Tom Bellwood

Tottenham's marquee summer signing Xavi Simons has admitted his start to life in north London has fallen shy of the high expectations which followed him when he joined from RB Leipzig for £60.5m ($82m). Simons has struggled to impose himself on matches and was ignominiously substituted off after being brought on as a replacement for the injured Lucas Bergvall in the recent 1-0 defeat by London rivals Chelsea.

Former England boss Gareth Southgate has revealed his squad killed time between matches and training at the World Cup in Qatar by playing their own version of popular BBC TV show The Traitors. And the ex-Three Lions boss has also named the international superstar singer who joined them for a game after joining up with the squad to entertain them during the tournament in 2022.

Ousmane Dembele, Harry Kane, and Lamine Yamal are all prominently featured among the 11 nominees for The Best FIFA Men's Player 2025. The nomination sets up another potential battle between Dembele and Yamal, who recently went head-to-head for the 2025 Ballon d'Or, an award Dembele ultimately won. And there's a showdown between England Lionesses hero Alessia Russo and Aitana Bonmati for the women’s gong.

Liverpool star Mo Salah risks causing huge anger in his native Egypt as he prepares for showdown talks with national boss Hossam Hassan to discuss missing a key warm-up match ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations. The Pharaohs have a friendly with Nigeria planned in early December, but lands in the same week as key matches for the Reds setting up a potential club-v-country row, which Salah hopes to avoid.

Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed the life-changing impact Diogo Jota’s tragic death has had on him following the devastating car crash in the Zamora region of Spain which took the life of the Liverpool star and his brother Andre Silva. Ronaldo has also spoken about the personal reasons behind why he decided against attending the funeral of his Portugal team-mate.

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has fired back at Cristiano Ronaldo and urged the club to look to the future, rather than focus on the mistakes made under his regime and those made by previous managers. The United manager has also highlighted the key problem "he cannot allow" to continue holding his team back this season.

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has pointed to one major factor as to why Kobbie Manioo isn't getting much game time this season. Mainoo attempted to leave United in the summer but was blocked from leaving Old Trafford by Amorim, but the head coach understands the desire to play regularly with the World Cup looming on the horizon.

Former England goalkeeper Mary Earps has lifted the lid on her dramatic last few months with the Lionesses and the explosive exchanges with boss Sarina Wiegman which led to her departure from the team just weeks before this summer's successful European Championship defence, following the decision to recall Chelsea goalkeeper Hannah Hampton.

Former Arsenal and Wales international Aaron Ramsey has returned home to the UK after terminating his contract with Mexican side Pumas. Ramsey is heading back from the Mexico City side after a brief spell which has been marred by the loss of his beloved dog, Halo, and will be available to join a new club straight away as a free agent.

Liverpool slumped to another damaging, dismal defeat as Arne Slot’s side were dumped out of the Carabao Cup, beaten 3-0 by Crystal Palace while finishing the match with 10 players on a dire night at Anfield. Slot made sweeping changes to the team which was defeated by Brentford, with one eye on the clash with Aston Villa this weekend, but the fringe players and academy hopefuls were thoroughly outclassed by Oliver Glasner's side.

Scotland international Scott McTominay has moved to quell talk of him moving away from Napoli and returning to the Premier League or making a remarkable switch to Catalan giants Barcelona. McTominay has impressed in Naples since joining from Manchester United for £30 million ($39.6m) last summer, landing the Serie A title in his first season and becoming a cult hero.

Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr has made a grovelling apology for his behaviour after being substituted during the 2-1 Clasico victory over arch-rivals Barcelona. The Brazil international stormed off the pitch, headed straight down the tunnel and was heard saying he was going to "leave the team" after being taken off, but has now apologised to everyone except boss Xabi Alonso.

Football's lawmakers will discuss giving VAR the power to review second yellow cards at a meeting in January. The International Football Association Board's (IFAB) advisory group has confirmed the proposal will be submitted, which would expand VAR's remit beyond its current limitation of only reviewing straight red cards. The move is based on the idea that second yellow cards are often match-changing decisions which should be subject to review.

Brazilian wonderkid Endrick is pursuing a January loan move away from Real Madrid and talks have already begun with a club outside of Spain. The 19-year-old hasn't made a competitive appearance this season and wants regular playing time to secure his place in Brazil's squad for the World Cup. Endrick has struggled with injury, but has also been overlooked by boss Xabi Alonso and a temporary move away from the Bernabeu is seemingly edging closer.

The reasons behind Gary Lineker leaving Baller League UK have been revealed, with the ex-England international and Match of the Day host absent in the dugout as the new season got underway on Monday night. Lineker's team, Deportrio, finished first in the league standings in the inaugural campaign before being eliminated in the last four stage of the final tournament.

Vinicius Junior has been told his behaviour during El Clasico will "negatively impact" his prestige at Real Madrid after his "disrespectful" reaction to being subbed off in the 72nd minute of the 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Barcelona. Vinicius appeared to ignore Real boss Xabi Alonso and headed straight down the tunnel instead of joining his team-mates on the bench.

Marcus Rashford has singled out one of his former Manchester United bosses for special praise, with the England international opening up on a more positive time for him at Old Trafford. Rashford rose from academy product to first-team star, marked by a sensational debut season and notably scored 30 goals in the 2022-23 campaign. But inconsistent performances and disciplinary issues led to his departure on loan, first to Aston Villa, then Barcelona.

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has reportedly shut down a potential move for one of the greatest goalscorers of all time, despite manager Ruben Amorim's interest. United made significant additions to their forward line in the summer and Ratcliffe has intervened, even though the striker in question - who is approaching the end of his career - is set to become available on a free transfer at the end of this season.