Maresca heads for Chelsea, Mourinho linked with Fenerbahce: football news – live | Football

As holiday season approaches, I am off to a hotel where I saw Rangers’ John Lundstram at breakfast (twice) last summer. Send me your holiday interactions with footballers.

Joey Lynch reports on Australia’s late equaliser and the rest from their draw with China.

Daniel Karamanski emails: “Peppermint tea -> Better for you, third cup of coffee -> More entertaining for us.”

For reasons beyond my control – taking someone to the airport – I’ve been up since 5.15am. This is at the heart of the matter. Not to mention, I am on solo parenting duty do need to be vaguely alert this evening. It’s a tricky balance.

I was listening to the Socially Distant Sports Bar this week where Mike Bubbins explained he had seven or eight coffees a day, which sounds ludicrous.

Tuck into the sports quiz over lunch.

Will Gareth Southgate stay on as England manager beyond the Euros? David Hytner takes a look.

The managerial comings and goings do not end when the season does. Burton’s Martin Paterson has said goodbye to the League One club at the end of his short-term contract.

Chairman Ben Robinson told the club website: “Martin took up the managerial position under very difficult circumstances in January and he worked extremely hard with the support of his backroom staff, which saw the club secure its League One status.
“The club thanks Martin for his efforts during his time at Burton Albion and wish him well for the future.”

Hello! I am here for the remainder of this Friday afternoon blog. What larks we should have as I debate whether to have a third coffee of the day or a peppermint tea. Stay tuned!

And that’s the end of my two-hour stint. It’s been a pleasure as always. Here’s Will Unwin to steer you through to your Friday evening beverages.

Crystal Palace are about to unveil a summer signing. Centre-back Chadi Riad will join them from Barcelona after spending a season on loan at Real Betis.

Marco Reus has been in trademark defiant mood, speaking ahead of what could be a truly special farewell for him in the Champions League final tomorrow night. Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid is his final game in the famous black and yellow and he’s been speaking to TNT Sports about his team’s chances.

“Sure, Real is the favourite. But I don’t care, because the role of favourite doesn’t decide who wins the game,” said Reus.

“Both teams will prepare well and then it will depend on their form on the day. It depends on a lot of things: willpower, fitness – after all, it can go on for longer than 90 minutes.

“We are definitely very, very fit. We have a very strong desire to win the final. In the last 10 years, Real have been in the final five or six times and have not lost any of these finals – so it’s time for us to do it.”

Isn’t it time we gave Leicester some airtime, rather than Chelsea, when it comes to Enzo Maresca? Matthew Jones thinks so.

With Maresca leaving Leicester, could we please have something on how it affects the Foxes?

There was a resounding shrug from every Leicester fan I know, with many of us sceptical about whether we wanted to watch Jannik Vestergaard walking around the centre circle with the ball at his feet while we quietly get relegated ‘playing football the right way’.

Is it possible that Man City are winning things because of all the money they’ve (definitely within the rules) spent over the years? Or is it just because Pep Guardiola has finally figured out the correct way to do football, and everyone he’s even had a brief encounter with is therefore a good football manager?

Who might Leicester realistically get in, given that we may well be deducted points?

Steve Cooper, Carlos Corberan, Graham Potter and Ruud van Nistelrooy are the main men in the running, according to latest odds and reports. Potter would be my man, personally. As for the spread of Pepball around the continent, that seems pretty unstoppable at this point, Matthew.

On the issue of player welfare, Tim Woods has an excellent email:

Regarding player welfare: why not set a maximum number of games a player can play in a season, say 45 or 50? Every club has a squad and there is no rule a player has to play every time. Obviously getting rid of daft ideas like the expanded Club World Cup/Champions League group stage would make more sense, but that’s never gonna happen.

I’m liking this, Tim, I really am. But I fear the authorities would never agree to it.

Here’s a shot of Jadon Sancho on the ground at Luton Airport having just stepped off Borussia Dortmund’s bespoke plane. Because why not.

Just John McGinn living his best life here. Scotland are going to be fun at the Euros, aren’t they?

Barrow have appointed former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Stephen Clemence as their new manager. The Cumbrian club just missed out on the League Two playoffs in 2023/24 and will be looking to go one better next season.

Fancy a game of Manchester United defensive signing spin-the-wheel? Course you do. Today’s (potential) answers include Jarrad Branthwaite (obviously), Trevor Chalobah and Ronald Araújo. The latter I believe has been linked with United for the past five successive windows. Could be more than five.

And that’s not forgetting previous top answers Tosin Adarabioyo and Jean-Clair Todibo, of course. Here’s a hot take: they can’t sign them all. They’ll probably only sign one of them.

West Ham in talks to sign forward Luis Guilherme

Bellingham for the Ballon D’Or? If Real Madrid win at Wembley tomorrow night, it’s a conversation we could be having …

Former Los Blancos midfielder Claude Makelele has tipped Jude Bellingham to win biggest individual prize in football.

The 20-year-old has had a remarkable debut season at the Bernabeu, scoring 23 goals in all competitions and could cap it off by winning the Champions League on home soil against Borussia Dortmund.

And with Euro 2024 to come, Makelele thinks the England star could claim the biggest individual prize in the game, as he spoke to the PA news agency:

He is a future Ballon D’Or if he continues like this. He can take it, if he wins the Champions League and has a great Euros, I think he will be the winner of the Ballon D’Or. I am so impressed with what he has done. First with the quality he has, then the leadership and how he adapted to LaLiga and Madrid.

No one has done this before. To do what he has done is amazing. A young player like this, he has many years of great football. Also for the national team it will be great to see him play.

I speak from experience (Cardiff 2017) when I say the vibes around the Champions League Festival are always excellent. They’ve looked particularly good in and around Trafalgar Square in London this week. Soak it up, guys.

Aston Villa have unveiled their new badge and, quite frankly, I can’t remember what the old one looked like. There’s not a great deal of difference, is there?

An email from Bert Fill questions David’s earlier point regarding follicly-challenged football managers:

Regarding ‘Does the Premier League really need another bald manager?’ at 10:11… Maresca going to Chelsea doesn’t add a bald manager as he would already have been a bald Premier League manager had he stayed with Leicester.

A good point well made if ever there was one.

There’s a women’s international friendly going on right now, actually, with Australia’s Matildas going a goal down to China in the first half:

England take on France in a Euro 2025 qualifier at St James’ Park tonight, with Lionesses’ captain Leah Williamson set to feature after coming back into the squad in April following a year out injured. England have already dropped points in a tricky qualifying group, drawing with Sweden last month, so victory over an improving French side is paramount, you’d say.

Williamson has spoken to the BBC about the France game:

I think if you go off paper then obviously we are the reigning European champions. It’s easy to forget we’re still in qualifying. A lot has changed.

France have always been a top team despite having not won [a trophy]. They are always tipped as favourites in many of their games as well. I see it as fairly even to be honest but if we have to take that label then we do. That’s been a consistent for us. We knew winning [the Euros] would put a target on our backs but it’s a nice place to be.

I’ve mentioned about the [England] squad and how well they have performed and raised the level so it’s good to be back but we’re obviously missing a couple. It’s a competitive unit to try and get into.

Sheffield Wednesday are trending on Twitter X and I had to have a peak as to why. Turns out it was because of this lovely clip of Chris Powell, the current assistant manager to Danny Röhl. Powell remains one of football’s very best people. Wish him only good things.

Thanks David. And there was me thinking it would be one regular day of Guardian Friday football blog. It’s all I ask for. Will never happen.

That’s my morning cameo complete. I shall hand you over to Dominic Booth for more build-up and manager move shenanigans.

How do the bookies see the Wembley final? Real Madrid are very clear favourites although Dortmund were also underdogs against PSG in the semis.

90-minute odds: 8/13 Real Madrid, 4/1 Dortmund, 10/3 Draw.

Saturday’s Champions League final will be refereed by Slavko Vinčić. Some fun facts about the the 44-year-old Slovenian: He’s a father of two and has taken charge of five Champions League matches this season, showing a combined tally of 19 cards. Three of those came in Dortmund’s quarter-final 4-2 win over Atletico Madrid, Julian Ryerson the only player in the German side to receive a caution.

While Kieran ­McKenna chose to stay put at Ipswich, there has been change at their fierce local rivals Norwich. The Canaries have appointed the Nordsjælland manager Johannes Hoff Thorup as head coach.

For the record, that takes the combined age of the two East Anglian clubs’ managers to 73 (McKenna 38, Thorup 35): three less than Roy Hodgson.

Jamie Carragher won the Champions League with Liverpool in that epic 2005 final against AC Milan in Istanbul. Nowadays, he’s become a star of CBS’s Uefa Champions League Today programme. Here, he talks to Gregg Wakeman about becoming a hit in the US. No mention of who he’ll be cheering on at Wembley but it’s pretty easy to guess with Real Madrid denying Liverpool in two of the last six finals and Carragher immersing himself in the ‘Yellow Wall’ and enjoying more than a few bevvies with the Dortmund fans in their semi-final home leg against PSG.

Had things gone differently at Old Trafford, Jadon Sancho could have been hoisting the FA Cup aloft last weekend. Instead, he could be lifting the Champions League trophy to the Wembley skies with Borussia Dortmund on Saturday night. Andy Brassell looks at the England wideman’s redemption arc.

Jürgen Klopp once linked player welfare to climate change, calling on soccer’s governing bodies to act before it was too late. It normally went down like a lead balloon, sparking tiresome tribalistic tropes about Klopp moaning all the time. Klopp, speaking a couple of months ahead of the 2022 World Cup, had said this: “When I start talking about it, I get really angry… It is like with the climate. We all know it has to change but nobody is saying what we have to do.”

Klopp lost the will to fight in the end but, as he steps aside, the players themselves are now saying enough is enough. No doubt social media will tell them to stop being tired given all the wonga they earn. Because those two things are linked, right.

Mourinho set for Fenerbahçe

“I am extremely proud to have signed a new contract with the club. We have enjoyed incredible success together over the last two seasons and I’m excited to have the opportunity and responsibility of leading this fantastic club into its first season in the Premier League in 22 years.” The words of Kieran ­McKenna after putting pen to a new deal with Ipswich.

Brighton, Chelsea and Manchester United were all interested but McKenna has decided to stay put, the decision perhaps helped by the 38-year-old now becoming one of the highest-paid managers in England.

Chelsea agree terms with Maresca

Gareth Bale knows a thing or too about the Champions League. He won it five times and scored one of the greatest goals ever seen in a final: that overhead kick against Liverpool.

Ahead of Real Madrid v Dortmund on Saturday he gets his chat on with Ewan Murray. Inevitably, there’s some golf talk too. Although nothing about Wales.

Preamble