Vesper

How Chelsea won the Club World Cup: Big bonuses, training-ground deals and ‘scary’ Palmer https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6490171/2025/07/13/Chelsea-club-world-cup-win-story/ When Chelsea weighed up the future of Mauricio Pochettino in May 2024, one factor that came into play was the team’s involvement in the Club World Cup a year later. Sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart, along with Behdad Eghbali, the managing partner of majority owner Clearlake Capital, took the view the 2024-25 campaign and the 2025-26 season should be treated as a double season. This presented a problem if they took a wait-and-see approach with head coach Pochettino, whose contract at Chelsea was a two-year deal ending in 2025. Chelsea did not want the disruption of introducing a new coach just before the Club World Cup, and the window to replace a coach between the Club World Cup and the 2025-26 season would be too tight, which meant they needed to stick or twist with Pochettino. The Argentinian, who is now USMNT head coach, departed and Enzo Maresca arrived. The decision divided Chelsea fans but Maresca ends his first season having secured Champions League football, a Europa Conference league trophy and now — thanks in no small part to Cole Palmer — the title of Club World Cup champions. To defeat Paris Saint-Germain’s previously irrepressible team represents a spectacular achievement for a Chelsea side which had been largely unfancied before the start of the tournament. It aids the sense of a squad building momentum and developing a winning culture no matter what scepticism may exist about the competition. Here, The Athletic tells the story of how they did it. The Club World Cup has always been taken seriously in the Chelsea boardroom, even before FIFA finally secured venues, a broadcaster and sponsors during a frazzling lead-up to the inaugural expanded version of the competition. When deciding upon Pochettino’s fate, Chelsea did not know the precise riches on offer but FIFA had made clear there would be the potential of Champions League-level money. In the end, Chelsea leave the United States $114 million (£84.5m) better off as the winners in the tournament. That figure will be subject to taxes and must be set against Chelsea not being able to do their own money-spinning pre-season tour, but it remains an essential windfall in the context of the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) and UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules. Spending on players such as Joao Pedro made the CWC windfall crucial for Chelsea (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images) Chelsea were recently punished by UEFA with a $36m fine for breaching financial rules, while they have also already spent over £100m this summer on Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens and Liam Delap. More arrivals are expected, with Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho a long-term consideration. Being crowned champions of the world will thrill the club’s accountants as well as their fans, given the increased commercial opportunities that status should offer, while for Palmer it could also be a transformational moment. The England forward was one of the poster boys for this tournament, featuring heavily in promotional material and advertising throughout. It was his face which loomed large in a billboard over Times Square in the week of the final — along with the tagline ‘Scary Good’ — and when a Chelsea player was needed to accompany PSG’s Ousmane Dembele up the Rockefeller Centre on Friday to take publicity shots on a ‘girder’ overlooking the city (both men were safely tethered to their seats), there was no doubt who would be picked. Cole Palmer joins Ousmane Dembele at ‘The Top Of The Rock’ (Ira L. Black – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) Palmer certainly lived up to the hype in the final, his two identical first-half finishes — and an assist for Joao Pedro — rendering what should have been an onerous task against PSG into a procession at MetLife Stadium. Speaking before the final, Tosin Adarabioyo — who became a virtually inseparable social double act with Palmer during this tournament — told reporters: “His life has changed in the past two years. As banter sometimes, I call him like a little superstar. But he handles it very well. He knows he’s focused his career on football.” Palmer’s post-match interviews may still cause some anxiety — DAZN had to apologise after Palmer said “Everyone’s talked a lot of s*** about us all season” to its reporter Kelly Somers — but after his match-winning turn in the final, his star power will only grow from here. The final may ultimately have been routine, but Chelsea’s journey there was anything but. Due to the convoluted criteria for qualifying, it started over four years ago in May 2021, when Thomas Tuchel’s side defeated Manchester City to lift the Champions League. The club was then owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and is now scarcely recognisable from that night. Since then, Chelsea have been placed under sanctions owing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Abramovich has been booted out of English football, the club has been taken over by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly’s consortium and Maresca is Chelsea’s fourth head coach in a dramatic four-year period. When Chelsea played Fluminense in the semi-final last week, Thiago Silva was the one player on the field who was in the starting XI when Chelsea beat City in 2021 — and he was representing the Brazilian side, having left last summer. Some 48 players have signed and even more have left since the new owners arrived in 2022. On the ground in the U.S., Chelsea have faced obstacles, including a daft red card for striker Nicolas Jackson in the group stages and a five-hour last 16 game against Benfica. That included an almost two-hour delay for severe weather during which some players were calling family members back home while others stretched to stay warm. Maresca, meanwhile, has had plenty of complaints. He described the circumstances in Charlotte against Benfica as a “joke” but has also sounded off about his players’ workload. Chelsea’s competitive season began on August 18 last year, which makes this a 329-day campaign. He also had concerns about the temperatures his players endured in training during a Philadelphia heatwave, saying conditions made it “almost impossible to train.” While Chelsea could not control the weather, they found other ways to try to seize a competitive advantage. They offered players bonuses on a par with those they might receive in the Premier League or Champions League. The ownership moved fast to secure Delap’s signature from Ipswich Town before the tournament and also attempted to sign Gittens from Borussia Dortmund early, but that deal did not make the deadline to be registered for the group stages. What You Should Read Next Inside Jamie Gittens’ transfer to Chelsea: Talks last summer, Bayern interest, friends reunited The 20-year-old is returning to England - this is why he chose Chelsea, where he fits into their plans and how the deal was done Chelsea were keen to get Liam Delap signed before the tournament (Emilee Chinn – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) When the transfer window reopened for the mid-tournament registration window, Joao Pedro was signed from Brighton and his two goals against Fluminense in the semi-final secured Chelsea a minimum of $30m for advancing to the final. The Brazilian ticked the box of the versatile attacker Chelsea wanted and he arrived in prime condition, having worked with a trainer while on vacation in Brazil. While steps were taken to bolster the squad, the club were not prepared to hinder the overall long-term plan solely for the interests of this tournament, which is why Noni Madueke was allowed to leave between the semi-finals and final to have a medical with Arsenal. Similarly, goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic could have gone to the U.S. but he wanted assurances about being first choice which Chelsea could not give. The competition was seen as a chance for all the goalkeepers to show what they could do, so a gentlemen’s agreement was put in place for him to stay behind and resolve his future. He subsequently joined Bournemouth for £25m. Chelsea also splashed the cash to secure their preferred training facility. What You Should Read Next Rotation: The key word of Chelsea’s long summer at the Club World Cup Why Enzo Maresca's use of his squad, and the positional flexibility they show ,has been key to his side reaching Sunday's final FIFA had created a brochure of training bases and hotels and told clubs it would cover up to $15,000 per day for training sites, but clubs could go it alone if they wished, though this led to complication with the Philadelphia Union. The MLS club’s facilities were listed in the FIFA brochure. While Chelsea had two games in Philadelphia, so too did Flamengo, which risked the Brazilian team securing the base in accordance with FIFA’s lottery system for allocating bases. Chelsea contacted the MLS franchise directly and made an agreement independent of FIFA, with the Union requesting to be removed from its brochure. Flamengo instead trained at Stockton University in New Jersey, around 50 miles from Lincoln Financial Field, while Chelsea trained much closer to the stadium and a half-hour drive to their Four Seasons Hotel in central Philadelphia, a familiar haunt for the club from previous pre-season tours. Chelsea then lined up Barry University in Miami to prepare for their round-of-16 game. They had originally hoped to top their group, which would have seen them play at Hard Rock Stadium, but they ended up in Charlotte after finishing the group phase as runners-up to Flamengo. However, the Barry University facilities were among the most in-demand on the east coast — they were Real Madrid’s first choice, only for the Spanish club to defer to Boca Juniors under FIFA’s allocation system during the group stages. So Chelsea used Barry as a base until the semi-final preparations, when they moved to New York and utilised both New York City FC and New York Red Bulls facilities. FIFA’s budget also allowed clubs a daily contribution during the tournament of $38,500, to cover the cost of an average travelling party for their stays in five-star resorts, food, travel and associated costs. Chelsea ended up committing almost double FIFA’s allowance during the tournament across all their costs in order to give their players the best possible preparation and prospects for success in the tournament. What You Should Read Next How Joao Pedro made a ‘dream’ start at Chelsea – and not just with his goals The club's new signing scored twice against Fluminense but there was much more to admire about his game on Tuesday Chelsea arrived at the tournament in good spirits. The Premier League ended in positive fashion on May 25 as they sealed a Champions League place before the Conference League victory over Real Betis added some silverware to the season. Some players had a brief break and others headed away on international duty. Upon reconvening for four days of training at their Cobham training base in Surrey, Maresca told his players: “Guys, it’s not pre-season. It’s a tournament — a big, big tournament.” Maresca took only a couple of days off, but said he could not be “100 per cent off” as he needed to get up to speed with teams he was less familiar with. On June 13, three days before their opening group stage game against LAFC, Chelsea flew to Philadelphia with 24 players, while South Americans Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Andrey Santos and Aaron Anselmino met them stateside. Maresca took only a few days off before the Club World Cup (JUAN MABROMATA/AFP via Getty Images) Chelsea’s approach to the tournament was emphasised by most of their players who had been loaned to other clubs having agreements in place which meant they could return to the club in time to feature in the Club World Cup. However, Chelsea saw the tournament as a continuation of the 2024-25 season and wanted to keep the group who had achieved their Premier League and Conference League targets by and large the same. Santos, who shone at Strasbourg for the previous 18 months, was the exception because he has been earmarked to be part of the 2025-26 plans. The remaining loanees were allowed to go on holiday and returned to pre-season training at Cobham last week. Chelsea saw little benefit in having them out in U.S., making the squad size too large and therefore threatening to undermine the competitive nature of the sessions. Maresca sought to keep focus high but recognised his players needed adjustments. Ahead of the second group-stage game against Flamengo, he said: “It’s impossible for them as human beings to be fit or to be 100 per cent for 11 months. So this morning, we did the session and the main focus after the warm-up was just the tactical aspect.” Although their training base in Philadelphia enjoyed a breeze from the adjacent Delaware River, they deployed huge industrial fans by the side of the pitch and cooling sprays to mitigate the scalding temperatures. Maresca also significantly shortened his sessions. Chelsea collapsed against Flamengo and several calls went wrong for Maresca, who started Delap ahead of Jackson. He also tweaked his system, opting to start Reece James in midfield, pushing his full-backs Malo Gusto and Marc Cucurella high instead of inverting them, and opting for Palmer, by then 26 games without a goal, to the right wing rather than as a No 10. What You Should Read Next Marc Cucurella interview: Chelsea adaptation, a year of non-stop football and Club World Cup reflections The defender discusses the pros and cons of this summer's tournament and looks back at his difficult early months at Stamford Bridge Jackson emerged as a substitute but was sent off, while the team performed poorly even with 11 men. Jackson apologised in the dressing room, and to the fans on Instagram, and a photograph of a subdued birthday celebration later circulated on X. Cucurella said: “He’s a young player with a lot of quality but maybe needs to improve a little bit in these things. He has to learn. After the manager spoke, he said sorry, he didn’t do it on purpose.” Maresca said he was trying “something different” in his selection, with a view to next season, which highlighted how this tournament acted as a hybrid between pre-season experimentation and a competitive priority. This was highlighted, too, by Maresca using every outfield player at some point during the Club World Cup. By finishing second in the group stage, Chelsea actually gained an advantage as it placed them in the side of the draw that avoided PSG, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. When Inter Milan and Manchester City unexpectedly exited in the round of 16, a clear path towards the final opened up. Yet Chelsea still needed to beat a Benfica side who had topped a group which included Bayern, while two Brazilian opponents awaited in the quarter-final and semi-final. Chelsea have a far bigger budget but the Brazilian fans dominated the stadiums. Before the semi-final against Fluminense, Chelsea launched an initiative, asking their own players to promote tickets on Instagram to try and bring more blue into the MetLife stadium. Over 65,000 attended the match against Palmeiras in Philadelphia and over 70,000 turned out at MetLife, as tickets dropped to $11 for the quarter-final and $13 for the semi-final. There was a more significant contingent of Chelsea fans for the final against PSG, helped by a large swathe of Ecuadorian supporters backing Moises Caicedo, and their dismantling of the team who had been billed as the world’s best will probably have earned them many more. The scenes at full time, when PSG and Chelsea players had to be separated by staff as tensions boiled over, gave an indication as to how much this occasion meant and how the French champions had been rattled by Maresca’s approach. Chelsea and PSG players confront each other (Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images) Now, Chelsea players will finally have a three-week holiday, reporting back for training on August 4. Chelsea have not requested that the Premier League push back their fixtures to give the team a greater rest. Chelsea’s view is that their players will be rested, recuperated and ready to go all over again. They will play warm-up games for the new season against Bayer Leverkusen on August 8 and Milan on August 10. They will begin their Premier League season 35 days on from the final of the Club World Cup. And they will do so as champions of the world. Additional reporting: Simon Johnson and Liam Twomey

Liverpool make Alexander Isak approach to Newcastle https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6495057/2025/07/15/alexander-isak-liverpool-transfer-newcastle/ By David Ornstein July 15, 2025 Liverpool have made an approach to sign Alexander Isak from Newcastle United. The Merseyside club say no formal offer has been submitted as they are well aware Newcastle’s stance has always been that Isak is not for sale. However, they have communicated their interest to do a deal in the region of £120million. Liverpool’s admiration for the 25-year-old is long-standing, while Eintracht Frankfurt forward Hugo Ekitike has also been among those on their radar. There has been no official contact from Liverpool to Eintracht. Newcastle are working to recruit Ekitike but have yet to reach an agreement with Eintracht or the 23-year-old France youth international. Sensitivities around Liverpool remain understandably high following the tragic death of Diogo Jota earlier this month, but there is an awareness they need to make further additions this summer. The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Liverpool’s focus when it comes to incomings is on finding a top No 9 as they seek to strengthen their forward line. What You Should Read Next Is Alexander Isak the striker who troubles Virgil van Dijk more than any other? Liverpool's captain is usually imperious but history shows the Newcastle forward has the capacity to trouble him like few others Liverpool have already broken their transfer record this summer with the addition of attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial fee of £100m with a potential £16m due in add-ons. Earlier on Tuesday, Liverpool rejected a €67.5m bid from Bayern Munich for winger Luis Diaz, with the Colombian making clear he wants to leave the Premier League side. Isak has scored 62 goals in 109 appearances for Newcastle since joining from Real Sociedad in a deal worth in the region of £60m. Last season was his most prolific in England as he registered 27 goals in 42 games as Newcastle qualified for the Champions League with a fifth-place Premier League finish. He has three years remaining on his contract. Liverpool are without an established first choice up front. Federico Chiesa is considered an option there, while Napoli and Al Hilal have been monitoring Darwin Nunez. It is expected that a move for him will progress again soon. ‘Liverpool mean business’ Analysis by Liverpool correspondent Gregg Evans The interest in Isak highlights the determination at Liverpool to build on last season’s title success and dominate for years to come. Discussions around strengthening the centre-forward position have taken place for some time and were likely to advance this summer, even before the tragic passing of Diogo Jota. Liverpool have always been aware of the difficulty of doing a deal to take Isak out of Newcastle United, and understand that they would have to fix up Darwin Nunez with a move elsewhere to cover some of the cost. Yet the desire to bring in a player of his quality, even after the club-record signing of No. 10 Florian Wirtz, shows they mean business and are serious about staying out in front. What You Should Read Next Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak and the ‘explosion’ that set him on course for the top The story of Alexander Isak's rise from the suburbs of Stockholm to a dalliance with Real Madrid and ultimately to Newcastle... They have remained patient in their pursuit of a new striker by allowing other opportunities to pass and insist that a new arrival would only be signed off if it represented a significant improvement to the current squad. Isak with his proven Premier League record and tactical flexibility fits perfectly and would give an already-elite forward line another boost. Adding him to a forward line with Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz, and Cody Gakpo would create further competition and bring even more goals and creativity to the side. ‘A one-of-a-kind centre-forward’ Analysis by data writer Thom Harris Isak is a one-of-a-kind centre-forward, standing tall at 6ft 4in (193cm), yet incredibly technically gifted and light on his feet when he moves forward with the ball. He likes to drift across the attacking third to get on the ball, where he can slalom away from defenders with a unique blend of agility and power. His assist against Everton back in April 2023, leaving five defenders in his wake after a twisting run down the left flank, remains one of the greatest examples of his elusive dribbling ability. On top of that, Isak is clinical in front of goal, a clean striker of the ball on both sides. He’s scored 21 and 23 league goals across his last two seasons with Newcastle, and we’ve seen a wide range of sweeping finishes into the corners, instinctive close-range finishes and thumping efforts from the edge of the box. His emphatic strike against Liverpool last December was named the most powerfully struck goal in the Premier League last season. He’s also lethal on the counter-attack — only Mohamed Salah has generated more expected goals (xG) from fast breaks since the start of last season — an efficient decision-maker who is difficult to stop with momentum on his side. That bodes well for Arne Slot’s side, the highest scorers from such situations last season. After the signing of Florian Wirtz, this would be another resounding statement of intent from Liverpool, looking to assemble a front-line bursting with creativity, technical ability and ruthlessness at speed. ‘Potential loss of Isak would be seismic’ Analysis by Newcastle correspondent Chris Waugh Just as an incoming deal for Ekitike is not yet close to being concluded, conclusions should not yet be raced to regarding Isak. This is a mammoth prospective offer but, if the bullish stance Newcastle have adopted publicly and privately all year is to be believed, then it is still significantly short of what they would want. Newcastle have long insisted Isak is not for sale at any price. But that has always felt reliant on Isak’s own stance. The club have never expected him to push to leave but, should he be attracted by the prospect of moving to Anfield, perhaps that changes now an approach has been made. The potential loss of Isak would be seismic and cannot really be understated. He has scored 54 goals in 86 Premier League games, including 23 last season, and has proven himself to be consistently world class. What You Should Read Next Hugo Ekitike to Newcastle – the key questions answered Can they afford him? What would the deal mean for Isak? Our reporters dissect the news Newcastle are in talks to sign the French forward Ekitike is a fine prospect and has decent pedigree, but he does not have Isak’s proven track record in the Premier League. Signing the Frenchman would definitely soften the blow of losing Isak, should the Sweden international depart, but that eventuality will still dent Newcastle, given they have been adamant that they would not lose their star striker. The situation has not escalated as quickly as that yet but, whether incoming or outgoing wise, Newcastle’s transfer business is attracting worldwide attention right now.

insane career collapse from being valued at 90m euros at age 25 to less than 10m at age 29

maybe we have found where it went! Trump seen pocketing FIFA medal as he walks on stage to hand Chelsea replica club championship trophy https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-winners-medal-fifa-club-world-cup-b2789441.html U.S. President Donald Trump was seen sneakily pocketing a FIFA Club World Cup winners medal onstage moments before he handed Chelsea a replica trophy. The president was given the medal to look at by Gianni Infantino while handing others out to the winning squad at New Jersey’s Metlife Stadium Sunday. Though videos showed Trump later tucked the medal into his suit blazer when the FIFA CEO seemingly reached for it back. Infantino appeared to shrug off the incident, flashing the thumbs up and allowing Trump to keep the medal. Eagle-eyed social media users were quick to react to the clip, which went viral over the weekend and following the game, with one labeling the brazen act “The Art of the Steal.” “He didn’t play a minute,” complained another. snip video at the top link

still getting the Google fireworks, lolol

Alan Shearer reacts Alan Shearer on Cole Palmer’s performance against PSG: 🗣 "It's outstanding. And to do it on that stage, to do it against those players who have been so magnificent. PSG basically dominated europe for the year, and we've spoken so much about their midfield and everything else, and how brilliant some of their players have been, and rightly so. “But he was the pick of the bunch by an absolute mile last night, Cole Palmer. I thought he was absolutely outstanding." Shearer: "What PSG did to Real Madrid, Chelsea did exactly the same to them. They absolutely battered them. I thought they were magnificent. "What a job he's done, by the way, Maresca. Incredible job he's done. I mean, the season they've had, winning the Conference League, qualifying for the Champions League, winning this [Club World Cup]. “I mean, and they've made some really, really good signings already. I don't suspect they're finished. "I think it would take a very very brave person to say that Chelsea would not be involved in the title race next year because of what they've achieved this season, what they've just achieved, who they've signed and who they will sign. So, I think you have to say that they'll be involved in the title race."

Top 20 valued LBs still available Nuno Mendes Josko Gvardiol I still say he is more of a CB Alphonso Davies (injured anyway) Alejandro Balde overrated IMHO Federico Dimarco overrated IMHO Marc Cucurella Myles Lewis-Skelly Milos Kerkez Jorrel Hato big plus: he can play CB as well Destiny Udogie Rayan Aït-Nouri Riccardo Calafiori Andrea Cambiaso a really hard pull Antonee Robinson he turns 28yo on August 8th Álvaro Carreras Theo Hernández Lewis Hall Pervis Estupiñán he turns 28yo in 6 months Alejandro Grimaldo too old already, turns 30yo in September Ian Maatsen After Hato, I would probably go for Nathaniel Brown Miguel Gutiérrez just got injured and will have surgery, so a no go now

Free Transfer

Nizaar updates Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson and Trevoh Chalobah are among those who could be allowed to leave Chelsea for the right offer. But equally, those kinds of players could end up staying. Chelsea are pretty happy with how the player sales plans have begun. They will raise almost £80m when Noni Madueke completes his £52m move to Arsenal and Djordje Petrovic finalises his £25m switch to Bournemouth. - @NizaarKinsella

Some bits from The Evening Standard Joao Felix is in talks over a move to Benfica as Chelsea prepare to step up plans for a summer squad clearout. Reasonable offers will be considered for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, but the former Leicester midfielder has not been transfer-listed. A decision may be taken to send academy graduate Tyrique George out on loan, though he could also yet stay with the first-team squad. Christopher Nkunku, who featured during the Blues’ successful Club World Cup campaign is still expected to depart this summer. He was previously offered to Manchester United in a player swap for Alejandro Garnacho that did not go through. - @MrDomSmith

Updates from The Telegraph (Matt Law and Mike McGrath) Chelsea’s victory over Paris St-Germain in the final is expected to help the club secure a new front-of-shirt sponsor that could be worth £100 million more than the offers they resisted last year. Chelsea were in talks with two companies last year over front-of-shirt sponsorship, but that the long-term deals on the table were worth about £40 million-per-year. Chelsea decided to hold off and that figure has now rocketed to £60 million-a-year. Chelsea’s players are in line to earn bonuses in the region of £350,000-a-man for lifting the Club World Cup. The expectation within Chelsea for next season will start with finishing in the top four again and consolidating Champions League qualification, while demonstrating progress. Enzo Maresca will not be under immediate pressure to deliver the Premier League title and there is said to be recognition that Chelsea still have work to do to catch and overtake champions Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal. Some Romano updates (I think these might be a day or two old actually) They [Chelsea] want to keep going on the market. So the idea is to add more players to the squad. I will not be surprised if Chelsea add one more offensive player to their squad. Nkunku could be leaving the club in this summer transfer window and keep an eye Nicolas Jackson. There is a concrete possibility to see both of them leaving Chelsea this summer, and this is why they are considering one more offensive addition to the squad. One more centre back is also a concrete possibility being discussed internally. So I think Chelsea would be busy again. - @FabrizioRomano

how big? we have to be talking £75-80m or so he is a fucking monster defensively for a winger can run all day, and has a winner's vibe I warned he would not be a huge scoring threat, BUT he, like CuCu, has surprised me a lot with all the other facets to their games

agree

16.45pm - They haven’t stopped talking for him Chelsea have held fresh talks for 19-year old versatile Ajax defender Jorrel Hato as they explore defensive reinforcements, talkSPORT understands. Hato is also on the radar of Liverpool. Ajax quoting £60m, but suitors hoping for closer to £40m. - @JacobsBen / @edu17burgos

Acheampong is a right footer who plays at CB and RB. He has, as far as I can tell, only played 2 half games at LB (45 minutes each in two first halves) in the last 4 seasons (jr and sr level for club and country)

Many of my targets are like that, it has been that way for years. I really don't give a tinkers about internet/social media rumour whores and straight up lying major sites/newspapers.

Hato Plus he can play CB

That ended really badly for Musiala. 😞

Yes, I took it down. The real final figure is around £87.5m

He was right next to Trump for ages when the medals and trophies were given out. They talked a lot the whole time.