Dear readers,

The Premier League and Champions League are over for another season but the summer of 2024 is packed full of live action and transfer fun and games — and we’ll cover it all in detail on The Athletic.

From Europe’s major clubs travelling across the world (and to the United States in particular) to all the moves (and nearly moves) of the summer transfer window, plus two major international tournaments, Emma Hayes starting her reign as USWNT head coach and the Olympics, our team of reporters will bring you in-depth coverage of the things you care about.

We’ll be on the ground in Germany for Euro 2024; across the U.S. for Copa America, MLS, NWSL and Premier League pre-season; in Paris, France for the summer Olympic Games’ football action, and everywhere in between — ensuring you don’t miss a thing when it comes to the beautiful game.

The club content you know and love won’t stop either. Our trusted team of reporters will hit the phones to bring you the latest moves in the transfer window as we embark on an ambitious project to cover the summer ins and outs like never before.

And it doesn’t stop there.

You might already follow our NFL, NBA or NHL coverage, but did you know we also cover a range of other sports, including golf, Formula 1 and tennis? Mark out…

The season is rapidly approaching its conclusion and the pressure is cranking up.

At the top of the Premier League, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are locked in a gripping title race; at the other end of the table, Rob Edwards is desperate to prolong Luton Town’s top-flight fairytale at the expense of Nuno Espirito Santo and Nottingham Forest. And in the English Football League (EFL), play-off season is in full swing, complete with all its usual emotional ebbs and flows.

These are the days when reputations are forged or shattered and, while it is enthralling for fans, managers would be forgiven for regarding the whole thing with dread.

Jurgen Klopp’s announcement in January that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of this season was proof of how draining the job can be. “I cannot do it again and again and again and again,” said Klopp, who turns 57 next month.

In February, Roy Hodgson left Crystal Palace shortly after collapsing at their training ground. Although the 76-year-old’s health was not a factor in the club’s decision to end his contract three months early just a few days later, it caused understandable concern among players and staff.

It is not just in the Premier League, either.

Emma Hayes, who is leaving Chelsea Women at the…

It is that time of year again. Lighter nights, daffodils and the sobering discovery of just how much your football team has handed over to agents.

The Football Association (FA) published its annual figures yesterday and, as is the norm, they were bigger, more gasp-inducing than ever before.

The Premier League’s 20 clubs combined to pay £409million ($509m) in agents’ fees in a 12-month monitoring period that began on February 1, 2023. Include the EFL’s outlays and English clubs handed over close to half a billion to that select group of men and women representing a footballer’s interests.

It was the usual suspects leading the way but the Premier League’s spend continues to rise. This year’s total is markedly up on the £318million of last season and almost twice the amount paid in 2017-18.

The Athletic picks out the key points from the FA’s latest report.

---

Chelsea drive spending records… again

An age of excess at Stamford Bridge has seen Chelsea spend like no club has ever spent before. Close to £1billion has funded a lavish overall that is yet to deliver discernible progress under the Todd Boehly-Clearlake-led ownership group and the fees paid out to agents are another marker of their intemperance.

Brace yourself for Chelsea’s full outlay over 12 months:…

Permanent concussion substitutions will be introduced into the laws of football, the game’s lawmakers have confirmed.

The measure, which has been trialled in a number of competitions such as the Premier League, Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship and FA Cup, will come into effect from July 1, 2024.

Teams will be able to use additional substitutions, outside of their allotted amount, if any player is showing signs of a concussion, regardless of the number of changes they have made already.

However, a trial for temporary concussion substitutions — a measure which has been called for by the Premier League as well as players’ unions — was not approved at the annual general meeting of The International Football Association Board (IFAB) in Scotland on Saturday.

It is understood the Premier League remain of the view that permitting professional leagues to trial temporary concussion substitutes will significantly benefit player welfare and the sport.

Scottish Football Association CEO, Ian Maxwell, said: “Regarding permanent concussion substitutions, the trial we’ve run is effectively concluded and that is now enshrined in the laws of the game.

“It will be for competitions to determine whether they want to use permanent concussion substitutes, as per the…

Here is a question that will never feature in a Christmas party quiz: which Premier League attendance record was broken this week?

No, Luton Town did not find a way to squeeze a few more in for the visit of the champions Manchester City on Sunday. And we are not referring to the huge crowd that turned up to see Arsenal beat Chelsea at the Emirates, which is a Premier League venue but was hosting a Women’s Super League game.

You are never going to get it, so we will put you out of your misery: Tuesday’s crowd of 30 club representatives was a record attendance for a Premier League shareholders’ meeting at the Brunel Building, the fancy London office block in Paddington, west London, that became the league’s headquarters in 2019. And that does not include the “virtual” crowd, who took part in the meeting working-from-home style.

Well done, boys (and girls). But was it a good process?

Not according to some participants, who agreed to speak to The Athletic under the condition of anonymity in order to protect their relationships.

“Chaos” was one description, “shambles” another. And yet three decisions were made and it was all over by lunchtime. So, it could not have been that bad.

Let’s run through the agenda and you can decide if this bumper crowd witnessed success…

The English FA has said that staff at professional clubs “falls short of reflecting the levels of diversity amongst the playing population”.

This comes after the FA published its third annual report on the Football Leadership Diversity Code. Introduced in 2020, the code is an initiative to prompt the collective effort to address inequality in senior leadership, wider team operations and coaching roles.

Last season among the clubs endorsing the initiative, just nine per cent of senior leaders, 11 per cent of team operations, 16 per cent of coaches and nine per cent of hired senior coaches were individuals of Black, Asian or mixed heritage. Additionally, only 23 per cent of senior leaders and 30 per cent of team operations hires were female.

Within the 53 club signatories, 21 per cent of senior leaders and 29 per cent of team operations are female. Meanwhile, seven per cent of senior leaders and nine per cent of team operations belong to individuals of Black, Asian or mixed heritage. 

In the coaching workforce, 13 per cent of trainers and 11 per cent of senior coaches are from Black, Asian, or mixed heritage backgrounds.

This year marks the first instance where participating clubs have disclosed their actual workforce data, including information on LGBTQ+ and disability,…

When Aaron Ramsdale sat down for his “interview” with The Players’ Tribune in April, he had one intention: to tell his story as honestly as possible. That was as far as his thought process went, until he started talking.

And then it all came out.

The England goalkeeper spoke about the backlash when news broke that he was joining Arsenal in August 2021 and “the entire world” told him he would fail, and the series of knockbacks that spurred him on to earn three caps for his country (“maybe that’s something to keep in mind for all the kids out there who are constantly told that anything less than perfection is the end of their dream”).

The 25-year-old also spoke about his family.

About the miscarriage he and his wife suffered early last year and playing through the pain in the north London derby three days later.

About the pride and admiration he has for his brother Oliver, a performer in London’s West End, who is gay. And about the moments he’s bitten his tongue in dressing rooms and on social media over the years when hearing “homophobic comments”.

It was around this point during the interview that Ramsdale paused and glanced over to the side of the…

When Cristiano Ronaldo made his return to Manchester United in 2021 he faced a conundrum: having sold the £4million ($5.2m) mansion he previously owned in the north west, where would he, wife Georgina Rodriguez and their children live?

They eventually settled on a £3million property in Cheshire, notable not only for its swimming pool, cinema and garage big enough for four cars, but for its owner: former United striker, Andrew Cole.

A decade earlier, Ronaldo had been the one doing the letting. After swapping Manchester for Madrid in 2009, his five-bedroom house in the exclusive Cheshire village of Alderley Edge (one of three areas, alongside Prestbury and Wilmslow, which make up Cheshire’s “Golden Triangle,” where many of the area’s finest properties can be found), complete with indoor swimming pool, steam room, jacuzzi, gym and wine area was rented out to then-Manchester City winger Adam Johnson.

It’s not just players. After replacing Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool manager in 2015, Jurgen Klopp ended up renting his predecessor’s house in Formby. And when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer returned to Manchester as caretaker (and then permanent) manager in 2018, he was unable to move back into his former Cheshire home because of a tenant in place by the name of Virgil van…

Brentford have appointed Lydia Bedford as the head coach of their men’s under-18s side.

In a major step for women’s coaching in the men’s game, Bedford leaves a role on Jonas Eidevall’s Arsenal Women’s staff to take up a key position in Brentford’s setup.

Bedford was England Women’s youth team head coach until she took charge of Leicester City Women in November 2021.

She helped Leicester avoid relegation from the Women’s Super League in 2021-22, but was replaced by Willie Kirk the following season after starting with six straight defeats.

Bedford joined Arsenal in February as an assistant to Eidevall, but will leave after only three months to take up her new role at Brentford. Bedford is one of only a handful of female coaches to hold a role in the men’s setup at English clubs. In the Premier League, Jill Scott, the former England midfielder, recently took up a coaching position at Manchester City’s academy.

Bedford completed her UEFA Pro Licence in 2019 alongside Justin Cochrane and Kevin O’Connor. Cochrane worked for the Football Association at the time, but joined Brentford last summer as their head of coaching.

O’Connor spent his entire playing career with the club before becoming the B Team’s head coach in 2016. He has been a first-team assistant to…

The turmoil with BBC programming has extended into a second day with Match of the Day 2 and live coverage of the Women’s Super League set to go ahead without presenters.

The BBC’s decision to stand Gary Lineker down from presenting Match of the Day on Friday sparked chaos within the corporation with walkouts from pundits and commentators severely disrupting Saturday’s schedule.

The BBC’s director-general Tim Davie was forced to apologise after the likes of Ian Wright, Alex Scott and Mark Chapman caused Match of the Day to run without presentation or commentary, Football Focus and Final Score to be taken off air entirely and Radio Five Live to drastically cut planned coverage.

Former Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe was one of those set to take part in Match of the Day 2 on Sunday night but will not appear with the show now expected to go ahead in a similar, condensed and commentary-free format as Saturday’s flagship programme.

GO DEEPER

Match of the Day without Gary Lineker: Eerie images, broadcast apologetically by BBC

BBC Two’s coverage of the Women’s Super League match between Chelsea and Manchester United will go ahead, but without presentation.

Commentary will be carried via the world feed.

On Radio Five Live the usual presenter-led build-up to the afternoon’s…