GOAL runs through the best and worst of British players plying their trade on foreign soil. Now more than ever, British players are finding that the grass can be greener elsewhere. The lure of the Premier League remains grand, but it's not the be-all and end-all. In fact, some of the home nations' biggest stars have decided to take their talents abroad to the mainland continent and beyond.
Erling Haaland was back to his very best as the striker led Manchester City to a thumping derby win over Manchester United on Sunday. The Norwegian made yet more history, becoming the joint-top scorer in the fixture as well as the fastest player to reach 90 Premier League goals. And a beaming Pep Guardiola declared that Haaland was in the best form of his career.
The most tantalising fixture on matchday one of the new Champions League season comes from the Allianz Arena, where kings of Germany Bayern Munich play host to Club World Cup winners Chelsea. These two teams have history - this will be the Blues' first trip back to Bavaria since lifting their first European Cup there in 2012 - but there is an extremely contemporary entity now linking them.
Diego Simeone freely admitted that he felt an overriding sense of relief after Atletico Madrid picked up their first win of the new Liga season on Saturday. As the Rojiblancos boss admitted after the 2-0 victory over Villarreal, "It wasn't just another day, after only two points from three matches."
Before Sir Jim Ratcliffe invested in Manchester United, he tried to buy Chelsea. Although he grew up on a council estate in Failsworth in north Manchester and attended games at Old Trafford with his father as a child, Ratcliife took a liking to Chelsea as an adult while living and working in affluent west London.
Liverpool's £125 million recruit was outshone by his fellow forward as the Reds claimed a 2-1 win over Everton in the Merseyside derby. Alexander Isak had to make do with a spot on the bench and, for the time being, he may have to play second fiddle to the on-fire Hugo Ekitike, who found the back of the net once again.
Arsenal and Manchester City played out a dramatic 1-1 draw on Sunday, with the two Premier League rivals unable to be separated through 98 or so minutes. Erling Haaland had given the visitors an early lead, before Pep Guardiola remarkably decided to park the bus to try and sneak the win. Those efforts went up in smoke in added time as Gabriel Martinelli scored to clinch a point for the Gunners.
Arsenal stole a massive comeback victory deep in stoppage time at St James' Park as Gabriel rose highest to head home a 96th minute winner and close the gap on leaders Liverpool, in a massive statement early on in this season's title race. The home side had led through a Nick Woltemade header with Gabriel at fault for the goal but the Gunners fought back, substitute Mikel Merino guiding home a fantastic header before Gabriel powered home the winner.
Liverpool weren't the only European team to lose their 100 percent record this weekend. Over in Italy, Napoli slipped to second in the Serie A table after being beaten 2-1 by a Christian Pulisici-inspired AC Milan at San Siro.
Every month, GOAL brings you the top stories involving teenage wonderkids and the world's best young footballers. During September, there was plenty to be said about the likes of Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid's Franco Mastantuono, but there were also plenty of other headlines made by the planet's emerging stars in both the men's and women's games.
Welcome to Wrexham showed the pain and glory of British lower league football to the world but it would never have existed without Sunderland Till I Die. Rob McElhenney watched the documentary on the recommendation of his actor friend Humphrey Ker and was immediately hooked. After finishing the series he instantly decided he wanted to invest in a lower league club and soon his ambitious project with Ryan Reynolds was born.
Manchester United and Chelsea both continued their unbeaten starts to the Women's Super League season as a stunning Anna Sandberg strike earned the Red Devils a well-deserved 1-1 draw against the champions, who dropped points for the first time this season. Wieke Kaptein scored an early opener for the Blues and both sides could have gone on to clinch victory in an entertaining encounter between the two early pace-setters.
Winning trophies and top-scoring awards might be routine to Erling Haaland but this week the striker stands on the brink of what could be a once-in-lifetime opportunity: to qualify for the World Cup with Norway. Since Haaland was born in 2000, Norway have never competed on the world's biggest stage. Their six attempts fell flat, only reaching the play-offs on one occasion.
Manchester United came from behind to win in convincing fashion as Everton were put to the sword 4-1 in the first Women's Super League fixture to take place at Hill Dickinson Stadium, largely thanks to goals by Melvine Malard and substitute Jess Park. The Toffees had taken the lead in the first half through Honoka Hayashi, but Malard equalised before Hikaru Kitagawa put through her own net to turn the game around. It would then be Park who sealed the day with two strikes off the bench.