XHAKA CAN
Correctly installed as lava-hot favourites to be relegated back to the Championship, seconds after the final whistle was blown at the end of their last-gasp playoff final win over Sheffield United, Sunderland promptly lost their standout player, Jobe Bellingham, to a far more successful club who might conceivably win a trophy more prestigious than Fizzy Cup in the next 70 years. Instead of raging about cosy cartels, the unfairness of PSR and the fact their billionaire owner isn’t allowed to spend money on players that the football club he owns hasn’t earned, mackems have since looked on with increasing intrigue as their club’s hierarchy have unveiled a series of new signings that, while unlikely to prompt talk of a serious title tilt, may at least ensure that Sunderland do not feature in any conversational comparisons with Derby County and their record low Premier League points tally of 11 in the coming months.
It’s a near-certainty that Enzo Le Fée, Habib Diarra, Simon Adingra, Chemsdine Talbi, Noah Sadiki and Reinildo Mandava won’t all go on to achieve Hall of Fame status on Wearside. But, in signing the six players, the club have shown they at least intend to make a decent fist of trying to stay up, while also putting the Sunderland ‘Til I Die days of Jack Rodwell on £70,000-per-week in League One, paying £4m for Will Grigg in an ill-advised deadline-day panic buy and that Oxbridge fop in the red trousers sound checking Ibiza anthems over the Stadium of Light PA long behind them. Of course, this being Sunderland, the possibility of sky-high farce and a snake belly low league position can never be discounted and despite these signings, the club’s head coach, Régis Le Bris, looked at risk of embarking on his first ever Premier League campaign with a callow and whey-faced squad boasting little or no top-flight experience.
A grizzled old hand was required. Ideally a handsome, tough-tackling midfield veteran with more than a century of caps. A man whose leadership skills were held in such high regard by his peers that he famously topped the players’ poll for the position of Arsenal captain in 2019 without recourse to a recount. A man so impervious to the slings and brickbats of his once-adoring public that he would go on to … er, lose that captaincy after throwing a strop in the face of fan derision for being substituted against Crystal Palace. A man who realised the Sisyphean futility of trying to win a title at the Emirates and went to Germany to win one instead. And a man who realised he was unlikely to win another one because Leverkusen are now managed by Erik ten Hag. What Sunderland needed was the man, the warrior, the myth and the occasionally contrary red and yellow card-magnet that is Granit Xhaka.
And hell’s bells, if they haven’t gone and got him, in the process landing the kind of transfer coup which suggests that if they are to eventually go down next season, they will at least do so swinging haymakers of both the metaphorical and literal variety. “I’m very proud to be here,” roared the man who finished 16th on last year’s Ballon d’Or list and has signed a three-year deal for a fee of around £20m. “When I spoke to the club, I was excited and I felt the energy and the mentality that all the people and players have. It’s exactly what I wanted and I have a very good feeling.” Having made it clear before his move that he was hell-bent on moving to Sunderland, Xhaka’s arrival has prompted several questions, the most pertinent of which seems to be why exactly he was so hell-bent on going to Sunderland. “We are back to where this club needs to be, and we want to stay here to write our own history,” yodelled the Swiss legend to his adoring public from the central tower of Durham Cathedral. “I feel that I’m ready to help the team with my experience but with quality as well.” And while history is famously written by the winners, there isn’t a mackem alive who won’t be delighted if next season it’s chronicled by the team finishing 17th.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We have done this immediately, following an assessment by engineering specialists who can no longer confirm that the North Stand is safe for spectator use” – after yesterday’s Football Daily, Sheffield city councillor Joe Otten reveals the outlook is even more grim for Wednesday fans after they were been banned from opening Hillsborough’s North Stand to spectators due to safety concerns, with the new season little more than a week away.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Perhaps the reason for Sheffield Wednesday’s 10-man, 16-0 defeat to Halliwell FC in 1887 (yesterday’s Football Daily) was that not all members of the 1896 FA Cup-winning squad were trusting of the Victorian time machine technology that the club were clearly using at that time?” – Garreth Cummins (and others).
Although the number is the same as Football Daily’s pedants, my only knowledge of ‘Bonnie Blue’ is that I thought it was an affectionate name for Cowdenbeath’s home kit. And that’s the story I’m sticking with” – Simon Mazier (and 1,056 others).
Re: Forest’s ownership. Guy Stephenson is partially correct (yesterday’s Football Daily letters); it is the same Evangelos Marinakis who put his shares into a blind trust earlier in the year, but it’s also the Evangelos Marinakis that reversed the situation in June when it became apparent it wasn’t required” – Jim Hearson.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Rollover. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
RECOMMENDED BOOKING
On Thursday 11 September, join Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning and a host of your other Football Weekly favourites live on stage for an evening of unfiltered football punditry at Troxy in London and livestreamed globally. Book now.
BRENNANBALL’S BAPTISM OF FIRE
Domestic English football returned on Tuesday night when Barnet took on Newport in the new preliminary round of the Littlewoods Cup. Barnet, back in the EFL for the first time since 2018, arrived with all the swagger of newly-crowned National League champions. Dean Brennan’s “Brennanball” – a philosophy built on possession and high pressing – had swept all before it. Alas, as so often happens when the Football League proper beckons, reality delivered a swift, sharp kick to the shins. Dave Hughes, Newport’s new gaffer, bagged his first competitive win in charge, but not before Barnet gave him a fright. Cameron Antwi and Michael Reindorf put Newport two goals to the good in the first half, seemingly cruising towards a comfortable victory. But the Bees, even on an off-day, weren’t about to roll over. Deep into stoppage time, Ryan Galvin pulled one back, and then, with seconds left on the clock, Rhys Brown popped up to equalise, making it 2-2 and forcing penalties. The comeback heroics were ultimately in vain: Newport keeper Nik Tzanev saved Kane Smith’s spot-kick, and Cameron Evans calmly converted to seal a 4-2 shootout win. The reward? A home tie against Championship side Millwall in the first round.
NEWS, BITS AND BOBS
Arsenal have been told they’ll need to shell out more than half of Eberechi Eze’s release clause up front to sign the England man, with Crystal Palace determined not to allow him to leave for less than a fee that could reach up to £67.5m.
Luis Díaz has completed a £65.5m move from Liverpool to Bayern Munich, inking a four-year contract with the Bavarian behemoths. He becomes Bayern’s third most expensive transfer and also the Reds’ third highest sale of all time.
After Newcastle spent the best part of 12 months tracking Burnley keeper James Trafford, Manchester City have gone and activated their matching rights clause to sign him for £27m. “Rejoining City is such a special and proud moment both for me and my family,” he cheered. “I always dreamed that one day I would be able to come back to Manchester City. This is the place I call home.”
Leah Williamson has promised that there is more to come from her all-conquering Lionesses, declaring “this story is not done yet” as she addressed the 65,000 fans packed on to the Mall on Tuesday.
Former Canada coach Bev Priestman says she didn’t feel safe living there following her one-year ban for spying at last year’s Big Sports Day in Paris. After being unveiled by Wellington Phoenix Women, she said: “Obviously it was an absolute media frenzy. You’ve got people knocking at your door and everything, and I’ve got a little boy. Without going into too much detail, it was very difficult. We knew we had to get out of that country.”
In a shock of all shocks, apparently the atmosphere at Manchester United hasn’t been great these past few years. That is according to Luke Shaw, who told reporters on the club’s pre-season tour that the environment “can be quite toxic, it’s not healthy at all”. He added: “A lot of the time … it’s been extremely negative.”
Let’s hope neither Ollie Watkins nor Benjamin Sesko get wind of Shaw’s comments, as United are chasing both in their quest for a reliable goalscorer.
Las Vegas will host the 2026 World Cup draw on 5 December, according to widespread reports, but it won’t be in the famous Sphere venue.
And – breaking! – Kylian Mbappé will switch to the Real Madrid No 10 shirt from No 9, following Luka Modric’s exit.
STILL WANT MORE?
Is (Dame) Chloe Kelly the first player to score decisive goals at two major tournament finals? The Knowledge knows.
Meanwhile, Suzanne Wrack waxes lyrical about the Lionesses’ stoic captain, the magnificent Leah Williamson.
Suzanne is also part of our team of writers tasked with handing out their Euro 2025 awards. Spoiler: there is plenty of disagreement.
The first of our EFL previews has landed! Who will win League Two and who is destined for the drop? From Chesterfield to Cheltenham, we’ve got you covered.
San Diego FC are catching the eye with a squad of “30 strangers” that relies on teenagers in key positions. John Muller has the skinny on the MLS new boys.
Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko all to leave Arsenal? The Mill sifts through today’s transfer tittle-tattle.
And why are more and more British clubs turning to the Asian market to find players? John Duerden investigates.
MEMORY LANE
To April 1998 and a trendy nightspot in Granada, Spain, where players from lower-league Alfacar get their kit off – “in front of an enthusiastic crowd” declares the archive – as part of a fundraising effort for the cash-strapped club.
