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Key events
Do you like Manchester United defender spin the wheel game? Of course you do. Today’s (potential) answers include Jarrad Branthwaite (obviously), Trevor Chaloba and Ronald Araujo. I believe the latter has been linked with United in the last five consecutive windows. There may be more than five.
And that’s not forgetting the previous top answers Tosin Adarabio and Jean-Claire Todibo, of course. Here’s a hot idea: They can’t sign them all. They will probably only sign one of them.
West Ham are in talks to sign striker Luis Guillerme
West Ham United are in talks to sign Brazilian striker Luis Guillermo from Palmeiras for a fee of around £25m, reports Jacob Steinberg.
He is a Brazil Under-20 international who plays primarily on the right side of attack and has been identified by Hammers technical director Tim Stadten as a target. It will be their first business of the summer and of the post-David Moyes era.
More info:
Bellingham for the Ballon d’Or? If Real Madrid win at Wembley tomorrow night, that’s a conversation we could be having…
Former Los Blancos midfielder Claude Makelele has tipped Jude Bellingham to win football’s biggest individual award.
The 20-year-old has had a remarkable debut season at the Bernabeu, scoring 23 goals in all competitions and could end up winning the Champions League on home soil against Borussia Dortmund.
And with Euro 2024 looming, Makelele believes the England star can claim the game’s biggest individual prize, as he spoke to news agency PA:
He is the future Ballon d’Or if he keeps it up. He can get it if he wins the Champions League and has a great Euro, I think he will be the Ballon d’Or winner. I am so impressed with what you did. First with the quality he has, then with the leadership and how he adapts to La Liga and Madrid.
No one has done this before. To do what he did 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 that the atmosphere around the Champions League festival is always excellent. They looked particularly good in and around Trafalgar Square in London this week. Drink it up guys.
Aston Villa have unveiled their new badge and, frankly, I can’t remember what the old one looked like. Not much difference, right?
Email from bert phil questions David’s earlier point about football managers with madness:
On “Does the Premier League really need another bald manager?” at 10:11… Maresca going to Chelsea does not add a bald manager as he would already be a bald Premier League manager if he had stayed at Leicester .
Well said if ever there was one.
A women’s international friendly is underway right now, actually, with the Australian Matildas scoring China’s first-half goal:
England face France in a Euro 2025 qualifier at St James’ Park tonight, with Lionesses captain Leah Williamson set to feature after returning to the squad in April after a year out with injury. England have already dropped points in a tough qualifying group, drawing with Sweden last month, so a win over an improving French side is paramount, you might say.
Williamson has spoken to BBC regarding the France match:
I think if you go off paper then obviously we are the reigning European champions. It’s easy to forget we’re still in the qualifiers. Many things have changed.
France has always been a top team even though they haven’t won [a trophy]. They are always shown as favorites in many of their games as well. I see it as pretty even to be honest, but if we have to accept that label then we do. It was consistent for us. We knew we were winning [the Euros] would put a target on our back, but it’s a nice place.
I mentioned about [England] team and how well they performed and raised the bar, so it’s good to be back, but obviously we’re missing a few. This is a competitive unit that you should try to get into.
Sheffield Wednesdays are trending On Twitter X and I had to find out why. Turns out it’s because of this lovely clip of Chris Powell, Danny Roell’s current assistant manager. Powell remains one of the best people in football. Wish him only good things.
Thanks David. And there I thought it was going to be a regular day of the Guardian’s Friday football blog. That’s all I want. It will never happen.
This is my morning cameo complete. I’ll hand you over to Dominic Booth for more build-up and manager transfer maneuvers.
How do the bookies see the Wembley final? Real Madrid are clear favourites, although Dortmund were also underdogs against PSG in the semi-finals.
Odds for 90 minutes: 8/13 Real Madrid, 4/1 Dortmund, 10/3 Draw.
Saturday’s Champions League final will be led by Slavko Vincic. Some fun facts about the 44-year-old Slovenian: He is a father of two and has taken charge of five Champions League games this season, showing a total of 19 cards. Three of those came in Dortmund’s 4-2 quarter-final win over Atletico Madrid, with Julian Ryerson the only player in the German squad to receive a booking.
While Kieran McKenna opted to stay put at Ipswich, there was a change at their fierce local rivals Norwich. The Canaries have appointed Nordsjaelland manager Johannes Hoff Thorup as head coach.
For the record, this takes the combined age of the managers of the two East Anglia clubs to 73 (McKenna 38, Thorpe 35): three less than Roy Hodgson.
Jamie Carragher won the Champions League with Liverpool in that epic 2005 final against AC Milan in Istanbul. Today, he became a star on CBS’s UEFA Champions League Today program. Here he talks to Greg Wakeman about becoming a hit in the US. There’s no mention of who he’ll be cheering on at Wembley, but it’s pretty easy to guess, with Real Madrid denying Liverpool two of the last six finals and Carragher taking a dip in the Yellow Wall and enjoying more than a few wins with Dortmund fans in the semi-final home match against PSG.
Had things gone differently at Old Trafford, Jaden Sancho could have lifted the FA Cup last weekend. Instead, he could lift the Champions League trophy in the skies at Wembley with Borussia Dortmund on Saturday night. Andy Brassell examines the England player’s redemption arc.
Jurgen Klopp once linked player welfare to climate change, urging football’s governing bodies to act before it is too late. It usually went down like a lead balloon, evoking tiresome tribal tropes about Klopp moaning all the time. Klopp, speaking a few months before the 2022 World Cup, had this to say: “When I start talking about it, I get really angry… It’s like the climate. We all know it needs to change, but no one is saying what we need to do.
Eventually, Klopp lost the will to fight, but as he backs off, the players themselves say enough is enough. No doubt social media will tell them to stop getting worked up given all the wonga they’re making. Because those two things are related, right?
Mourinho joined Fenerbahce
Fenerbahce are closing in on an agreement to appoint Jose Mourinho as their new head coach. Hot stuff here from Fabrizio Romano. Fenerbahce, by the way, just collected 99 points in the Turkish Super League (P38 W31 D6 L1, GD 68) and still only finished second behind Galatasaray. And you thought Liverpool were feeling down in 2018/19.
🟡🔵🇵🇹 Jose Mourinho’s verbal agreement with Fenerbahce is a two-year contract valid until June 2026.
It will also include an option for a next season.
Jorge Mendes negotiated the deal and now it’s time to review and sign all the official documents.
Here we go soon! 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/rsSZYCUKjO
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 31, 2024
“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 am thrilled to have the opportunity and responsibility to lead this fantastic club into its first season in the Premier League for 22 years.” Kieran McKenna’s words after signing new deal with Ipswich.
Brighton, Chelsea and Manchester United were all interested but McKenna decided to stay, a decision perhaps helped by the fact that the 38-year-old has now become one of the highest-paid managers in England.
Chelsea have agreed with Maresca
Sacked by Parma after 14 games in 2021 and former assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, Enzo Maresca is set to become Chelsea’s new head coach after taking Leicester back to the Premier League.
Will it be good? Better than Poch? Does the Premier League really need another bald manager?
Gareth Bale knows something or too much about the Champions League. He won it five times and scored one of the greatest goals ever seen in a final: this overhead kick against Liverpool.
Ahead of Real Madrid v Dortmund on Saturday, he spoke to Ewan Murray. Inevitably, there is also talk of golf. Although nothing for Wales.
Preamble
They always find a way. Real Madrid once again dodged a bullet to reach another Champions League final and are clear favorites to win it for the 15th time. That would put them eight clear of AC Milan at the top of the all-time list. Remarkable.
Standing in their way are underdogs Borussia Dortmund. Despite finishing fifth and a massive 27 points behind Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, Dortmund were a different proposition in Europe. But good enough to win Saturday’s exhibition final at Wembley? We will see.
We’ll be all over the build-up – no chin-wag please – to our final Friday Football News countdown of the season. Before the sad musings get too loud, there’s good news: we’re going to start this euro thing again. And that, dear reader, is just two weeks from now when Germany host Scotland.
Back to the present day and the managerial carousel will also get our attention. It’s spinning fast and Jose Mourinho looks like the latest to jump on. More on that later. Alright peep peep let’s get this thing started!
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