Jude Summerfield

Liverpool have been branded "suckers" for deciding to fork out £60 million on young French defender Jeremy Jacquet. The Premier League champions usurped Chelsea in the race for the 20-year-old, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Ligue 2 side Clermont Foot, and he will arrive on Merseyside in the summer. Now, the Reds have been mocked for handing Rennes such a huge sum of cash for a young prospect.

Paul Merson ripped into Chelsea's players after Liam Rosenior's side fell to a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal on Tuesday night, exiting the Carabao Cup at the semi-final stage with a 4-2 aggregate loss. The Blues struggled to create many clear-cut chances and couldn't score the goals they needed to reach the final, instead seeing Kai Havertz strike to send the Gunners to Wembley.

Barcelona secured safe passage through to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey with a 2-1 win over Segunda Division outfit Albacete on Tuesday. The Catalan giants were made to wait until the 39th minute before Lamine Yamal opened the scoring, and Ronald Araujo later netted the second of the night, though Javi Moreno's strike set up a nervy ending to the encounter.

A former team-mate of Cristiano Ronaldo has delivered his verdict on the Portuguese legend potentially returning for a third spell at Manchester United. The 40-year-old has reportedly become unhappy at Al-Nassr, believing owners the Public Investment Fund (PIF) have favoured its other three teams ahead of his own. Ronaldo could seek a fresh move in the coming months as he targets hitting 1,000 career goals before he retires.

The cause of Jean-Philippe Mateta's failed medical with Italian giants AC Milan has been revealed after the French striker's move away from Crystal Palace collapsed at the end of the January transfer window. The 28-year-old was keen to secure an exit from Selhurst Park and looked to be inching his way towards a switch to San Siro. However, issues became apparent during medical checks and Mateta remains a Palace player.

Mohamed Salah has reportedly emerged as Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad's number one priority to replace Karim Benzema. The Egyptian has long been a target for Saudi Arabian clubs and has endured a disappointing campaign so far, hitting out at Liverpool in December before jetting off to the Africa Cup of Nations. The 33-year-old signed a new contract with the Reds last April but his future is up in the air having only scored six club goals this season.

N'Golo Kante reportedly refused to turn up for training with Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad on Tuesday after a move to Turkish giants Fenerbahce collapsed. The France international was set to fly to Istanbul to wrap up the transfer, but an administrative error from Al-Ittihad apparently stopped the deal from going through. There is still a chance of the transfer being completed, with Turkiye's transfer window not closing until Friday, February 6.

Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka has been set a potential return date as he recovers from an injury which ruled him out of his side's Premier League clash with Leeds United on Saturday. The England international was included in Mikel Arteta's starting XI but appeared to suffer a groin complaint in the warm-up at Elland Road and was replaced in the Gunners team by Noni Madueke. Saka is not expected to feature in Arsenal's Carabao Cup semi-final second leg with Chelsea on Tuesday night but his club are optimistic that he won't be out of action for too long.

Marc Guehi may have felt disrespected by the failed transfer to Liverpool in the summer window and "probably" won't regret moving to Manchester City in January instead, according to former Germany international Didi Hamann. The England defender saw a switch from Crystal Palace to Anfield break down at the last minute and instead moved to the Etihad Stadium earlier this month for a reported £20 million.

Leicester City have reportedly been in contact with Enzo Maresca over a potential return to the King Power Stadium. The Foxes, who are struggling in the Championship, recently sacked manager Marti Cifuentes and gave the job to Andy King on an interim basis. Maresca helped the 2015-16 Premier League winners earn promotion to the top flight in 2024 after claiming England's second-tier title and has been out of work since New Year's Day when he was given the boot by Chelsea.

Hansi Flick criticised his Barcelona players for not scoring enough goals in Saturday's comfortable 3-1 victory over Elche. The victory kept the Catalan giants at the top of La Liga, four points ahead of rivals Real Madrid who play Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, but the former Bayern Munich and Germany boss insisted the scoreline should have been more flattering for his side given the chances they created. In the end, goals from Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford were enough to take the points.

An old Lionel Messi shirt sold for more than a Cristiano Ronaldo jersey as Chelsea legend John Terry parted with over 50 items in a recent auction. The pair are renowned as the two greatest players of their generation and have won a combined 13 Ballons d'Or, with Messi leading Ronaldo with eight of those awards. Terry reportedly sold items from across his career for just over $695,000, with a percentage of that figure going to the John Terry Foundation.

Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick has claimed he takes no offence as the club's supporters prepare to protest against the ownership at Old Trafford before Sunday's clash with Fulham in the Premier League. While Carrick has overseen victories over Manchester City and Arsenal in his first two matches of this half-season spell, Red Devils fans remain disillusioned with the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, with the former presiding over a troubled time in the club's modern history before the latter's more recent investment.

Norwich City have confirmed on-loan Manchester United defender Harry Amass has suffered what could be a season-ending injury a little over a week after joining the Championship club. The teenager, who spent the first half of the campaign with Sheffield Wednesday, has only just made his Canaries debut and now faces a battle to play again in 2025-26.

Ibrahima Konate has revealed he returned to Liverpool earlier than expected following the death of his father to help Arne Slot's injury-hit squad after scoring in Saturday night's 4-1 victory over Newcastle United. After a three-game absence with compassionate leave, the French centre-back returned to Anfield and scored the Reds' last goal of the evening from close range, being reduced to tears in front of the Kop. With defenders like Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and Giovanni Leoni all missing, Konate's availability was a big plus for Slot.

Virgil van Dijk attracted criticism after being at fault as Bournemouth opened the scoring during Liverpool's trip to the south coast on Saturday night. The Reds captain failed to clear a long ball into his team's penalty area, allowing Alex Scott to cross for Evanilson to put the Cherries ahead. The Dutchman has made some uncharacteristic errors during a difficult season for Arne Slot's side so far and this latest mistake brought him further under the microscope.

Thomas Frank was hit by chants of "sacked in the morning" from Tottenham fans after the Danish manager's side dropped more points in the Premier League in a 2-2 draw with Burnley. The former Brentford boss has been under immense pressure after a string of poor domestic performances throughout the 2025-26 season, despite sitting in the top eight of the Champions League. Spurs have only managed 28 points from 23 league games and have a seriously tough run of fixtures coming up in February.

Granit Xhaka was involved in an argument with a West Ham United supporter during Sunderland's 3-1 defeat at London Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Black Cats captain was ruled out of the fixture due to an ankle injury and was sat among his team-mates while the row with the Hammers fan occurred. A break in play allowed referee Thomas Bramall to pause the game and put an end to the incident.