly, in my opinion, overturned. He made some great runs and took up some really dangerous positions, but he just couldn’t find the back of the net! And that’s without mentioning the numerous occasions he took a tumble in all parts of the pitch. So much so that Tchouameni couldn’t hide his amusement at it all.

Other highlights of the game included Jonathan Tah and Lucas Hernandez’s minor flashpoint in the France penalty box, and Nickolas Fullkrug getting in the way of Deniz Undav’s effort late in the game. You just knew it wasn’t Germany’s day. Germany had a goal ruled out after Nickolas Fullkrug was adjudged to have fouled Adrien Rabiot in the build-up. Some will say it was a fair shoulder barge, but for me Fullkrug jabs Rabiot in the abdomen and it was rightly given as a foul. Didier Deschamps was also taking the whole game pretty seriously too, which is nice to see as it disproves the idea the Nations League is some throwaway competition.

And that’s about it from me guys. Still disappointed that Arsenal haven’t made any notable signings yet, despite the rumours Kepa Arrizabalaga will sign for us in the coming days. And indeed he may even have signed by the time you read this. Liverpool are making huge moves in the transfer window. They’ve had their latest bid of £110 million for Florian Wirtz rejected by Leverkusen. Fair enough. Of course, the FIFA Club World Cup is very much on the horizon. How are you guys feeling about it? Honestly, for me, I’ll take the extra few games! Without it, there would be sod all football to watch for the next month. So yeah that’s it for me guys, enjoy the rest of your day and I’ll catch you in the next one.

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1. Brentford 2021/22- Sergi Canos, Christian Eriksen, Ivan Toney, David Raya

I won’t forget the opening game of the 21/22 season, for all the wrong reasons. If you don’t know already, I am an Arsenal fan and was very disappointed we lost 2-0 to Brentford that night. In hindsight, though, Brentford were deserved winners. Their long throws were a menace. It was Toney and Mbeumo’s first season in the Prem, and they did bits. They also added Eriksen in January; what a shrewd signing that was. Big achievement to stay up in their first season, and they’ve gone from strength to strength since. Also picked up a great result away at Chelsea, winning 4-1.

2. Leeds 2020/21- Rodrigo Moreno, Raphinha, Kalvin Phillips, Patrick Bamford

I loved this Leeds team. They gave Liverpool, the defending champions, a proper run for their money on the opening day, losing out 4-3. They played some banging football, Bielsa ball should I say. Bamford hatty against Villa was a particular highlight. Kalvin Phillips was a marvel and earned himself an England call-up. Raphinha was probably their best player; a real wizard with a wand of a left foot.

3. Huddersfield 2017/18- Aaron Mooy, Matthew Ryan, van da Parra, Depoitre

The less said about Huddersfield 18/19 the better, but 17/18 Huddersfield was a different story. They had a great bunch of lads, their talisman Australian midfield maestro Aaron Mooy pulling the strings and scoring long-range beauties. They managed to beat Man Utd 2-1 that season at the John Smith stadium which, by the way, is a lovely stadium with a nice plush verdant backdrop. I once went past their stadium on the train up to York. They’ve fallen on hard times lately, but I’m sure their Prem foray lives long in the memory.

4. QPR 2014/15- Charlie Austin, Mauricio Isla, Sandro

Really enjoyable team this, and on paper it looked super interesting. Players like Mauricio Isla who did well for Chile at the 2014 World Cup, Sandro a midfield general signed from Tottenham, and a slightly unknown Charlie Austin, who cooked in the Prem that season. Of course, who could forget Bobby Zamora, who got QPR to the Prem with a Play-Off Final match-winning goal.

5. Watford 2021/22- Cucho Hernandez, Ben Foster, Joao Pedro, Ismaila Sarr

I liked this team, and I think a large part of that was down to Ben Foster and his vlogs. I especially enjoyed the away day vlog he did for Watford’s match at Everton which they won 5-2. They were also the last team Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faced as Man Utd manager before he was dismissed after losing the game 4-1. I also remember Cucho Hernandez’ bicycle kick against Arsenal. Ismaila Sarr was good that season too. Joao Pedro as well was beginning to establish himself. Just a decent team all round but they didn’t quite have enough to stay in the prem.

6. Sheffield United 2019/20- Enda Stevens, John Fleck, Billy Sharp, Dean Henderson, David McGoldrick, John Lundstrom.

Sheffield United getting to the Premier League alone was a great achievement, after back-to-back promotions from League One, but in their first season back they nearly got themselves into Europe, and reached the QFs of the FA Cup, losing out to Arsenal in stoppage time. A really enjoyable team, an industrious and sturdy team who could hold their own against just about anyone in the league. They gave Man Utd a run for their money, drawing 3-3. They took 4 points off Arsenal that season. They also won at Tottenham. Really good team, just a shame it all went wrong in 20/21 but that was bound to happen with lack of investment.

7. Wolves 2018/19- Joao Moutinho, Ruben Neves, Matt Doherty, Rui Patricio, Raul Gimenez, Diogo Jota

What. A. Team. Nuno Espirito Santo worked absolute wonders with Wolves that season, leading them to a seventh-placed finish that qualified them for the Europa League, where they reached the Quarter Finals losing to eventual winners Sevilla in extra time. They were unbelievable that season, and maybe could even have won the FA Cup. They picked up big wins along the way to the Semi-Finals; wins against Man Utd and Liverpool. They also beat Spurs away from home in the league, smashed Arsenal 3-1 and generally were a nightmare to play against.

8. Leicester City 2014/15- Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez, Andrej Kramaric, Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan, Andy King

I was gonna pick Bournemouth, but instead I’ve gone with Leicester. Now, I know that Leicester didn’t win the league that season, but they laid the foundations to eventually go on to win the title in 15/16. Also a very memorable character was Nigel Pearson; who could forget his ‘ostrich’ remark in a presser, as well as holding James McArthur in a choke hold on the touchline? Mental stuff. Anyway, let’s turn our attention to on-the-field matters. Firstly, absolutely bizarre Andrej Kramaric had a loan stint at Leicester, and to be honest it wasn’t very memorable, but worth mentioning nonetheless. Also that season we saw Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez go on a late charge to keep Leicester in the Prem; heroic stuff. Most memorable result from that season has to be their 5-3 win against Man Utd in August. And of course we all know what happened next.

9. Bournemouth 2015/16- Junior Stanislas, Callum Wilson, Artur Boruc, Tyrone Mings, Steve Cook, Charlie Daniels, Max Gradel, Josh King, Matt Ritchie

Bournemouth had to make this list. Their first ever season in the Prem and they did really well to stay in the league. They had some good players that season, but to be honest it was kind of a miracle they stayed in the prem with the limited reseources they had. Best player from that season for me would have to be Callum Wilson; he was tucking goals away left, right and centre. And Matt Ritchie honourable mention he scored a cracking volley that season.

10. Hull City 2016/17- Andy Robertson, Harry Maguire, Abel Hernandez, David Meyler, Ahmed El Mohamady, Kamil Grosicki, Robert Snodgrass, Jarrod Bowen

This was a pretty good Hull team, and a number of players from that team have gone on to have big careers and win many trophies, namely Andy Robertson and Harry Maguire. Both players left Hull in the summer of 2017, joining Liverpool and Leicester respectively. They even had a young Jarrod Bowen on their books, and he stayed at Hull until his move to West Ham in January 2020. Most memorable moment of that season for me would be their 2-1 win against Leicester on the opening day. They had that crazy double overhead goal- check it out on YouTube!

Anyway, that’s it for me guys, hope you enjoyed this post, don’t forget to subscribe to the Substack so you don’t miss the next one, and I’ll catch you in the next one.

Anyway, with the 2025 summer transfer window now officially open, I thought I'd look at an interesting topic, that is finding pairs of football clubs who have done the most business with each other. This will be split into two parts, and today we’re looking at part one. Here we go.

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1. Bayern and Dortmund- Hummels (twice), Lewandowski, Guerreiro, Gotze (twice), Rode, Sule, Sabitzer

• In July 2013, Mario Gotze joined Bayern Munich for £31 million from Borussia Dortmund.

• In July 2014, Robert Lewandowski joined Bayern Munich on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund.

• In May 2016, Mats Hummels joined Bayern Munich for £30 million from Borussia Dortmund.

• In July 2016, Mario Gotze joined Borussia Dortmund for £20 million from Bayern Munich.

• In July 2016, Sebastian Rode joined Borussia Dortmund for £13 million from Bayern Munich.

• In June 2019, Mats Hummels joined Borussia Dortmund for £34 million from Bayern Munich.

• In July 2022, Nicklas Sule joined Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer from Bayern Munich.

• In July 2023, Raphael Guerreiro joined Bayern Munich on a free transfer from Borussia Dortmund.

• In July 2023, Marcel Sabitzer joined Borussia Dortmund for £17 million from Bayern Munich.

2. Wolves and Porto- Willy Boly, Fabio Silva, Ruben Neves, Vitinha

• In July 2017, Ruben Neves joined Wolves for £15 million from FC Porto.

• In July 2018, Willy Boly joined Wolves for £9 million from FC Porto.

• In September 2020, Fabio Silva joined Wolves for £33 million from FC Porto.

• In September 2020, Vitinha joined Wolves on a season-long loan from FC Porto.

3. PSG and Real Madrid- Asensio, Sergio Ramos, Mbappe, Anelka, Jese Rodriguez, Keylor Navas, Areola

• In June 2000, Nicholas Anelka joined PSG for £29 million from Real Madrid.

• In August 2016, Jese Rodriguez joined PSG for £21 million from Real Madrid.

• In September 2019, Keylor Navas joined PSG for £12.5 million from Real Madrid.

• In September 2019, Alphonse Areola joined PSG on a season-long loan from Real Madrid.

• In July 2021, Sergio Ramos joined PSG on a free transfer from Real Madrid.

• In July 2023, Marco Asensio joined PSG on a free transfer from Real Madrid.

• In June 2024, Kylian Mbappe joined Real Madrid on a free transfer from PSG.

4. Real Madrid and Man Utd- Ronaldo, Varane, Casemiro, Beckham, van Nistelrooy, di Maria, Javier Hernandez

• In June 2003, David Beckham joined Real Madrid for £31.5 million from Manchester United.

• In July 2006, Ruud van Nistelrooy joined Real Madrid for £12.5 million from Manchester United.

• In July 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid for £79 million from Manchester United.

• In August 2014, Javier Hernandez joined Real Madrid on a season-long loan from Manchester United.

• In August 2014, Angel di Maria joined Manchester United for £63 million from Real Madrid.

• In August 2021, Raphael Varane joined Manchester United for £33.5 million from Real Madrid.

• In August 2022, Casemiro joined Manchester United for £59 million from Real Madrid.

5. Inter and Manchester United- Lukaku, Young, Alexis Sanchez, Onana

• In August 2019, Romelu Lukaku joined Inter Milan for £62 million from Man Utd.

• In January 2020, Ashley Young joined Inter Milan for £1.4 million from Man Utd

• In September 2020, Alexis Sanchez joined Inter Milan on a free transfer from Man Utd, after a season-long loan for the 2019/20 season.

• In July 2023, Andre Onana joined Man Utd for £42 million from Inter Milan.

6. PSG and Man Utd- Cavani, Ugarte, Ander Herrera, di Maria

• In August 2015, Angel di Maria joined PSG for £53 million from Man Utd.

• In July 2019, Ander Herrera joined PSG on a free transfer from Man Utd.

• In September 2020, Edinson Cavani joined Man Utd on a free transfer from PSG.

• In August 2024, Manuel Ugarte joined Man Utd for £42 million from PSG.

7. Dortmund and Man City- Sancho, Haaland, Akanji, Gundogan

• In July 2016, Ilkay Gundogan joined Man City for £23 million from Borussia Dortmund.

• In August 2017, Jadon Sancho joined Borussia Dortmund for £17 million from Man City.

• In July 2022, Erling Haaland joined Man City for £50 million from Borussia Dortmund.

• In September 2022, Manuel Akanji joined Man City for £17 million from Borussia Dortmund.

8. Bayern and Barca- Coutinho (loan), Lewandowski, Thiago, Vidal

In July 2013, Thiago Alcantara joined Bayern Munich for £21 million from Barcelona.

In August 2018, Arturo Vidal joined Barcelona for £15 million from Bayern Munich.

In August 2019, Philippe Coutinho joined Bayern Munich on a season-long loan for £7 million from Barcelona.

In July 2022, Robert Lewandowski joined Barcelona for £38 million from Bayern Munich.

9. Bayern and Inter- Shaqiri, Pavard, Perisic, Sommer

• In January 2015, Xherdan Shaqiri joined Inter Milan on a six-month loan from Bayern Munich, then signed permanently in July 2015 for £12.5 million.

• In August 2019, Ivan Perisic joined Bayern Munich on a season-long loan for

  £4 million from Inter Milan.

• In August 2023, Benjamin Pavard joined Inter Milan for £26 million from Bayern Munich.

• In August 2023, Yann Sommer joined Inter Milan for £6 million from Bayern Munich.

10. Barca and Juve- Dani Alves, Arthur, Pjanic, Caceres, Edgar Davids, Laudrup, Lilian Thuram, Zambrotta

• In July 1989, Michael Laudrup joined Barcelona for £2.5 million from Juventus.

• In January 2004, Edgar Davids joined Barcelona on a six-month loan from Juventus.

• In July 2006, Lilian Thuram joined Barcelona for £4 million from Juventus.

• In July 2006, Gianluca Zambrotta joined Barcelona for £11.7 million from Juventus.

• In August 2009, Martin Caceres joined Juventus on a season-long loan for £420k from Barcelona.

• In July 2016, Dani Alves joined Juventus on a free transfer from Barcelona.

• In September 2020, Arthur Melo joined Juventus for £67.5 million from Barcelona.

• In September 2020, Miralem Pjanic joined Barcelona for £50 million from Juventus.

11. Barca and PSG- Messi, Neymar, Rafinha, Maxwell, Ronaldinho, Digne

• In July 2003, Ronaldinho joined Barcelona for £27 million from PSG.

• In January 2012, Maxwell joined PSG for £3 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2016, Lucas Digne joined Barcelona for £13.8 million from PSG.

• In August 2017, Neymar joined PSG for £186 million from Barcelona.

• In October 2020, Rafinha joined PSG for £1.26 million from Barcelona.

• In August 2021, Lionel Messi joined PSG on a free transfer from Barcelona.

12. Barca and Inter- Eto’o, Ibrahimovic, Maxwell, Ronaldo, Arturo Vidal, Rafinha

• In July 1997, Ronaldo Nazario joined Inter Milan for £22.19 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2009, Samuel Eto’o joined Inter Milan for £16.75 million from Barcelona.

• In July 2009, Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined Barcelona for £58.2 million from Inter Milan.

• In July 2009, Maxwell joined Barcelona for £4.19 million from Inter Milan.

• In January 2018, Rafinha joined Inter Milan on a six-month loan from Barcelona.

• In September 2020, Arturo Vidal joined Inter Milan for £840k from Barcelona.

Thanks for reading guys- hope you enjoyed that one! Stay tuned for Part Two! And also a big credit to FBREF.com and Transfermarkt.com these two websites were super helpful for researching this topic.

In 10 we have the FC Nordsjaelland Pride Kit, and this is a gorgeous kit and one of real simplicity but equally carries an important message. I really like the rainbow pattern going down the centre of the shirt, and it appears to look like a voice note which is amazing! The sponsor is nice too, as well as Nordsjaelland’s badge and the Nike logo. Great start to the Top 10.

9. NAC Breda Third Kit

This is undoubtedly a work of art from Nike and NAC Breda. This kit- for how beautiful it is- also carries a powerful message. It is “inspired by the Polish liberation and sees a white jersey featuring a black photo print on the lower half of the front of the friendly match on Beatrixstraat between Breda and the Polish liberators.” [Source: The Kitman] Such a gorgeous kit, and I also love the OK sponsor; it looks exactly like the KFC font for some reason.

8. Bohemian x Fontaines D.C. Kit

This kit was designed by Bohemians and O’Neills (an Irish sportswear manufacturer) in collaboration with Irish punk rock group Fontaines D.C. And it is a thing of beauty. It reminds me a lot of the Arsenal Away Kit this season, but it looks even better. I love the Fontaines D.C. sponsor on the front of the shirt, in the same font used for the bands’ latest album Romance (2024). It even pays tribute to Palestine with a Palestinian flag in the bottom-left corner of the shirt. Great touch. Such a lovely shirt.

7. PSG Fourth Kit

Maybe this is too high up, but personally I had to have this PSG kit in the Top 10. As soon as I saw it I fell in love with it. And PSG and Jordan have created yet another banger of a kit. Similar to the Barca and Betis shirts, when I see this I instantly think of Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia balling put in the UCL. This one could be an all-timer in years to come.

6. Bohemian x Guinness Kit

Oh my goodness what a kit this is. Delightful collaboration between Bohemian and Guinness. You know, Guinness are sponsors of the Premier League, and I tell you now this kit alone is enough for Bohemians to get into that league. Simple is best. Guinness classic logo. O’Neills classic logo. Lovely cream colour for the shirt. Red pencil stripes. And the Bohemian badge. Stunning.

5. Germany National Team DfB 125th Anniversary Shirt

I mean, you can’t go wrong with this one. It’s basically perfect. Classic Adidas logo. DfB anniversary crest. Plain white shirt. Shut up and take my money.

4. Red Star Paris Red Kit

Oh. My. Goodness. Me. What. A. Kit. Red Star Paris. I can’t lie, I had never heard of them until I came across this kit. But boy do I know who you are now. What a fire kit. The red colour. The ‘Trust It’ sponsor. The Kappa logo. The club badge. The design for the shirt background. Everything about it is perfect.

3. Red Star Paris Green Kit

I mean, why not? Everything I said about the first one applies to this one. For me, the green version just took my fancy a little more than the red. Red Star Green Kit takes the bronze medal.

Before we get into my Top 2, make sure to subscribe to Football Review Show!

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2. Racing de Santander Anniversary Kit

Racing de Santander takes the silver medal with this absolute humdinger of a shirt. I love the pencil stripes. I love the green cuffing on the sleeves and collar. I love the badge, and I love the kit manufacturer logo. Just a perfect shirt in every sense of the word.

1. Latina Calcio Home Kit

And with the gold medal, ladies and gentlemen, is Latina Calcio’s Home Kit- my favourite football kit of 2024/25. And I mean do I even need to say anything? Look at it. Gorgeous colours. Wonderful patterns. The sponsor looks really nice. The design of Latina Calcio’s badge is showstopping. I’ve never heard of Ezeta but what an amazing job you’ve done. Congratulations Latina Calcio; deserved winners. You may have finished 15th in Group C of Serie C, but in my book you’ve just won the Champions League. Bravo.

Thank you so much for reading guys! If you enjoyed this post, why not subscribe to Football Review Show and check out my other posts; it would be greatly appreciated. With the summer transfer window coming up, I’ve got a few posts in mind for that. As well as a Premier League promoted side post in the works as we speak. But for now, mind yourselves, and I’ll catch you in the next one.

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25. SC Farense Away Kit

Coming in at 25, we have SC Farense’s away kit. And it’s stunning. The pencil stripes on the front are what makes this kit special. I don’t know. Maybe it’s too high. But I’m putting it here.

24. Borussia Monchengladbach Home Kit

I really had to think about this one, but in the end it makes the Top 25. I’ll admit, I think it’s a very bold and ballsy kit. This could have gone very wrong, but Puma have stuck to their guns and pulled it out of the bag. I like the light green triangulation on top of the darker green, and the placement of the Puma Gladbach emblem are perfect.

23. AC Milan Home Kit

Yep, it had to be on this list. AC Milan’s 24/25 Home Kit is a thing of beauty. And it’s a case of simple is best. Red and black stripes (or is it black and red?) work a treat. And I like the white cuffing on the collar and sleeve, plus the sponsor looks nice. Defo a winner.

22. Eintracht Frankfurt Home Kit

Nike have done really well with this kit here. Again, a similar case to the AC Milan kit; sometimes simple is best. However, what perhaps sets this kit apart from Milan’s is its tinge of originality; notice the grey star on the bottom of the shirt. If it wasn’t there in the first place, I probably wouldn’t care that much. But the fact that it’s there makes this shirt unique.

21. Crystal Palace Home Shirt

Congratulations to Crystal Palace for their FA Cup success this season. Truly deserved. And what a kit to win it in. This is my favourite ever Crystal Palace Kit, and I’m sure many will agree with me. Such a colourful and vibrant kit. And the best thing is this design could only belong to one team even if you took away the crest. Macron have smashed it. Now the sponsor isn’t terrible, but it obviously isn’t great. However even that doesn’t dampen the brilliance of this kit.

20. FC Barcelona Home Kit

This kit had to be on the list. And I will say, this is easily Barcelona’s best Home Kit in a long time. It is certainly a million miles away from the disaster that was the 21/22 Home Kit. And another great thing that helps make this kit; when I look at it, players like Lamine Yamal and Raphinha instantly come to mind. This is gonna be an all-time classic in a few years in my opinion.

19. Arsenal Third Kit

Finally! An Arsenal kit! And what a kit this is. Arsenal are notorious for producing KOTS (Kit of the Season) contenders year after year, and here it’s no different. First of all, love the black. Definitely conveys a sense of elitism and high-end performance. And I love the green and red accents on the collar and sleeves, of course paying homage to the Pan-Africa flag. Plus I enjoy the zebra coloured teamgeist template at the shoulders and waist. Very nice.

18. Uganda Home Kit

Wake up babe, the Uganda Home Kit has made the FRS Top 25 Kits of 24/25. Yep, that’s right. And it deserves it. I mean, what a kit. For some reason, it’s giving me serious South Africa 2010 World Cup vibes. I love the balance between red and black, plus the Uganda FA club crest is a lovely design. And also the kit manufacturer’s logo, Janzi, as well as the 100th anniversary is a lovely touch.

17. Wolfsburg Away Kit

This is a lovely kit by Wolfsburg and Nike. Again really simple, but really effective. I love the dark green and black combination, coupled with the neon green Nike, Wolfsburg and Volkswagen emblems. Really good kit.

16. Mexico Home Kit

Another national team kit and this time it’s Mexico! Such a nice kit, and how many times do I have to say it? Sometimes simple is best. I really enjoy the central placement of the adidas original emblem and the mexico crest is a thing of beauty. Coupled with the detailing on the side of the shirt, with the gold and black, this is a special kit.

15. Valencia Home Kit

Maybe it is a surprise to see this kit rank so highly, but personally I love it. You can’t go wrong with a gold, black and white colour combo, plus the red La Liga logo really sings and provides a nice contrast to the other colours. It’s a yes from me.

14. Minnesota United Home Kit

    

    This really is a work of art. Where do I even begin with Minnesota United’s Home Kit? The shirt’s main background of a blue nebula of sorts, combined with white flecks that resemble stars, looks gorgeous. Plus I really like Minnesota’s crest. And if you haven’t guessed it, the shirt sponsor is Sorare- a fantasy football game I enjoy playing.

13. NEC Nijmegan Home Kit

This kit sings. Lovely combo of white and burgundy. Nice sponsor. Great badge and manufacturer logo. Not to mention the excellent detailing for the shirt’s background, which appears to be an eagle of sorts. Really good.

12. Real Betis Home Kit

Vamos Betis! The Europa Conference League finalists make it into the Top 12 of the FRS KOTS Awards. This is such a nice kit, and is actually a kit that I’m glad to say I own! And similar to the Barca kit, when I look at this Betis top I am reminded of players like Antony and Isco. If they win the UECL, this kit will go down in history. Why do I like it? Simple is best. Green and white stripes. Lovely. Hummel kit. Lovely. Betis crest. Super.

11. Olympique Lyonnais Away Kit

Like their Europa League Quarter-Final, Lyon were so close to glory, to being one of my favourite 10 kits of 2024/25. But not quite. Still, this is an absolute humdinger of a kit. In fact, it is definitely a kit I’d like to pick up in the near future. What do I keep telling you? Simple is best. And that’s exactly what Lyon and Adidas have done here, with a little twist of originality in the form of the OL brick-like pattern for the shirt’s base. The red and blue half-and-half on both sleeves and sides are gorgeous, and I do like a Fly Emirates sponsor on my football kits.

If you’ve reached the end, well done! I knew you could do it. Thanks so much for reading. Make sure to subscribe to find out my Favourite 10 Kits of the 2024/25 season. But until then, catch you later and see you in the next one.

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30. Randers Home Kit

I love the map design on this one. Very unique for a football shirt.

29. Vitoria SC Away Kit

This is a lovely sleek-looking all-black kit. Can’t really go wrong.

28. RC Lens Away Kit

Similar in colour to the 40th-placed Augsburg Away Kit. Beautiful colour, nice sponsor, I also like the hammer emblem pattern across the front of the shirt.

27. Besiktas Home Kit

This is one of my favourite Adidas kits from 2024/25. The Teamgeist template really works with these colours. Lovely kit.

26. Portland Timbers Home Kit

Our first MLS kit! Yes, Portland Timbers’ Home Kit had to make this list. I love the colour, the gold really sings as well, nice front-of-shirt sponsor. Portland Timbers have a great crest design. I’ve just noticed the 75th anniversary detail too, and the Apple TV+ sleeve sponsor is nice too.

Thanks for reading this short post guys. In the next one I’ll be concluding my favourite football shirts of 2024/25 ranked, and crowning the winner! You won’t want to miss it.

Now I love me some away-end limbs. And today I thought I’d share with you some of my personal favourite instances of away limbs, but at the Emirates. Now this is a rather strange topic when considering that I myself am an Arsenal fan. And yes, you’d be right to think that. But for me there is something oddly appealing about the Emirates away end. And I’m gonna attempt to explain why very briefly. I think it’s cos when you’re watching a game at the Emirates on TV, you can very clearly see the away end in the picture, and also it’s often packed to the rafters. And in quite a lot of cases any time the away team scores it completely sets off the Emirates away end into absolute delirium. So today, I’m going to be ranking my favourite away-end limbs at Emirates Stadium. Let’s go.

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1. Arsenal 1-2 Olympiakos, Europa League R032 2nd Leg, 27th February 2020, Youseff El Arabi 119’

This one still hurts today. And it so happened to happen on a night where both Manchester United and Wolves cruised through their European knockout games. But not us. Youseff El-Arabi scored in the 119th minute, in front of the Emirates away end, and absolute pandemonium broke out among the Olympiakos supporters. I swear any time I hear the words El-Arabi a shiver rolls down my spine. And I am instantly taken back to Peter Drury’s haunting commentary, exclaiming the Moroccan forwards’ name in jubilation. And don’t even mention Aubameyang’s chance at the end of the game.

2. Arsenal 3-1 FC Koln, Europa League Group Stage MD1, 14th September 2017, K.O. FT and Jhon Cordoba 9’

Possibly the best away supporters we’ve hosted at Emirates Stadium. Apparently some 20,000 Koln fans were in attendance to watch the game in Arsenal 60,000-seater stadium. Of course, hearing this statistic reminds me of FC Barcelona’s Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022, where the German team packed out the Nou Camp. Returning to Koln now, I came across an interesting testimony by an Arsenal fan who was at the Koln game, commenting:

“The streets looked like Germany had won the World Cup! I met a couple of Cologne fans in the pub who ended up sitting next to us, we ended up talking, chatting and celebrating… The atmosphere was fantastic… My boy has never experienced anything like that and I said to him: ‘I just wish Arsenal fans could be like this!’” Source: talkSport Twitter.

Here some really interesting points are brought up, namely about camaraderie in football, which is lovely to see, and the differences in football fan culture between England and Germany. I definitely think there is a debate to be had about that topic, but that’s for another day.

3. Arsenal 0-1 Paris Saint-Germain, Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg, 29th April 2025

The most recent example to make the list, PSG fans were in fine voice for this semi-final first leg and unfortunately put Arsenal fans to shame with their fervour and ferocity. But again, as above, maybe that’s just a difference in football fan culture? Anyway, it was all happening in the away end; flares and all. Shame about the result, but as an Arsenal fan you had to admire PSG’s travelling support who were as impressive in the stands as their team were on the pitch. Tres bien.

4. Arsenal 0-2 Newcastle, Carabao Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg, 7th January 2025, Anthony Gordon 51’

Newcastle went on to win this competition, ending their 70-year wait for a major trophy, but this one hurts. I will say when I hear the words ‘Newcastle fan’ the first images that come to mind are shirtless men in their fifties and fans serenading Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton. And the game against Arsenal was no exception. As much as I don’t particularly like Newcastle fans, I will admit they are super passionate and boisterous (probably some of the most passionate fans in the country).

5. Arsenal v Atletico Madrid, Europa League Semi-Final 1st Leg, 26th April 2025, Antoine Griezmann 82’

Another one that sort of hurts to this day. This was Arsene Wenger’s final European tie as Arsenal manager, and as a manager period. I can safely say we dominated this game, and yet as always we failed to capitalise on the numerous chances we created, and playing against 10 men. But credit to Atletico Madrid. They hung in there, and hit us on the break. Antoine Griezmann performing the ‘Take the L’ celebration. So 2018. Urrrrgh.

Thanks so much for reading the latest post from Football Review Show guys. Hope you enjoyed it, and let me know if you’d like me to cover your own stadiums’ best away end limbs, or even your own club’s best away end limbs. I’m sure I’ll be doing an Arsenal version very soon! All the best for now, catch you in the next one.

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I came up with this idea as I was watching Everton’s final game at Goodison Park against Southampton. And there’s no better a place (literally) to start. Let’s talk about Goodison Park, which was first opened on August 24th 1892. Now, as a neutral, Goodison Park is one of my favourite grounds in world football. I was reading the latest copy of The Observer (other newspapers are available) where I came across an excellent feature by Rory Smith, showcasing a selection of photographs of Everton’s ground; it is slap bang in the middle of the local community.

Literally.

As you can see, Goodison Park is a stadium surrounded by rows of terraced houses, but it is far from being an island. Instead it is the epicentre, the mecca, of the local community. I can recall the numerous games Arsenal have played there over the years, the latest and last being a 1-1 draw in April, but for me there is one image, one moment that stands out from the rest; and it’s Alexis Sanchez taking a tumble into the Everton stand that hugs the touchline, then proceeding to sit in one of the vacant seats for a moment, pausing for a brief moment in the most curious case of role reversal. For me, it is that image that essentially epitomises the intimacy, the familiarity, the connectedness of Everton’s stadium, where fans are right beside the action. It is in stark contrast to fans’ experience of London Stadium, the ‘home’ of West Ham United.

Moreover, I wanted to share with you a short but sweet tribute to Goodison Park written by an Everton fan named John Barlow that I came across in the latest issue of The Observer. It goes like this:

“The second row of the Family Enclosure, FE 2, Row B, Seat 21. That has been my seat at Goodison for 16 years.

So close to the pitch it feels like you are about to receive a pass. There with my dad and my little sister, we saw all our favourites from Cahill to Fellaini, from Baines and Pienaar, from Lukaku to Richarlison. Coleman is always Mr Everton. Strangers sitting around us turned into friends who you would grab to celebrate with the second the ball hit the net.

Applauding the Everton substitutes in front of us and booing any opposition coming toward us.

The massive hotdogs,

The scalding hot pies,

The cold winter nights under the lights. Thank you for the memories, seat 21.”

No AI model could ever come close to writing something like this. Only flesh and blood. What I love about this is the imagery that it evokes. The specificity of the time and place. The name drops. The sensations. All of it paints a picture of togetherness, love and affection. And all of this made me think: this must have been how Arsenal fans, Spurs fans, West Ham fans and many more were feeling when they saw their team play at Highbury, White Hart Lane, and Boleyn Ground for the final time. And it also made me think: one could liken Everton’s Goodison goodbye to moving house from your childhood home, but on a much, much larger scale.

Anyway, that’s my piece on Everton and Goodison Park. Let’s move on to some other notable football farewells.

Jamie Vardy

“It’s eleven, it’s HEAVEN for Jamie Vardy! HOLD the back page. HOLD the front page- a Leicester player has SMASHED the record!”

Those were the words Martin Tyler exclaimed after Jamie Vardy scored an historic goal against Manchester United back in 2015 to break the record for the longest run of goals in consecutive games. Eleven.

And Fantastic Mr Fox will, or has depending when you’re reading this, played his final game in a Leicester City shirt against Ipswich Town. Signed from Fleetwood Town FC on 18th May 2012, Vardy’s final outing for the Foxes takes place exactly 13 years on from the day he signed. I’ll quickly list the honours, both individual and club, he has won during his time at the club:

• 2015/16 Premier League winner

• 2015/16 Premier League Player of the Season

• 2016 Footballer of the Year

• 2019/20 Premier League Golden Boot

• 2021 FA Cup winner

• 2021 Community Shield winner

• 2014/15 Championship winner

• 2023/24 Championship winner

For a player who made his Premier League debut at the age of 27, the honours he has achieved become even more remarkable. Leicester City’s greatest player of the modern era. Perhaps, even, Leicester’s greatest ever player.

Kevin de Bruyne

Another of one of the Prem’s greatest players from the past ten years to depart their club is Kevin de Bruyne, who has spent the past 10 seasons balling out at Manchester City. Time and time again, and in some of the biggest games, he has proven himself to be one of Pep Guardiola’s most pivotal players. Allow me to list his individual and club honours as a Man City player below:

• 2017/18, 2018/19, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 Premier League winner

• 2023 Champions League winner

• 2019 and 2023 FA Cup winner

• 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 League Cup winner

• 2024 FIFA Club World Cup winner

• 2023 Super Cup winner

• 2018, 2019 and 2024 Community Shield Winner

• 2019/20 and 2021/22 Player of the Year

• 2020 and 2021 Player of the Year

Simply amazing. But every football can appreciate how Kevin de Bruyne was so much more than the honours alone. The passes. The captains’ displays. The long-range screamers. And everything in between. Some of my favourite moments of his include his sublime cross field curled pass for Leroy Sane to score against Stoke in 2017, his left-footed strike against Chelsea the same year, his Quarter-Final goal against Brazil in the 2018 World Cup, his title-winning assist to Ilkay Gundogan in their 3-2 comeback win versus Aston Villa in 2022, his free kick at Leicester the same year, his performance against Arsenal at the Etihad during the 2022/23 title race and his goal against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu in the 2023 Champions League semi-final. But now the question is where will he play next? Will it be in the Premier League? Will it be in the Saudi Pro League? I’m sure all will be revealed soon enough.

Carlo Ancelotti

It’s been a disappointing end to what was once a promising season for Real Madrid, a season that was supposed to herald in the Galacticos 2.0 era, but has instead been quashed by Hansi Flick’s imperious Barcelona side, and Arsenal in the UCL. But still nobody can deny that Carlo Ancelotti is a Real Madrid leyenda. He has won 13 trophies as Los Blancos manager across two spells, lifting three Champions Leagues, as many as Zidane, two of which were won without Cristiano Ronaldo, in 2014, 2022 and 2024. He has also won two La Liga titles, two Club World Cups, two European Super Cups, two Copas del Rey and two Spanish Super Cups. Truly incredible. And nobody will ever forget those incredible dance moves of his after last year’s Champions League final, putting Vinicius, Paqueta et al to shame! Maybe he can teach them some moves in his new job as Brazil manager.

Thomas Muller

For me, Thomas Muller is Mr. Bayern. He joined the Bayern academy at the age of 10, made his senior debut on 15th August 2008, and now after 750 appearances Muller will depart Bayern when his contract ends on 30th June 2025. To find a one-club player in this day and age is unbelievably rare. Thomas Muller’s individual and club honours are absolutely phenomenal. Here they are:

• 2014 World Cup winner

• 2013 and 2020 Champions League winner

• 2014 and 2021 Club World Cup winner

• 13-time Bundesliga winner: 2009/10, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25

• 2013 and 2020 European Super Cup

• 6-time DFB Pokal Cup winner: 2009/10, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2015/16, 2018/19 and 2019/20

• 8-time German Super Cup winner

• 2010 World Cup Golden Boot

Truly legendary in every sense of the word. His devotion. His commitment. His contribution. His loyalty. His goals. His assists. His smile. Danke Thomas.

Honourable mentions:

• Xabi Alonso leaving Bayer Leverkusen after winning an historic league and cup double in 2023/24, and going the whole 2023/24 domestic season unbeaten.

• Victor Lindelof, who has been at Manchester United since July 2017 and has made 282 appearances, will leave on a free transfer at the end of his contract.

• Alexandre Lacazette, who returned to his boyhood club in 2022, but played for Lyon between 2010 and 2017, and has made 391 appearances and scored 201 goals, will leave on a free transfer at the end of his contract.

• Aaron Cresswell, who has been at West Ham United since August 2014, has made 367 appearances, scoring 37 goals, winning the Europa Conference League in 2023, will leave on a free transfer at the end of his contract.

• Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been at Liverpool since 2005, has made 353 appearances, making 115 (coincidence?) goal contributions, including 92 assists, winning the 2018/19 Champions League, the 2019/20 Premier League, the 2019 European Super Cup, the 2020 Club World Cup, the 2022 Community Shield, the 2022 and 2024 League Cup and the 2022 FA Cup, will join Real Madrid on a free transfer at the end of his contract, or before the end of his contract for a small fee.

  

  Thanks so much for reading guys! If you enjoyed this article, it would be amazing if you could subscribe to my Substack to keep up to date on the latest posts! Also comment down below any players/managers that I’ve missed out! Enjoy the rest of your day folks, and I’ll catch you in the next one.

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Recently, I have been nostalgic about various football items from the early 2010s; namely the Euro 2012 Tango ball, the Nike Premier League T90 Tracer Ball from 2010/11, Adidas F50s from 2012/13, Nike Mercurials from 2012 and 2014 and old iron-on Premier League badges on team shirts. The golden years of Topps Premier League Match Attax. Indeed, I have recently been acquiring some items on Vinted- which is essentially a second-hand marketplace- for the above items, which include:

• a Euro 2012 ball

• a Nike T90 Tracer ball

• a Nike Maxim Ball

• a Nike Mercurial Vapor IV

• a Adidas F50 2013

• a joblot of 1500 random football cards

• an Arsenal shirt 20/21

• a Celtic shirt 20/21

Why? Because ever more am I becoming divorced, disillusioned with the current state of football; the VAR stoppages, the cheap and mass-produced templated Adidas kits who no longer stitch the club badges onto it, the boring Nike PL matchball designs, the lack of jeopardy, Arsenal’s trophy drought, the bloated UCL, the void left by Messi and Ronaldo, and much more; and ever more am I dabbling and revelling in the good old times of football which, for me, were between the years 2010 and 2019. After 2019 things just stopped feeling real for some reason (I think we know why).

But interestingly, football companies appear to be dabbling into these good old times themselves, mining fans’ nostalgia for monetary gain. And that’s what we’re gonna talk about today. Nostalgia in football. How are football manufacturers mining fans’ nostalgia for monetary gain? Does it indicate a continuing lack of inspiration and invention on the manufacturers’ part? Is it a hallmark of late-stage capitalism? Do I like it? We’re gonna get into all of that over the next few words. So strap yourselves in folks. Welcome to the Football Review Show.

Okay, let’s begin the discussion by listing a few recent examples of football manufacturers manufacturing items that directly tap into fans’ nostalgia. But let’s be more specific. What is nostalgic in a football context? Honestly, I think it can be anything these days. A single moment. A single goal. A particular player. A crazy 4-4 game from the past that had no consequence on that particular season but was memorable nonetheless. A dodgy referee. An iconic kit. An iconic ball. An iconic boot. Anything really. Its origin is irrational, but nonetheless nostalgic things in football crop up time after time after time. Okay, let’s look at some recent examples, which I’ll list:

• Adidas Teamgeist template from 2006 making a return for the 2024/25 season

• Adidas releasing like-for-like replicas of Adidas Teamgeist ball from 2006, which recently featured as the matchball for the 2025 UEFA Nations League Quarter-Finals.

• Premier League Heritage Collection of Footballs; rereleased Nike Seitero 2011/12 and Nike Ordem 2015/16

• Anniversary Kits aplenty, and retro badges. Newcastle United, Bayern, Brentford and others

• Liverpool 20-year Carlsberg Istanbul 2005

• Barcelona 125 year anniversary half-and-half blue red kit honours 1999 kit

• Arsenal 23/24 Gold Invincible-inspired home kit from 2023/24

• PSG Away kit honours 1991/92 kit

• Manchester City paying homage to blue and green Brother away kit from 1999.

• Adidas paying homage to F50 boots released in early 2010s with their new F50 model

• Nike rereleasing the 2013 Hypervenom Black and Orange colourway at end of May 2025

• Premier league 22/23 ball pays homage to Mitre balls of first Prem season

• final prem ball pays homage to the 04/05 and 05/06 T90 matchballs.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of this, then. First of all, one benefit of paying homage to things from the past, or indeed carbon copy rereleasing something from the past is it gives people who didn’t get their hands on it first time a chance to buy the item. For instance, the original Nike Hypervenom black orange boot will be rereleased at the end of May (genius move by Nike) and it will give lots of people a chance to buy it who didn’t pick one up back in 2013. However, there could also be an argument made for these football manufacturers exploiting fans; the rumoured price for the rereleased Hypervenoms is $250. Sheesh. But then again, Nike could charge $300 and they would still get a ton of sales.

Anyway, I wanna leave the rest up to you guys. What are your thoughts on nostalgia in football? Is it a good or a bad thing? And also what item from the past would you like to be rereleased today? Let me know down below. And don’t forget to subscribe! Happy weekend folks, and catch you in the next one.

40. FC Augsburg Away Kit

Lovely green colour.

39. Uganda Fourth Kit

Lovely contrast between the yellow and navy

38. Chad Away Kit

Again, I’m a sucker for navy and interesting pattern

37. NAC Breda Home Kit

The shirt sponsor is really cool and unique (if you’re outside The Netherlands, as OK is apparently a petrol station there) but looks like the KFC font too and I like the text that runs diagonally along the shirt.

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36. Blackburn Rovers Home Kit

An impeccable kit. Lovely half-and-half between blue and white with a dash of red in the middle for the sponsor. Great kit. Hope to see them back in the Prem soon.

35. Leeds United Away Kit

Ellis Patton a.k.a. Away Days won’t be so happy about how low this banger of a Leeds kit is. It is a lovely kit. I love the retro badge. Maybe it’s a bit too yellow and yellow isn’t my favourite colour on a football shirt. The Red Bull logo is a bit too prominent too in my opinion. But had to be on this list for its simplicity and originality.

34. Galatasaray Third Kit

I really had to think about this one. Nice kit, good combo of colours. Not entirely sure about the non-straight lines on the shirt, though, it sort of bothers me. Still a lovely shirt though.

33. Galatasaray Away Kit

Galatasaray’s best kit this season. Sometimes simple is the best.

32. Boavista Home Kit

I like the chequered pattern on the shirt, and you don’t see Kelme too often either. Giving me Newcastle United x Croatia vibes.

31. Ipswich Town Away Kit

Ipswich fans are unfortunately dancing with their eyes closed back down to the Championship, but their away kit from this season is lovely. Great colour combined with the Umbro, and the Ed Sheeran sponsor emblazoned in gold.

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Cristiano Ronaldo. Neymar Jr (for a time). Ronaldo. Sergio Ramos (for a time). Andres Iniesta (for a time). Robert Lewandowski. Kevin de Bruyne. Franck Ribery. Luka Modric And most recently, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Erling Haaland, but to name a few of the litany of players to have represented the Nike brand.

The defining images of some of the best players at the biggest clubs in world football, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Chelsea, wearing kits made by Nike, holding aloft countless league titles and European trophies.

The game-changing Magista Obra and Mercurial Superfly football boots, released in 2014, transforming and revolutionising the football boot landscape like we had never seen before, or since. The revered Nike Hypervenom boot released a year prior, donned and immortalised by the likes of Neymar Jr, Wayne Rooney and… Daniel Sturridge.

The 25 year tapestry of Nike Premier League Matchballs, each design totally different and unique to its predecessors, struck, volleyed, parried and passed around by some of the games’ greatest ever players.

The history. The beauty. The audacity.

Imagine if all of this didn’t exist. Imagine.

And yet, something isn’t right. Nike, or rather Nike Football, have fallen behind. In my opinion, they are not the same football manufacturer/marketing powerhouse they were, say, 10 years ago. And I don’t think it’s being talked about enough. Today, I would like to take the opportunity to explore why I believe Nike have fallen behind in the ever-changing, ever-evolving wheeler-dealer triopoly tussle between themselves, Adidas and Puma. I will explore some of Nike Football’s biggest setbacks, particularly in regards to losing kit and matchball deals, and a small note too on player boot deals. Let’s get into it.

Now before we properly start, there is perhaps an argument to make that Nike were never the top dogs in the football manufacturing/marketing world. To be honest, that would be valid and I could accept that. Adidas, for instance, have held the rights to manufacture the World Cup and European Championship Matchballs for donkeys’ years. Some may assert Adidas have always held the rights to manufacture the Champions League ball; however that is entirely false. For Nike held the rights to manufacture the UCL balls between 1998 and 2000. Aside from that, it is entirely Adidas.

In this post, I’m not trying to say that Nike have been usurped by Adidas. I believe Adidas have always been ahead of Nike and always will be. What I’m more focused on is how Nike have fallen further behind Adidas, and are also at risk of falling behind Puma. I would like to start by exploring the number of football club kits being manufactured by Nike across some of Europe’s premier divisions today in comparison to 5 and 10 years ago. Let’s have a look.

Premier League

Okay, let’s look at the teams Nike and Adidas currently manufacture for and the teams they manufactured for in their heyday, which for Nike I believe is the 2013/14 season. It’s quite interesting. So on one hand, as of 2024/25 (4) Nike have as many teams on their roster as they did in 2013/14 (4). But let’s compare the teams below:

Nike 24/25: Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Brighton

Nike 13/14: Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Everton

I believe Nike had better teams in 13/14.

Also, by the end of the 2013/14 season, Nike had the four most recent winners of the Prem on their books and eight of the last eleven winners (largely thanks to Manchester United).

Meanwhile, Adidas only had one of the last eleven winners, that being Chelsea in 09/10, but did have NINE teams on their roster, compared with Nike’s FOUR, although here it’s a case of QUALITY OVER QUANTITY.

Adidas 13/14: Chelsea, Fulham, Hull, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, West Brom West Ham.

Nike 13/14: Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Everton

Let’s compare that to today:

Adidas 24/25: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Fulham, Leicester, Manchester United, Newcastle United, and Nottingham Forest. (7)

Nike 24/25: Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Brighton (4)

And not to mention, Adidas have added PL Champions Liverpool to their roster for the 2025/26 season. So now it’s 8 to 3 in favour of Adidas.

But how did all of this happen?

Well, Nike lost Arsenal, in 2014, and Manchester United, in 2015, to Puma and Adidas respectively.

Nike were able to sign Chelsea and Spurs in Summer 2017, the former from Adidas, but ultimately Manchester City’s switch from the swoosh to the Puma in 2019 proved to be their biggest loss. City went on to win four Premier League titles in a row between 2021 and 2024.

So now Nike’s most recent PL winner on their roster is Chelsea, who won it eight years ago. For Adidas it’s Liverpool, and for Puma it’s Manchester City.

In short, Nike don’t have the big names anymore.

In 2015, they had 2013 winners 20-time champions Man Utd, 2014 winners Man City and 1987 winners Everton.

In 2025, they currently have 2017 winners Chelsea, 1961 winners Spurs and non-winners Brighton.

Matchballs

Retaining the rights to the matchballs for big leagues has been a big problem of late for Nike. I mean, take a look. They lost the rights for La Liga to Puma ahead of the 2019/20 season. Three years later they would lose the rights to produce Serie A matchballs to, yet again, Puma. In fact Puma have made it a hattrick of filches from Nike after recently acquiring the rights to produce the Premier League ball ahead of the 2025/26 season. Moreover, Nike have also lost the rights to Conmebol, Concacaf, and the UEFA Womens Euros. Although it’s not like Adidas haven’t lost key matchball manufacturing deals in recent years. Ahead of the 2017/18 season, Adidas lost the rights to manufacture the Ligue 1 matchball, before losing the rights to produce both the Bundesliga and Europa League matchball a year later. However, it has been confirmed Adidas will produce matchballs for the Bundesliga from 2027 onwards.

Personally, I am particularly saddened by the news Nike will no longer manufacture Nike balls for the Premier League, although I am excited to see what Puma will do for the upcoming season, and beyond. After all, I think it is time to see a better blend of novelty and tradition with the Premier League matchball designs. I haven’t been the biggest fan of the most recent Nike Premier League matchballs. In fact, I would go as far as to say the last designs I properly liked were the 2020/21 Autumn and Winter matchballs. And I am not a fan of the Aerowsculpt technology; it doesn’t need to have the aerodynamic equivalent of a golf ball, Nike, okay?

Kit Deals

It appears that over the past few seasons Club Kit deals for Nike have dropped off a cliff. I mean, can you tell me when their last major club kit contract was? Off the top of my head, probably Liverpool in 2020, and of course recently Adidas have taken up that privilege from Nike for the 2025/26 season and beyond. Of course, Nike still have a number of Europe’s biggest teams on their roster, not least FC Barcelona who seem to be slowly but surely returning to something of the force they once were. Also you have Inter Milan and PSG, both of whom are 2025 UCL Finalists, as well as Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea; the latter two having not performed lately but are nonetheless big assets. And that’s not to mention Atletico Madrid, who won La Liga as recently as 2021. Another big team on their books is Eintracht Frankfurt, who won the Europa League three years ago.

Now, it appears that Nike are not as fixated on acquiring football clubs to their roster, but rather more so on national teams. It has been confirmed that from 2027 Nike will become the new kit manufacturers of the German National Team, deposing current manufacturers Adidas who have been manufacturing DfB kits outrightly since 1980. That is a huge acquisition for Nike, who now boast some of the biggest national teams in international football; England, France, Brazil, Germany, and Croatia. And Portugal would normally be on that list also, but Puma have recently acquired the rights from Nike to manufacture A Seleção’s kits from 2025 onwards. Personally, I’m more interested in the state of play at club level rather than international level, but nonetheless it is interesting to see the constant developments in that area.

Boot Deals

A quick word on boot deals now. As I’ve already mentioned, Nike have produced some of the greatest football boots of all time. In fact, I would go as far as to say their best ever designs are better than Adidas’ best, but that’s a debate for another day. In regard to boot deals, this is a highly competitive area for football companies, who constantly have to liaise with players and their agents to get them onto lucrative boot deals and ensure they honour their contract. I’ve already listed a few of the most eminent names to don Nike football boots.

But it’s fair to say that over the last 18 years there has been nobody more instrumental in elevating Nike’s status in the football world than one man. You’ve probably guessed it by now. Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro. CR7. Never mind his goals, the man has 31 signature boots to his name, and is arguably the guy who pioneered the signature boot in football. Moreover, he is one of only three athletes ever to have signed the mythical Nike Lifetime deal. Ronaldo for much of his career has been a football manufacturer paradox; wearing Nike boots in a Real Madrid Adidas kit, the same at Al Nassr. It was obviously a clash, and it begs the question: what do we remember more, the Real Madrid Adidas kits, or the Nike Mercurials?

Personally, I remember the Nike Mercurials more, especially some of his signature boots from 2015 and 2016. But anyway, it could be argued Ronaldo’s stock has fallen a little during his time in Saudi Arabia, away from the limelight of the major European Leagues (Ronaldo superfans don’t come at me). Nike are, as many companies do, focusing on now but also looking towards the future, evident in some of their marquee players. Erling Haaland. Vinicius Junior. Kylian Mbappe. But there’s one player I would like to talk about, who is perhaps in the same category as Ronaldo career-wise; past his peak, not playing in Europe anymore. And that is Neymar Jr. As you’ll probably know, Neymar was on Nike’s roster for the entirety of his Barcelona days, and a large portion of his PSG days, but was snapped up by Puma in an historic deal back in September 2020. Now hindsight is a wonderful thing, but looking back I actually think Nike were very shrewd. Arguably Neymar’s golden years were between the years 2011 and 2018, especially during Barcelona’s treble-winning 2014-15 campaign. Him and Hypervenom boots are as great a pairing as 18/19 Aubameyang and Lacazette. But that’s enough boot talk for one day. Who is winning the football boot contest at the moment? Without getting into it too much, I do think Nike are winning. Just. Off the top of my head, Adidas boast the likes of Yamine Lamal, Raphinha, Jude Bellingham, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Pedri and Lionel Messi. Puma haven’t got the names to contend with Adidas and Nike. So yes for the moment Nike lead the pack for football boots.

Conclusion

So over the course of this post we’ve taken a look at the state of Nike Football in 2025. And for me it’s mixed. On one hand, Nike are still Nike at the end of the day. No matter what, even if they were to lose every player, kit and matchball, they would not lose their prestige. They have produced too many showstopping boots, kits and balls across the years for that to happen. But there is something to be said for the decline they are in. Losing countless matchball contracts to their rivals, particularly the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga to Puma over the past six seasons, isn’t a good look. Nor is losing contracts to numerous big European teams; Liverpool, Galatasaray, RB Leipzig in the past year. However, they still boast many superstars on their football boot roster, which may be their saving grace, alongside the recent historic Germany kit deal. Overall, it’s hard to say where Nike are at the moment in the football manufacturing war. They have lost many battles to their rivals, but ultimately the war still rages on.