The year is 2017. Top scientists have finally cracked the ability to stop ageing, and the world rejoices. The discovery prompts an immediate FIFA investigation into exactly what this means for world football from now on. How will the careers come and go when every team can just preserve their best stars? How will the next Messi break through? The Qatar FA suggest restricting it to only Qatari players, a motion that's only narrowly defeated. In unrelated news, a bunch of mysterious Qatari bank accounts are seized the day before the vote. Eventually, a compromise is decided upon between. Only those players who’ve proven themselves to be in it for the sport, and their team, can use it. The players who have stuck with their team through thick and thin, who’ve turned down bigger money offers to stay where they are. One-Club Men. However, should their loyalty ever waiver, and they choose to leave, those players will lose their right to an everlasting career, and have to face the advance years once again. Who will remain loyal the longest? Who will ride out the lowest of lows to stay at their lifelong club?
Unfortunately for those of you hoping I’ve found a secret miracle, that’s just the best nonsense I could come up with to frame this scenario. In less dramatic terms, using FM 2017, I'm going to select 50 one-club men from the top 5 leagues and de-age them to around 22. Every 5 years I'll de-age them down to 22 again, unless they abandon their loyalty. I'll also be adjusting everyone's contract to expire in 2020 to make it equal, and undoing international retirements where necessary. Nothing overly complicated, but I’m expecting this one to run a long long time if I’m going to have everyone leave, so I’m good with it not being too complicated.
^{Reddit side note! It's me again. Some may remember my experiments from ages ago. I'm back and writing again, but as you can probably tell, with a new name and website. If you want to see this post with much better formatting, all the images, and everyone's profile at the end, go here to read it in full: link You can stay here if you prefer though!}
So who actually qualifies for this? I've restricted it to players from the Top 5 leagues of England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France, and only included those that have been at their clubs the longest. As well as the genuine candidates like Messi and Totti, loaned out players like Lahm qualify, as do those like Iniesta who haven't left in FM 2017, and even those that have left in-game, but are known for their careers at one club. Buffon is a good example of the latter. I've included a link to an image with all 5 players here: link
With all this loyalty around, I wanted to mix it up a bit by adding in one final player. Someone completely opposite to everyone picked so far, the anti-one-club man, the journeyman of all journeymen. And after some research, I came up with the perfect candidate. Sebastián Abreu, a man who in his career has played at an impressive 29 different teams in 11 different countries, setting a Guinness world record along the way. Abreu will receive the same treatment as the loyal players, except it won’t stop when he moves team. I want him to move around more, spread his wings, see how many teams he can collect over an illustrious career.
That’s enough explaining for now. Should be pretty clear what’s going on, just a bunch of footballers never getting old. Time to get things rolling and see who eliminates themselves. Who can stick it out the longest, who will become THE one-club man?

2016/17

With our younger one club men unleashed on the world, many of them attract instant attention from new clubs. For a while it stays quiet and looks like the first transfer window may pass without incident. Only a few loans crop up... until Javi López because the first man to fall. With Espanyol not meeting his standards, he makes a £2.4M trip down the coast to join Valencia. He proves to be the only summer casualty by the time the window slams shut.
January brings the winter window, and the Premier League clubs start to sniff around, ready to throw bags of cash at unsuspecting players. It doesn’t take long before the next two players are reeled in by money and lose their eternal youth. First Marcel Schmelzer in a £20.5M move to Liverpool, followed by Bruno joining moneybags Man City. By the end of the window, Nacho also heads to the north of England, joining rivals Man United. I’m not sure if any of them have realised how damn cold it is up there. That window swiftly ends, settling the bottom 4 finishers in the competition.
Returning to the world of actual football results briefly, and there aren’t many shocks to be seen. Man City finish 6th, Everton get relegated and Borussia Mönchengladbach reach the Champions League Semi-Finals. A few players see their team relegated, as Werder Bremen, Caen and Freiburg go down, so there could be a few casualties once that disappointment has set in. But all in all, the footballing world has coped just fine.
Loyal Players Remaining: 46
Abreu Club Count: 23 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2017/18

With everyone’s transfer budgets warmed up, it doesn’t take long for the action to get back underway. The previous season has barely finished before Chris Solly trades in his morals for a Premier League move to Norwich. Sergio Álvarez joins him in England, making the slightly odd move to Bournemouth before a big £52M move sees Koke trade loyalty for a big move to Man City. That’s the most surprising move so far, as I expected many of the players at top clubs to stick around. The final two transfers of the window take us to sunny Spain, where both Xabi Prieto and Mario become massive glory hunters, trading in their life long clubs for Atletico Madrid and Barcelona respectively. Javi López, having left Espanyol to join Valencia last year, immediately realises his mistake and rejoins Espanyol. It’s too little too late though, his status as a one-club man is already ruined.
The winter window comes and goes without even a hint of action, so things may already be starting to quieten down. Over in Brazil, Sebastián Abreu has his contract with Bangu come to an end after a good season but fails to attract any new suitors before the European season ends.
Around the world, things keep ticking on relatively normally. Watford take a surprising FA Cup win despite finishing rock bottom of the league, meaning they’ll have European nights alongside their Championship campaign. The loyalty of Seube, Höfler and Bargfrede is rewarded, as Caen, Bremen and Freiburg are immediately promoted back to the top tier. Las Palmas head in the opposite direction, which causes David García to hand in an immediate transfer request. The Spaniard could very well be the next player to go.
Loyal Players Remaining: 41
Abreu Club Count: 23 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Watford (FA Cup)

2018/19

My suggestion that things may be quietening down is immediately disproved by the biggest move so far. Bayern Munich legend Philipp Lahm makes a huge £82M transfer to Manchester City, throwing away all he’d built up at Bayern so far. But it doesn't end there, as 2 more huge transfers are finalised right after. First Claudio Marchisio drops Juventus, clearly not happy with them losing the title to AC Milan, and moves to Real Madrid. Then Daniele De Rossi trades in Roma for Barcelona. Whilst both have moved in real life, I didn’t expect either to fall so early in this, being icons at such huge clubs. A little later, David García makes his predicted move away from relegated Las Palmas, opting to stay in Spain with Osasuna. And then on the final day of the window, one last move. David Zurutuza decides the Premier League is more to his taste and joins Noble at West Ham. Javi López continues his tour of Spain, realising rejoining Espanyol doesn’t earn him back everlasting youth, and so heads to Sevilla instead. Currently, he’s moved around more than the specific journeyman player I chose to actually move around. Talking of, Abreu does find a new contract, heading back to Uruguay to join River Plate Montevideo.
The winter transfer window is again mostly quiet, with very little potential action. There are still some transfers though, as Robin Knoche becomes the 15th person out, heading to Borussia Dortmund. Then a legend moves on, as Iker Casillas decides that barely getting any game time behind Keylor Navas isn’t worth it, and so joins Monaco for a mere £11M. I guess you can't escape the real world after all.
The summer of 2018 means a World Cup, a tournament which regularly creates bizarre results in Football Manager. This year is no exception, as the likes of Italy, Belgium and Argentina fall in the group stages, before South Korea beat both Germany and France in the knockouts. The final between Brazil and Croatia proves 100% less heartbreaking than the real 2018 final for the Croatians, as they become champions of the world. In domestic football, Man United take all the English trophies on offer in a Quadruple, whilst Freiburg find themselves relegated yet again, as do Montpellier.
Loyal Players Remaining: 34
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Croatia (World Cup)

2019/20

Another season, another transfer window, another set of swirling rumours around our one-club men. Borussia Dortmund manage to steal away another of our competitors from a German rival, taking Timo Horn early in the window. Having been relegated yet again last season, Nicolas Höfler decides enough is enough and leaves Freiburg for Hertha Berlin. Over in Italy, and Chievo Legend Sergio Pellissier finally caves, leaving his relegation-threatened lifelong team for European battlers Fiorentina. But that's all the entertainment I can offer, no big signings this time around I’m afraid. Let's go see what Javi López is up to instead. His merry-go-round of clubs continues yet again, moving over to Deportivo de La Coruña in the latest of his ever-decreasing value of transfers.
January retains its typical bleak and dull atmosphere, with no sign of action whatsoever until the final day of the window. Hugo Mallo decides to try and add to his trophy cabinet and heads to Man United. Not the worst career move to throw away eternal life for considering their dominance right now. And with his departure, the total number of players that we've lost hits a nice round 20.
In the Premier League, Man United claim their 4th title in a row, exerting total dominance over everyone. But where one dominance rises, another falls, with Dortmund claiming the Bundesliga to knock Bayern off their perch. The shock of the season comes in the Coupe de France, where 3rd tier LB Châteauroux knock out Lyon, Auxerre and PSG before falling to Caen in the semi-finals. With Monaco having fallen to 4th tier SA Spinalien, Caen beat an easier opposition of RC Lens in the final, leading to Seube lifting the teams first-ever Coupe de France. Not bad for a player I expected to never lift a trophy. On a less joyous note, Höfler having left relegated Freiburg, sees his new team Hertha relegated immediately too. It seems there is no escaping the 2. Bundesliga!
On the record front, Gianluigi Buffon sets a huge benchmark, breaking the 200 cap mark for Italy. With no-one else close to him, he’ll stay the leader for a long time. Messi also breaks a boundary, climbing through 400 league goals during his career at Barcelona. Like Buffon, he’s way clear of any competitor, and unless a miracle happens that sees him abandon Barcelona, I can’t see anyone catching him soon.
Loyal Players Remaining: 30
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Caen (Coupe de France)

2020/21

2020 arrives, and with it, two important points arrive too. Firstly, everyone gets de-aged for the first time in this experiment. The 20 that have left get to watch from a distance thinking about what could have been. Second, the initial contracts are set to expire, so anyone that hasn’t re-signed will out the door. Which is exactly what happens to Víctor Valdés. Having barely appeared for Barcelona since his return, he leaves the club on a free and heads to the southern French coast to join Marseille. A day later and someone else leaves France, as Romain Danzé who decides one de-ageing is enough and moves to Schalke. Tony Hibbert also struggled for games at Everton despite his new youthful look, and so he walks out the door. He opts for Aston Villa, who to my great surprise have sunk to a mid-table League 1 team. Feeling left out, Spain joins in, with Oier Sanjurjo departing Osasuna and moving to Villarreal. The window is then capped by a bizarre final free transfer. Despite appearing regularly, Xavi isn’t offered a new contract by Barcelona. Man City can’t quite believe their luck and snap up the Spanish wizard a few days before the window shuts.
Winter brings with it just one transfer in its usual action-heavy way. Roberto Torres leaves Osasuna, making a £35.5M switch to Atletico. I’m not sure whether Atletico thought they were getting a different de-aged Torres because that can only be described as an overpayment. Either way, that means we've now lost over half the competitors.
Euro 2020 passes, and Croatia prove their World Cup victory was no fluke, becoming both champions of the World, and champions of Europe. On the Continental front, things have been fairly predictable so far, at least until this years Europa League. Hoffenheim escape a tough group and go all the way to win the entire thing. Not bad for a team that barely qualified in the first place. Oh, and Messi wins a little thing called the Ballon d’Or for the 10th time. I think he’s only just getting started.
Loyal Players Remaining: 24
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Hoffenheim (Europa League)

2021/22

The 21/22 season begins with two transfers on the first day. Loïc Perrin makes his way to the Premier League to join Leicester. But that's a minor splash compared to the other move, as after 768 appearances and 302 goals, Francesco Totti leaves Roma. It seems wrong to see it, but he’ll now be wearing a Man United kit. Dortmund continue their run of stealing loyalty, this time bringing Tony Jantschke into the fold. Another contract is run to the end, forcing Álex Bergantiños out of Deportivo without much choice, before being picked up by Cagliari. Mikel González opts to end his time at Real Sociedad, joining Pellissier over at Fiorentina. And as August comes to a close, it looks like Totti may be the only big departure. That is until Gianluigi Buffon decides to call time on his Juventus career. It’s an odd move, with the legend going sorta sideways from a regular starting Juventus spot to Bayern Munich. But there’s no going back now, as his 636 league appearance career with the Italians comes to a close. Two legends down in one window.
No season is complete without a single winter signing to warrant an entire separate paragraph, and this season is no different. Sergi Roberto moves away from Barcelona, in a £24M move to French giants PSG. A good way to guarantee yourself plenty of titles I guess. Abreu also makes a winter move, adding Guarani in the Brasilian second tier to his collection.
Roberto’s decision proves to be a good one, as PSG go on to claim their 10th one in a row. Not many surprises elsewhere, although Real Oviedo get close to pulling off a shock in the Copa del Rey. The second tier team beat Osasuna, Barcelona and Sevilla on the way to the final, but ultimately Real Madrid prove a step too far. Elsewhere everything is won by a team you’d probably expect. Exciting stuff.
Loyal Players Remaining: 17
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2022/23

With the pool of players rapidly decreasing, very few of the crew are even wanted by other clubs anymore. Perhaps deterred by their steadfast loyalty? A few moves do still happen though, so we’re not dead yet. Firstly Anthony Lopes gets fed up of PSG dominating his league and moves to AC Milan for a better shot at a trophy. It’s not long before that story is forgotten, as the biggest transfer fee in the competition so far is dropped. Andrés Iniesta is stolen away from Barcelona, in a huge £86M move to Man United. The midfield maestro fell 2 appearances short of 600 league games for Barcelona, but with his new £300K per-week contract it’s not hard to guess why. That proves to be all the action for the summer window, with no-one willing to top that huge move.
After half a season of hearing their noisy neighbours gloating about their star signing, Man City snap. And if there’s one thing City are good at, it’s splashing the cash. In probably the easiest negotiation over fee Barcelona has ever had, Sergio Busquets makes a £95M move to the sky blues. Yeh, that’ll show United. Once again no-one wants to get in the middle of the awkward Manchester squabble, and the winter transfer closes with a whimper.
The second World Cup of this experiment comes and goes. This time all the giants make it safely through the Group Stages, but it’s Africa that really excels. Morocco make the knockouts, Egypt battle through to the Quarter Finals, but Nigeria come out best. They beat South Korea and Argentina before falling valiantly to France in the Semi-Finals. A 1-0 victory of Italy does see them finish in an impressive 3rd place, becoming the first African team to finish in the top 3 of the World Cup. France win the title on penalties after a deceivingly action-filled 0-0 draw with Spain. The domestic scene follows that with a similar lack of real shocks. In the Carabao Cup, Bournemouth beat Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United on the way to lifting the trophy. But it’s the lesser Cup, so outside of Bournemouth no-one really cares. PSG finally have their grip on the Ligue 1 broken, as Casillas leads Monaco to a fantastic title. Otherwise, all the league titles and cups fall to teams you’d expect them too. Another thrilling year.
Loyal Players Remaining: 14
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Bournemouth (Carabao Cup)

2023/24

Literally nothing happens. Thomas Kessler decides that no team can ignore his existence for 20 seasons in a row and get away with it, leaving Köln to join Trabzonspor. So as I said, literally nothing happens. Even Javi López moving to yet another club would be more interesting than that.
The same applies to the footballing season. Asides from Casillas captaining Monaco to a Champions League title, or Atletico winning the title again, exactly 10 years after their last win, everything is frustratingly normal. And even those two events are hardly shocks.
Before I start to lose hope, there are a few interesting moves over the last few years from the losing group that are worth highlighting. First season mover Bruno didn’t make the impact he hoped and found himself moving to the lovely Stoke. Robin Knoche barely received any playtime at Dortmund and found himself cast out to Dinamo Zagreb. Even in League 1, Tony Hibbert could barely get any game time at Villa and so moved on the Scunthorpe in League 2. But the winner of the oddest move has to be Zurutuza, who somehow manage to pull off a move to Liverpool after West Ham found themselves relegated, only make a few disappointing performances, before being released on a free to join Al-Arabi in Qatar. Not quite the career he was anticipating when joining the Premier League I bet.
Loyal Players Remaining: 13
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2024/25

The summer transfer window arrives for another season, and with it finally comes a huge deal! Javi López has found yet another club! Hooray! As for actual competitors, absolutely no movement whatsoever. Even from Abreu, who’s been at Guarani for 2.5 years now. Manceau, Lewington and Seube complain to their managers about playing time or relegation, but none of them actually make a move anywhere. So our final 13 will add another 5 years onto their career length.
There are some fun statistics from our 51 worth mentioning at this point. Buffon leads the way with both total league appearances (935) and international caps (259). His caps are at a point where they’re too high for the game to display, as the value is stored as an unsigned 8-bit integer, and so has rolled over to just show 3. Most appearances for a single club goes to Dean Lewington however, who thanks to being a regular sits at 857 league appearances for the MK Dons (or 889 if you include Wimbledon). In the goals department, the winner is obvious. With almost 500 league goals, 100 international goals and 14 Ballon d’Or awards, Messi sits on top of everyone. On the international scene, he’s run close by Müller and the fast-approaching Kane, but for league goals, it’s not even close.
2024 brings with it a Euro tournament, which doesn’t provide much in the way of surprises, but brings with it some exciting high scoring matches. All ending in a 4-3 victory for a Thomas Müller led Germany over neighbours Netherlands. Which I’m sure went down very well. The domestic scene decides to spring a few shocks though. In Serie A, Roma claim an impressive title thanks to main striker Iheanacho, their first since 2001. The German and French cups provide surprise winners, in the form of Hertha Berlin and Dijon. Both cap an impressive run by beating their respective league winners, Bayern and Monaco. Even the continental tournaments turn up too. First Monaco cement their place as a top power in football by winning their second Champions League in a row. That coming a week after the best win there could possibly be. Tottenham win the Europa League! Screw the other stuff, that last part is all I need!
Loyal Players Remaining: 13
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Dijon (Coupe de France), Hertha Berlin (DFB Pokal)

At this point though it’s fair to say that the competition results are more interesting than the movements of the players. Which is the perfect signal that things need to speed up a little bit. So from now on, updates will be every 5 years, which lines up perfectly with player age resets, letting us see who has made it to the next checkpoint.

2025-2030

Another round of de-ageing hits, and you’d think that would incite some interest in our final 13. Instead, it’s a ghost town. We do have an immediate dropout though, as Nicolas Seube finally gets fed up with his lack of playtime at Caen and heads for Panionios in Greece. A year later the situation is repeated. I’m not entirely sure what his unhappiness was about, but Iker Muniain decides he’s had enough of Athletic Club and moves to Hamburger SV. At least he left on exactly 100 goals for Athletic though, a nice round number. With 11 left, a standoff to reach the top 10 ensues. For 3 years no-one budges in their show of loyalty, until in 2029… Dean Lewington leaves for Derby County on a free. It’s a huge move, with Lewington becoming the first man to break through 1000 league appearances for a single club before leaving. But he’s moved on now, and it won’t be long before that record is broken. That move means we’re left with our final 10 contestants. Terry, Iraola, Messi, Susaeta, Noble, Jourdren, Müller, Kane, Manceau and Bargfrede have secured a top 10 spot, and now all that’s left to do is fight it out for number 1.
Over in Brazil, our anti-one-club man continues his journey, although it remains in Brazil for the moment. Only 2 clubs are added to his count, with a long stay at Atletico Goianiense followed by a £2M move to top tier Coritiba. I’m kind of hoping he starts to make enough waves in the Brazilian league to move to Europe and add some new countries to his history.
Those that fell before the first de-ageing are retiring, finishing off their magnificent, or in some cases very un-magnificent, careers (as losers). Javi López finishes his fine anti-loyalty tour around Spain with 7 transfers to his name. Schmelzer, Nacho, Solly, Álvarez, Koke, Mario, Prieto, Marchisio, De Rossi, David García, Zurutuza, Knoche, Höfler, Pellissier, Mallo, Horn and Hibbert end their careers. Many, such as Nacho, Horn and De Rossi stay just as committed to their new clubs as they did their old, finishing out their careers after just a single transfer. Of the pensioners, Sergio Pellissier manages to rack up the most career league appearances and goals, at 894 and 246, although that’s largely thanks to a huge head start. De Rossi dominates on the international scene, earning a whopping 197 caps over his 30-year career. Naturally, all those records will be blown out the water once the next group start retiring, but it’s nice to have some benchmarks.
Around the world, plenty has gone on worth hearing about. The Netherlands claim their first-ever World Cup win, beating Brazil in the final, whilst in the Euro’s Germany win their second tournament in a row. The Gold Cup throws up a few interesting results too, as first, the Mexico B team win it, with their A team tied up in the Confederations Cup. Then 4 years later Canada take the title, only the second time in their history. Over in Italy, Lazio find themselves relegated as the league starts to shake itself up a bit. But other than that, domestic football remains relatively unspectacular. Oh except… TOTTENHAM WINNING THE LEAGUE. Didn’t even have to reset it and we won it before Arsenal did. North London is very much Lilywhite now, suck it Gooners!
Loyal Players Remaining: 10
Abreu Club Count: 27 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Tottenham (Premier League)

2030-2035

Another 5 years pass and to start with it looks like the top 10 are going to hold firm. Eventually though, the temptation of money proves too much for one man. That man is Geoffrey Jourdren who trades in his starting slot at Montpellier for a cosy backup contract at PSG. Then comes… dead silence. Not even a rumour, or an unhappy player. No-one even hints at leaving for the next 4 years, which means we end the period with nine players on the books. The real waiting game has begun. Even our journeyman Abreu is moving in a very slow way, as a five year Coritiba stint finishes with a free transfer to Red Bull Brasil. I think my hopes for a European move have died.
At least there are a lot of retirements to run through. Bruno, Lahm, Casillas, Valdés, Danzé, Oier, Xavi, Torres, Perrin, Jantschke, Bergantiños, González, Roberto, Iniesta and Busquets hang up their playing boots. That does leave us without some noted legends, with Lahm, Casillas, Iniesta and Busquets reaching 200 caps for their country. You’d think Spain would have won more with that golden generation. Casillas and Xavi also both hit 1000 league appearances thanks to a strong head start before the experiment. But it’s Andrés Iniesta who is the most loyal of the bunch, racking up nearly 600 appearances for his original club before departing.
Five years leaves plenty of time for interesting results once again. England take a World Cup win, which is always a sign of the apocalypse, only made more bizarre by Scotland making the semi-finals in the same competition. Portugal take the other title in that period, whilst the Euros also see a surprise winner in Switzerland. France provides the biggest shock at club level, as Lille come from nowhere to win Ligue 1, and then immediately revert back to mid-table once again. Otherwise, the time belongs to Manchester City. The oil bar… sky blues take 4 out of 5 titles in both the Premier League and Champions League, with all that cash flinging finally paying off.
Loyal Players Remaining: 9
Abreu Club Count: 28 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: England (World Cup), Lille (Ligue 1)

2035-40

With just nine players left, once again we get a transfer fairly early on in the period. Early as in the first transfer window, which makes me wonder why they waited so long. Anyway, Mark Noble has had his patience tested by West Ham’s yoyoing between the Premier League and Championship a bit too much and finally caves. He makes a £20M move to Burnley, who… are doing the exact same thing. Not sure that was the brightest idea. Like the previous 5 years though, one transfer is all we get. None of the others move, despite some pretty heavy unhappiness from Bargfrede and Manceau. Abreu keeps up his trail, running out his contract with Red Bull Brasil and opting for Chapecoense to reach 29 clubs in his career.
With very few moving recently, that also means less and less are retiring, as just 7 ex-competitors leave the game. Totti, Buffon, Lopes, Kessler, Seube, Muniain and Lewington call time on their football life. The fact they all stuck with it for so long means there’s so impressive stats between them. Totti racked up 1154 league appearances, with 768 at Roma. Dean Lewington, after leaving MK Dons with 1003 appearances finished with a total of 1287. Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon finished with a whopping 1307 league appearances, but perhaps more impressively, 334 international caps. But the single most surprising statistic goes to Thomas Kessler. Despite barely playing in Germany he manages to notch a grand total of 7 goals after his move to Turkey. Maybe if he’d been a striker he’d have actually played at Koln. Oh and Seube ends his career Greek. Because why not.
As per every time, a quick look around the world’s results is needed. Spain win back the World Cup titles, whilst Italy take a Euro win. Argentina, Mexico and Australia claim all their continents international trophies in the window, so no massive surprises there. The domestic world isn’t exactly littered with shocks either. Brescia win a Coppa Italia, and Nîmes Olympique grab 4 top 5 finishes in a row in France, but there’s not really much to shout about. I think it’s best to just get on with the next de-ageing.
Loyal Players Remaining: 8
Abreu Club Count: 29 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Brescia (Coppa Italia)

2040-45

Down to 8 now, so it’s getting tougher. And a lot slower, so slow in fact that not a single transfer in our group happens in five years. For a moment I was excited to see Manceau at Recreativo de Huelva, but that was just a loan. So I was back to being crushed. On the plus side, Abreu makes some huge steps. He adds not just 1, but 2 new countries to his history! The first is Portugal, in a huge step up to join Braga. As usual, it’s just until his contract ends, before he moves on to Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. He’s hardly setting Europe alight but I don’t care, he’s actually moving!
There’s only one retiree to talk about too, as pretty much everyone has already gone. Geoffrey Jourdren finishes up with 925 total league appearances. It probably could have been a bit more, if he’d not spent 10 years of his career being a backup at PSG and Bayern. On a far more interesting note, Terry breaks through 1500 career league appearances. Kane also hits 256 international goals, which results in the number resetting to 0 just like caps. So the game has him on 96 caps with 11 goals, when the actual numbers are a stunning 352 caps with 267 goals.
Having seen my disappointment last time around, the world decides to liven things up. Denmark become both Champions of the World and Champions of Europe in 2042 and 2040, although they lose the European title to Germany 4 years later. At the continental level, the Champions League stays on track, but the Europa League brings some bizarre winners into the mix. Nîmes Olympique, Real Sociedad, Leicester and Bristol City all win a trophy. It seems Mark Noble finally made a right move transferring to Bristol City, as the club is now a strong top 6 Premier League side. Manceau wins a Coupe de France at Angers, but it’s still Nîmes making waves, forming a big three with PSG and Monaco. It may not be long before either Nîmes or Bristol City win their league, which is not something I expected to be saying.
Loyal Players Remaining: 8
Abreu Club Count: 31 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Nîmes Olympique/Bristol City (Europa League), Angers (Coupe de France)

2045-50

2045 kicks off and once again Manceau deceives me. This time it’s a loan spell in Denmark with Brøndby that had me thinking he was gone. Well you know what they say, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice… I’m probably gonna fall for it. It looks like there’s going to be no moves whatsoever once again, until June 2047 arrives and I notice a contract is set to expire. Imagine my shock when Lionel Messi is not offered a contract by Barcelona and is let go. It’s made doubly worse by the fact that of all teams to pick him up, it's Atletico Madrid. Apparently, 37 Ballon d’Or awards aren’t good enough for Barcelona anymore. I don’t even care that nothing else happens. That’s enough to stun me.
Over in the retirement home, Mark Noble moves into a room. After an up and down career, the Englishman did manage some silverware with Bristol City and ended his career with 1317 league appearances. He even earned not just 1, but 90 England caps across his 44-year career.
Around the world, interesting results are still cropping up. England grab their third World Cup win beating Colombia, whilst Honduras win their first-ever Gold Cup. Much to my bitter disappointment, Arsenal win 4 of the 5 Champions Leagues on offer, as well as 3 Premier League titles. Chelsea have a period of bottom 10 finishes which deeply upsets Terry, whilst over in France, Chamois Niortais begin to try and join the top 3. Don’t worry I’ve never heard of them either.
Loyal Players Remaining: 7
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Honduras (Gold Cup)

2050-55

With the world still reeling at the fact the Messi has moved from Barcelona, everyone kinda forgets to make any moves. In fact, Messi is the first person to move yet again, leaving Atletico in a very cheap 34.5M move to Man City. Which is more in line with where I originally expected him to go. Abreu finishes one contract, at Hapoel Be’er Sheva, and moves onto the next, but it’s with Monterrey so doesn’t count. Sebastian, it has to be new clubs. John Terry is starting to get frustrated with a Chelsea team that has really fallen from grace. The Londoners barely survive relegation in 2052/53, so Terry may be the next to go. Or maybe I know nothing and it’s completely random.
No-one retires this year, so let’s take a brief look at some statistics of our remaining 7 + Messi. All our players have now reached 1000 appearances, with Bargfrede in last at 1173. Messi has crossed 1000 league goals, now a full 300 clear of the chasing pack of Abreu and Kane. On the international level, Thomas Müller becomes the first player to need a rollover of caps twice, moving on to a massive 524 international caps. But it’s Kane who still leads the international goal stat, nearly breaking 350, a full 50 ahead of the German.
Müller does, however, grab a World Cup win for Germany so I’m sure he won’t be too upset. At least until they’re deposed by Holland 4 years later. On the continental level, Bristol City win another Europa League title beating previous champions Espanyol. Middlesbrough also nearly earn a trophy, having joined Bristol as a top 6 team. But the winner of the biggest shock, although I did say this might happen, goes to Chamois Niortais, who topple the dominance of PSG and Monaco to capture a miraculous Ligue 1 title in the last season of the period.
Loyal Players Remaining: 7
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Chamois Niortais (Ligue 1), Bristol City/Espanyol (Europa League)

2055-60

The summer window of 2055 opens and as I warned may happen, there’s an almost immediate transfer. Fed up with Chelsea’s mediocre finishes, John Terry decides to move on. Unfortunately for Chelsea fans, Arsenal is his next club, which I’m sure will cause a few shudders. A year later and another move comes around, once again due to unhappiness over the club’s performance. Surprisingly it's Thomas Müller,who's annoyed by the fact that Bayern haven’t won a Bundesliga title since 2048, and so runs down his contract. Leverkusen almost earn his signature, but eventually its the glory of PSG that proves too much to resist. But we’re not done there! Another player runs down their contract, opting to move to Vitoria de Setubal in Portugal. Vincent Manceau finally makes a real move rather than constantly faking me out. So with another 3 players down, we’re left with our final 4. The race for the top 3 is hotting up now!
We do have a retirement this time thanks to the transfer window livening up. The world's best-ever player, Lionel Messi, retires from football. He ends up on a total of 1858 league appearances, scoring a massive 1068 goals in this time. 1430 appearances and 895 goals of those belonging to his 45-year career at Barcelona. On the international scene, he earned an impressive 505 caps and 276 goals. But it’s the awards where he shines. 279 individual awards, 82 team titles, 22 league titles, 6 Champions League titles, 45 Ballon d’Or awards. What makes it even crazier is 41 of those Ballon d’Or awards were in a row, as he earned every single one from 2015 to 2056. I don’t think I’ll see another player like that crop up in any save, truly the world’s best player.
Looking out on the world, I can say that it’s a Chamois Niortais player that breaks Messi’s streak, as the French team claim another two Ligue 1 titles. It’s hard to say they’re a “surprise winner” at this point. Bristol City finally make the full step up to join the big guns, winning 3 Carabao Cups, 1 FA Cup, 2 Premier League titles and even a Champions League trophy. If any Bristol City fans want this save to give themselves hope over the future, I can send it over. Internationally it's the era of Portugal, as they claim both the Euro and World Cup trophies.
Loyal Players Remaining: 4
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Bristol City (Premier League/Champions League), Lyon (Relegation)

With so few players left, now is probably a good time to speed it up once again. The final four will be tough to budge, so how about we move to 10-year intervals to try and cut down on dead years. And I'll be moving to the comments, because I've hit reddits character limit.

The year is 2017. Top scientists have finally cracked the ability to stop ageing, and the world rejoices. The discovery prompts an immediate FIFA investigation into exactly what this means for world football from now on. How will the careers come and go when every team can just preserve their best stars? How will the next Messi break through? The Qatar FA suggest restricting it to only Qatari players, a motion that's only narrowly defeated. In unrelated news, a bunch of mysterious Qatari bank accounts are seized the day before the vote. Eventually, a compromise is decided upon between. Only those players who’ve proven themselves to be in it for the sport, and their team, can use it. The players who have stuck with their team through thick and thin, who’ve turned down bigger money offers to stay where they are. One-Club Men. However, should their loyalty ever waiver, and they choose to leave, those players will lose their right to an everlasting career, and have to face the advance years once again. Who will remain loyal the longest? Who will ride out the lowest of lows to stay at their lifelong club?
Unfortunately for those of you hoping I’ve found a secret miracle, that’s just the best nonsense I could come up with to frame this scenario. In less dramatic terms, using FM 2017, I'm going to select 50 one-club men from the top 5 leagues and de-age them to around 22. Every 5 years I'll de-age them down to 22 again, unless they abandon their loyalty. I'll also be adjusting everyone's contract to expire in 2020 to make it equal, and undoing international retirements where necessary. Nothing overly complicated, but I’m expecting this one to run a long long time if I’m going to have everyone leave, so I’m good with it not being too complicated.
^{Reddit side note! It's me again. Some may remember my experiments from ages ago. I'm back and writing again, but as you can probably tell, with a new name and website. If you want to see this post with much better formatting, all the images, and everyone's profile at the end, go here to read it in full: link You can stay here if you prefer though!}
So who actually qualifies for this? I've restricted it to players from the Top 5 leagues of England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France, and only included those that have been at their clubs the longest. As well as the genuine candidates like Messi and Totti, loaned out players like Lahm qualify, as do those like Iniesta who haven't left in FM 2017, and even those that have left in-game, but are known for their careers at one club. Buffon is a good example of the latter. I've included a link to an image with all 5 players here: link
With all this loyalty around, I wanted to mix it up a bit by adding in one final player. Someone completely opposite to everyone picked so far, the anti-one-club man, the journeyman of all journeymen. And after some research, I came up with the perfect candidate. Sebastián Abreu, a man who in his career has played at an impressive 29 different teams in 11 different countries, setting a Guinness world record along the way. Abreu will receive the same treatment as the loyal players, except it won’t stop when he moves team. I want him to move around more, spread his wings, see how many teams he can collect over an illustrious career.
That’s enough explaining for now. Should be pretty clear what’s going on, just a bunch of footballers never getting old. Time to get things rolling and see who eliminates themselves. Who can stick it out the longest, who will become THE one-club man?

2016/17

With our younger one club men unleashed on the world, many of them attract instant attention from new clubs. For a while it stays quiet and looks like the first transfer window may pass without incident. Only a few loans crop up... until Javi López because the first man to fall. With Espanyol not meeting his standards, he makes a £2.4M trip down the coast to join Valencia. He proves to be the only summer casualty by the time the window slams shut.
January brings the winter window, and the Premier League clubs start to sniff around, ready to throw bags of cash at unsuspecting players. It doesn’t take long before the next two players are reeled in by money and lose their eternal youth. First Marcel Schmelzer in a £20.5M move to Liverpool, followed by Bruno joining moneybags Man City. By the end of the window, Nacho also heads to the north of England, joining rivals Man United. I’m not sure if any of them have realised how damn cold it is up there. That window swiftly ends, settling the bottom 4 finishers in the competition.
Returning to the world of actual football results briefly, and there aren’t many shocks to be seen. Man City finish 6th, Everton get relegated and Borussia Mönchengladbach reach the Champions League Semi-Finals. A few players see their team relegated, as Werder Bremen, Caen and Freiburg go down, so there could be a few casualties once that disappointment has set in. But all in all, the footballing world has coped just fine.
Loyal Players Remaining: 46
Abreu Club Count: 23 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2017/18

With everyone’s transfer budgets warmed up, it doesn’t take long for the action to get back underway. The previous season has barely finished before Chris Solly trades in his morals for a Premier League move to Norwich. Sergio Álvarez joins him in England, making the slightly odd move to Bournemouth before a big £52M move sees Koke trade loyalty for a big move to Man City. That’s the most surprising move so far, as I expected many of the players at top clubs to stick around. The final two transfers of the window take us to sunny Spain, where both Xabi Prieto and Mario become massive glory hunters, trading in their life long clubs for Atletico Madrid and Barcelona respectively. Javi López, having left Espanyol to join Valencia last year, immediately realises his mistake and rejoins Espanyol. It’s too little too late though, his status as a one-club man is already ruined.
The winter window comes and goes without even a hint of action, so things may already be starting to quieten down. Over in Brazil, Sebastián Abreu has his contract with Bangu come to an end after a good season but fails to attract any new suitors before the European season ends.
Around the world, things keep ticking on relatively normally. Watford take a surprising FA Cup win despite finishing rock bottom of the league, meaning they’ll have European nights alongside their Championship campaign. The loyalty of Seube, Höfler and Bargfrede is rewarded, as Caen, Bremen and Freiburg are immediately promoted back to the top tier. Las Palmas head in the opposite direction, which causes David García to hand in an immediate transfer request. The Spaniard could very well be the next player to go.
Loyal Players Remaining: 41
Abreu Club Count: 23 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Watford (FA Cup)

2018/19

My suggestion that things may be quietening down is immediately disproved by the biggest move so far. Bayern Munich legend Philipp Lahm makes a huge £82M transfer to Manchester City, throwing away all he’d built up at Bayern so far. But it doesn't end there, as 2 more huge transfers are finalised right after. First Claudio Marchisio drops Juventus, clearly not happy with them losing the title to AC Milan, and moves to Real Madrid. Then Daniele De Rossi trades in Roma for Barcelona. Whilst both have moved in real life, I didn’t expect either to fall so early in this, being icons at such huge clubs. A little later, David García makes his predicted move away from relegated Las Palmas, opting to stay in Spain with Osasuna. And then on the final day of the window, one last move. David Zurutuza decides the Premier League is more to his taste and joins Noble at West Ham. Javi López continues his tour of Spain, realising rejoining Espanyol doesn’t earn him back everlasting youth, and so heads to Sevilla instead. Currently, he’s moved around more than the specific journeyman player I chose to actually move around. Talking of, Abreu does find a new contract, heading back to Uruguay to join River Plate Montevideo.
The winter transfer window is again mostly quiet, with very little potential action. There are still some transfers though, as Robin Knoche becomes the 15th person out, heading to Borussia Dortmund. Then a legend moves on, as Iker Casillas decides that barely getting any game time behind Keylor Navas isn’t worth it, and so joins Monaco for a mere £11M. I guess you can't escape the real world after all.
The summer of 2018 means a World Cup, a tournament which regularly creates bizarre results in Football Manager. This year is no exception, as the likes of Italy, Belgium and Argentina fall in the group stages, before South Korea beat both Germany and France in the knockouts. The final between Brazil and Croatia proves 100% less heartbreaking than the real 2018 final for the Croatians, as they become champions of the world. In domestic football, Man United take all the English trophies on offer in a Quadruple, whilst Freiburg find themselves relegated yet again, as do Montpellier.
Loyal Players Remaining: 34
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Croatia (World Cup)

2019/20

Another season, another transfer window, another set of swirling rumours around our one-club men. Borussia Dortmund manage to steal away another of our competitors from a German rival, taking Timo Horn early in the window. Having been relegated yet again last season, Nicolas Höfler decides enough is enough and leaves Freiburg for Hertha Berlin. Over in Italy, and Chievo Legend Sergio Pellissier finally caves, leaving his relegation-threatened lifelong team for European battlers Fiorentina. But that's all the entertainment I can offer, no big signings this time around I’m afraid. Let's go see what Javi López is up to instead. His merry-go-round of clubs continues yet again, moving over to Deportivo de La Coruña in the latest of his ever-decreasing value of transfers.
January retains its typical bleak and dull atmosphere, with no sign of action whatsoever until the final day of the window. Hugo Mallo decides to try and add to his trophy cabinet and heads to Man United. Not the worst career move to throw away eternal life for considering their dominance right now. And with his departure, the total number of players that we've lost hits a nice round 20.
In the Premier League, Man United claim their 4th title in a row, exerting total dominance over everyone. But where one dominance rises, another falls, with Dortmund claiming the Bundesliga to knock Bayern off their perch. The shock of the season comes in the Coupe de France, where 3rd tier LB Châteauroux knock out Lyon, Auxerre and PSG before falling to Caen in the semi-finals. With Monaco having fallen to 4th tier SA Spinalien, Caen beat an easier opposition of RC Lens in the final, leading to Seube lifting the teams first-ever Coupe de France. Not bad for a player I expected to never lift a trophy. On a less joyous note, Höfler having left relegated Freiburg, sees his new team Hertha relegated immediately too. It seems there is no escaping the 2. Bundesliga!
On the record front, Gianluigi Buffon sets a huge benchmark, breaking the 200 cap mark for Italy. With no-one else close to him, he’ll stay the leader for a long time. Messi also breaks a boundary, climbing through 400 league goals during his career at Barcelona. Like Buffon, he’s way clear of any competitor, and unless a miracle happens that sees him abandon Barcelona, I can’t see anyone catching him soon.
Loyal Players Remaining: 30
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Caen (Coupe de France)

2020/21

2020 arrives, and with it, two important points arrive too. Firstly, everyone gets de-aged for the first time in this experiment. The 20 that have left get to watch from a distance thinking about what could have been. Second, the initial contracts are set to expire, so anyone that hasn’t re-signed will out the door. Which is exactly what happens to Víctor Valdés. Having barely appeared for Barcelona since his return, he leaves the club on a free and heads to the southern French coast to join Marseille. A day later and someone else leaves France, as Romain Danzé who decides one de-ageing is enough and moves to Schalke. Tony Hibbert also struggled for games at Everton despite his new youthful look, and so he walks out the door. He opts for Aston Villa, who to my great surprise have sunk to a mid-table League 1 team. Feeling left out, Spain joins in, with Oier Sanjurjo departing Osasuna and moving to Villarreal. The window is then capped by a bizarre final free transfer. Despite appearing regularly, Xavi isn’t offered a new contract by Barcelona. Man City can’t quite believe their luck and snap up the Spanish wizard a few days before the window shuts.
Winter brings with it just one transfer in its usual action-heavy way. Roberto Torres leaves Osasuna, making a £35.5M switch to Atletico. I’m not sure whether Atletico thought they were getting a different de-aged Torres because that can only be described as an overpayment. Either way, that means we've now lost over half the competitors.
Euro 2020 passes, and Croatia prove their World Cup victory was no fluke, becoming both champions of the World, and champions of Europe. On the Continental front, things have been fairly predictable so far, at least until this years Europa League. Hoffenheim escape a tough group and go all the way to win the entire thing. Not bad for a team that barely qualified in the first place. Oh, and Messi wins a little thing called the Ballon d’Or for the 10th time. I think he’s only just getting started.
Loyal Players Remaining: 24
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Hoffenheim (Europa League)

2021/22

The 21/22 season begins with two transfers on the first day. Loïc Perrin makes his way to the Premier League to join Leicester. But that's a minor splash compared to the other move, as after 768 appearances and 302 goals, Francesco Totti leaves Roma. It seems wrong to see it, but he’ll now be wearing a Man United kit. Dortmund continue their run of stealing loyalty, this time bringing Tony Jantschke into the fold. Another contract is run to the end, forcing Álex Bergantiños out of Deportivo without much choice, before being picked up by Cagliari. Mikel González opts to end his time at Real Sociedad, joining Pellissier over at Fiorentina. And as August comes to a close, it looks like Totti may be the only big departure. That is until Gianluigi Buffon decides to call time on his Juventus career. It’s an odd move, with the legend going sorta sideways from a regular starting Juventus spot to Bayern Munich. But there’s no going back now, as his 636 league appearance career with the Italians comes to a close. Two legends down in one window.
No season is complete without a single winter signing to warrant an entire separate paragraph, and this season is no different. Sergi Roberto moves away from Barcelona, in a £24M move to French giants PSG. A good way to guarantee yourself plenty of titles I guess. Abreu also makes a winter move, adding Guarani in the Brasilian second tier to his collection.
Roberto’s decision proves to be a good one, as PSG go on to claim their 10th one in a row. Not many surprises elsewhere, although Real Oviedo get close to pulling off a shock in the Copa del Rey. The second tier team beat Osasuna, Barcelona and Sevilla on the way to the final, but ultimately Real Madrid prove a step too far. Elsewhere everything is won by a team you’d probably expect. Exciting stuff.
Loyal Players Remaining: 17
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2022/23

With the pool of players rapidly decreasing, very few of the crew are even wanted by other clubs anymore. Perhaps deterred by their steadfast loyalty? A few moves do still happen though, so we’re not dead yet. Firstly Anthony Lopes gets fed up of PSG dominating his league and moves to AC Milan for a better shot at a trophy. It’s not long before that story is forgotten, as the biggest transfer fee in the competition so far is dropped. Andrés Iniesta is stolen away from Barcelona, in a huge £86M move to Man United. The midfield maestro fell 2 appearances short of 600 league games for Barcelona, but with his new £300K per-week contract it’s not hard to guess why. That proves to be all the action for the summer window, with no-one willing to top that huge move.
After half a season of hearing their noisy neighbours gloating about their star signing, Man City snap. And if there’s one thing City are good at, it’s splashing the cash. In probably the easiest negotiation over fee Barcelona has ever had, Sergio Busquets makes a £95M move to the sky blues. Yeh, that’ll show United. Once again no-one wants to get in the middle of the awkward Manchester squabble, and the winter transfer closes with a whimper.
The second World Cup of this experiment comes and goes. This time all the giants make it safely through the Group Stages, but it’s Africa that really excels. Morocco make the knockouts, Egypt battle through to the Quarter Finals, but Nigeria come out best. They beat South Korea and Argentina before falling valiantly to France in the Semi-Finals. A 1-0 victory of Italy does see them finish in an impressive 3rd place, becoming the first African team to finish in the top 3 of the World Cup. France win the title on penalties after a deceivingly action-filled 0-0 draw with Spain. The domestic scene follows that with a similar lack of real shocks. In the Carabao Cup, Bournemouth beat Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United on the way to lifting the trophy. But it’s the lesser Cup, so outside of Bournemouth no-one really cares. PSG finally have their grip on the Ligue 1 broken, as Casillas leads Monaco to a fantastic title. Otherwise, all the league titles and cups fall to teams you’d expect them too. Another thrilling year.
Loyal Players Remaining: 14
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Bournemouth (Carabao Cup)

2023/24

Literally nothing happens. Thomas Kessler decides that no team can ignore his existence for 20 seasons in a row and get away with it, leaving Köln to join Trabzonspor. So as I said, literally nothing happens. Even Javi López moving to yet another club would be more interesting than that.
The same applies to the footballing season. Asides from Casillas captaining Monaco to a Champions League title, or Atletico winning the title again, exactly 10 years after their last win, everything is frustratingly normal. And even those two events are hardly shocks.
Before I start to lose hope, there are a few interesting moves over the last few years from the losing group that are worth highlighting. First season mover Bruno didn’t make the impact he hoped and found himself moving to the lovely Stoke. Robin Knoche barely received any playtime at Dortmund and found himself cast out to Dinamo Zagreb. Even in League 1, Tony Hibbert could barely get any game time at Villa and so moved on the Scunthorpe in League 2. But the winner of the oddest move has to be Zurutuza, who somehow manage to pull off a move to Liverpool after West Ham found themselves relegated, only make a few disappointing performances, before being released on a free to join Al-Arabi in Qatar. Not quite the career he was anticipating when joining the Premier League I bet.
Loyal Players Remaining: 13
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2024/25

The summer transfer window arrives for another season, and with it finally comes a huge deal! Javi López has found yet another club! Hooray! As for actual competitors, absolutely no movement whatsoever. Even from Abreu, who’s been at Guarani for 2.5 years now. Manceau, Lewington and Seube complain to their managers about playing time or relegation, but none of them actually make a move anywhere. So our final 13 will add another 5 years onto their career length.
There are some fun statistics from our 51 worth mentioning at this point. Buffon leads the way with both total league appearances (935) and international caps (259). His caps are at a point where they’re too high for the game to display, as the value is stored as an unsigned 8-bit integer, and so has rolled over to just show 3. Most appearances for a single club goes to Dean Lewington however, who thanks to being a regular sits at 857 league appearances for the MK Dons (or 889 if you include Wimbledon). In the goals department, the winner is obvious. With almost 500 league goals, 100 international goals and 14 Ballon d’Or awards, Messi sits on top of everyone. On the international scene, he’s run close by Müller and the fast-approaching Kane, but for league goals, it’s not even close.
2024 brings with it a Euro tournament, which doesn’t provide much in the way of surprises, but brings with it some exciting high scoring matches. All ending in a 4-3 victory for a Thomas Müller led Germany over neighbours Netherlands. Which I’m sure went down very well. The domestic scene decides to spring a few shocks though. In Serie A, Roma claim an impressive title thanks to main striker Iheanacho, their first since 2001. The German and French cups provide surprise winners, in the form of Hertha Berlin and Dijon. Both cap an impressive run by beating their respective league winners, Bayern and Monaco. Even the continental tournaments turn up too. First Monaco cement their place as a top power in football by winning their second Champions League in a row. That coming a week after the best win there could possibly be. Tottenham win the Europa League! Screw the other stuff, that last part is all I need!
Loyal Players Remaining: 13
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Dijon (Coupe de France), Hertha Berlin (DFB Pokal)

At this point though it’s fair to say that the competition results are more interesting than the movements of the players. Which is the perfect signal that things need to speed up a little bit. So from now on, updates will be every 5 years, which lines up perfectly with player age resets, letting us see who has made it to the next checkpoint.

2025-2030

Another round of de-ageing hits, and you’d think that would incite some interest in our final 13. Instead, it’s a ghost town. We do have an immediate dropout though, as Nicolas Seube finally gets fed up with his lack of playtime at Caen and heads for Panionios in Greece. A year later the situation is repeated. I’m not entirely sure what his unhappiness was about, but Iker Muniain decides he’s had enough of Athletic Club and moves to Hamburger SV. At least he left on exactly 100 goals for Athletic though, a nice round number. With 11 left, a standoff to reach the top 10 ensues. For 3 years no-one budges in their show of loyalty, until in 2029… Dean Lewington leaves for Derby County on a free. It’s a huge move, with Lewington becoming the first man to break through 1000 league appearances for a single club before leaving. But he’s moved on now, and it won’t be long before that record is broken. That move means we’re left with our final 10 contestants. Terry, Iraola, Messi, Susaeta, Noble, Jourdren, Müller, Kane, Manceau and Bargfrede have secured a top 10 spot, and now all that’s left to do is fight it out for number 1.
Over in Brazil, our anti-one-club man continues his journey, although it remains in Brazil for the moment. Only 2 clubs are added to his count, with a long stay at Atletico Goianiense followed by a £2M move to top tier Coritiba. I’m kind of hoping he starts to make enough waves in the Brazilian league to move to Europe and add some new countries to his history.
Those that fell before the first de-ageing are retiring, finishing off their magnificent, or in some cases very un-magnificent, careers (as losers). Javi López finishes his fine anti-loyalty tour around Spain with 7 transfers to his name. Schmelzer, Nacho, Solly, Álvarez, Koke, Mario, Prieto, Marchisio, De Rossi, David García, Zurutuza, Knoche, Höfler, Pellissier, Mallo, Horn and Hibbert end their careers. Many, such as Nacho, Horn and De Rossi stay just as committed to their new clubs as they did their old, finishing out their careers after just a single transfer. Of the pensioners, Sergio Pellissier manages to rack up the most career league appearances and goals, at 894 and 246, although that’s largely thanks to a huge head start. De Rossi dominates on the international scene, earning a whopping 197 caps over his 30-year career. Naturally, all those records will be blown out the water once the next group start retiring, but it’s nice to have some benchmarks.
Around the world, plenty has gone on worth hearing about. The Netherlands claim their first-ever World Cup win, beating Brazil in the final, whilst in the Euro’s Germany win their second tournament in a row. The Gold Cup throws up a few interesting results too, as first, the Mexico B team win it, with their A team tied up in the Confederations Cup. Then 4 years later Canada take the title, only the second time in their history. Over in Italy, Lazio find themselves relegated as the league starts to shake itself up a bit. But other than that, domestic football remains relatively unspectacular. Oh except… TOTTENHAM WINNING THE LEAGUE. Didn’t even have to reset it and we won it before Arsenal did. North London is very much Lilywhite now, suck it Gooners!
Loyal Players Remaining: 10
Abreu Club Count: 27 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Tottenham (Premier League)

2030-2035

Another 5 years pass and to start with it looks like the top 10 are going to hold firm. Eventually though, the temptation of money proves too much for one man. That man is Geoffrey Jourdren who trades in his starting slot at Montpellier for a cosy backup contract at PSG. Then comes… dead silence. Not even a rumour, or an unhappy player. No-one even hints at leaving for the next 4 years, which means we end the period with nine players on the books. The real waiting game has begun. Even our journeyman Abreu is moving in a very slow way, as a five year Coritiba stint finishes with a free transfer to Red Bull Brasil. I think my hopes for a European move have died.
At least there are a lot of retirements to run through. Bruno, Lahm, Casillas, Valdés, Danzé, Oier, Xavi, Torres, Perrin, Jantschke, Bergantiños, González, Roberto, Iniesta and Busquets hang up their playing boots. That does leave us without some noted legends, with Lahm, Casillas, Iniesta and Busquets reaching 200 caps for their country. You’d think Spain would have won more with that golden generation. Casillas and Xavi also both hit 1000 league appearances thanks to a strong head start before the experiment. But it’s Andrés Iniesta who is the most loyal of the bunch, racking up nearly 600 appearances for his original club before departing.
Five years leaves plenty of time for interesting results once again. England take a World Cup win, which is always a sign of the apocalypse, only made more bizarre by Scotland making the semi-finals in the same competition. Portugal take the other title in that period, whilst the Euros also see a surprise winner in Switzerland. France provides the biggest shock at club level, as Lille come from nowhere to win Ligue 1, and then immediately revert back to mid-table once again. Otherwise, the time belongs to Manchester City. The oil bar… sky blues take 4 out of 5 titles in both the Premier League and Champions League, with all that cash flinging finally paying off.
Loyal Players Remaining: 9
Abreu Club Count: 28 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: England (World Cup), Lille (Ligue 1)

2035-40

With just nine players left, once again we get a transfer fairly early on in the period. Early as in the first transfer window, which makes me wonder why they waited so long. Anyway, Mark Noble has had his patience tested by West Ham’s yoyoing between the Premier League and Championship a bit too much and finally caves. He makes a £20M move to Burnley, who… are doing the exact same thing. Not sure that was the brightest idea. Like the previous 5 years though, one transfer is all we get. None of the others move, despite some pretty heavy unhappiness from Bargfrede and Manceau. Abreu keeps up his trail, running out his contract with Red Bull Brasil and opting for Chapecoense to reach 29 clubs in his career.
With very few moving recently, that also means less and less are retiring, as just 7 ex-competitors leave the game. Totti, Buffon, Lopes, Kessler, Seube, Muniain and Lewington call time on their football life. The fact they all stuck with it for so long means there’s so impressive stats between them. Totti racked up 1154 league appearances, with 768 at Roma. Dean Lewington, after leaving MK Dons with 1003 appearances finished with a total of 1287. Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon finished with a whopping 1307 league appearances, but perhaps more impressively, 334 international caps. But the single most surprising statistic goes to Thomas Kessler. Despite barely playing in Germany he manages to notch a grand total of 7 goals after his move to Turkey. Maybe if he’d been a striker he’d have actually played at Koln. Oh and Seube ends his career Greek. Because why not.
As per every time, a quick look around the world’s results is needed. Spain win back the World Cup titles, whilst Italy take a Euro win. Argentina, Mexico and Australia claim all their continents international trophies in the window, so no massive surprises there. The domestic world isn’t exactly littered with shocks either. Brescia win a Coppa Italia, and Nîmes Olympique grab 4 top 5 finishes in a row in France, but there’s not really much to shout about. I think it’s best to just get on with the next de-ageing.
Loyal Players Remaining: 8
Abreu Club Count: 29 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Brescia (Coppa Italia)

2040-45

Down to 8 now, so it’s getting tougher. And a lot slower, so slow in fact that not a single transfer in our group happens in five years. For a moment I was excited to see Manceau at Recreativo de Huelva, but that was just a loan. So I was back to being crushed. On the plus side, Abreu makes some huge steps. He adds not just 1, but 2 new countries to his history! The first is Portugal, in a huge step up to join Braga. As usual, it’s just until his contract ends, before he moves on to Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. He’s hardly setting Europe alight but I don’t care, he’s actually moving!
There’s only one retiree to talk about too, as pretty much everyone has already gone. Geoffrey Jourdren finishes up with 925 total league appearances. It probably could have been a bit more, if he’d not spent 10 years of his career being a backup at PSG and Bayern. On a far more interesting note, Terry breaks through 1500 career league appearances. Kane also hits 256 international goals, which results in the number resetting to 0 just like caps. So the game has him on 96 caps with 11 goals, when the actual numbers are a stunning 352 caps with 267 goals.
Having seen my disappointment last time around, the world decides to liven things up. Denmark become both Champions of the World and Champions of Europe in 2042 and 2040, although they lose the European title to Germany 4 years later. At the continental level, the Champions League stays on track, but the Europa League brings some bizarre winners into the mix. Nîmes Olympique, Real Sociedad, Leicester and Bristol City all win a trophy. It seems Mark Noble finally made a right move transferring to Bristol City, as the club is now a strong top 6 Premier League side. Manceau wins a Coupe de France at Angers, but it’s still Nîmes making waves, forming a big three with PSG and Monaco. It may not be long before either Nîmes or Bristol City win their league, which is not something I expected to be saying.
Loyal Players Remaining: 8
Abreu Club Count: 31 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Nîmes Olympique/Bristol City (Europa League), Angers (Coupe de France)

2045-50

2045 kicks off and once again Manceau deceives me. This time it’s a loan spell in Denmark with Brøndby that had me thinking he was gone. Well you know what they say, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice… I’m probably gonna fall for it. It looks like there’s going to be no moves whatsoever once again, until June 2047 arrives and I notice a contract is set to expire. Imagine my shock when Lionel Messi is not offered a contract by Barcelona and is let go. It’s made doubly worse by the fact that of all teams to pick him up, it's Atletico Madrid. Apparently, 37 Ballon d’Or awards aren’t good enough for Barcelona anymore. I don’t even care that nothing else happens. That’s enough to stun me.
Over in the retirement home, Mark Noble moves into a room. After an up and down career, the Englishman did manage some silverware with Bristol City and ended his career with 1317 league appearances. He even earned not just 1, but 90 England caps across his 44-year career.
Around the world, interesting results are still cropping up. England grab their third World Cup win beating Colombia, whilst Honduras win their first-ever Gold Cup. Much to my bitter disappointment, Arsenal win 4 of the 5 Champions Leagues on offer, as well as 3 Premier League titles. Chelsea have a period of bottom 10 finishes which deeply upsets Terry, whilst over in France, Chamois Niortais begin to try and join the top 3. Don’t worry I’ve never heard of them either.
Loyal Players Remaining: 7
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Honduras (Gold Cup)

2050-55

With the world still reeling at the fact the Messi has moved from Barcelona, everyone kinda forgets to make any moves. In fact, Messi is the first person to move yet again, leaving Atletico in a very cheap 34.5M move to Man City. Which is more in line with where I originally expected him to go. Abreu finishes one contract, at Hapoel Be’er Sheva, and moves onto the next, but it’s with Monterrey so doesn’t count. Sebastian, it has to be new clubs. John Terry is starting to get frustrated with a Chelsea team that has really fallen from grace. The Londoners barely survive relegation in 2052/53, so Terry may be the next to go. Or maybe I know nothing and it’s completely random.
No-one retires this year, so let’s take a brief look at some statistics of our remaining 7 + Messi. All our players have now reached 1000 appearances, with Bargfrede in last at 1173. Messi has crossed 1000 league goals, now a full 300 clear of the chasing pack of Abreu and Kane. On the international level, Thomas Müller becomes the first player to need a rollover of caps twice, moving on to a massive 524 international caps. But it’s Kane who still leads the international goal stat, nearly breaking 350, a full 50 ahead of the German.
Müller does, however, grab a World Cup win for Germany so I’m sure he won’t be too upset. At least until they’re deposed by Holland 4 years later. On the continental level, Bristol City win another Europa League title beating previous champions Espanyol. Middlesbrough also nearly earn a trophy, having joined Bristol as a top 6 team. But the winner of the biggest shock, although I did say this might happen, goes to Chamois Niortais, who topple the dominance of PSG and Monaco to capture a miraculous Ligue 1 title in the last season of the period.
Loyal Players Remaining: 7
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Chamois Niortais (Ligue 1), Bristol City/Espanyol (Europa League)

2055-60

The summer window of 2055 opens and as I warned may happen, there’s an almost immediate transfer. Fed up with Chelsea’s mediocre finishes, John Terry decides to move on. Unfortunately for Chelsea fans, Arsenal is his next club, which I’m sure will cause a few shudders. A year later and another move comes around, once again due to unhappiness over the club’s performance. Surprisingly it's Thomas Müller,who's annoyed by the fact that Bayern haven’t won a Bundesliga title since 2048, and so runs down his contract. Leverkusen almost earn his signature, but eventually its the glory of PSG that proves too much to resist. But we’re not done there! Another player runs down their contract, opting to move to Vitoria de Setubal in Portugal. Vincent Manceau finally makes a real move rather than constantly faking me out. So with another 3 players down, we’re left with our final 4. The race for the top 3 is hotting up now!
We do have a retirement this time thanks to the transfer window livening up. The world's best-ever player, Lionel Messi, retires from football. He ends up on a total of 1858 league appearances, scoring a massive 1068 goals in this time. 1430 appearances and 895 goals of those belonging to his 45-year career at Barcelona. On the international scene, he earned an impressive 505 caps and 276 goals. But it’s the awards where he shines. 279 individual awards, 82 team titles, 22 league titles, 6 Champions League titles, 45 Ballon d’Or awards. What makes it even crazier is 41 of those Ballon d’Or awards were in a row, as he earned every single one from 2015 to 2056. I don’t think I’ll see another player like that crop up in any save, truly the world’s best player.
Looking out on the world, I can say that it’s a Chamois Niortais player that breaks Messi’s streak, as the French team claim another two Ligue 1 titles. It’s hard to say they’re a “surprise winner” at this point. Bristol City finally make the full step up to join the big guns, winning 3 Carabao Cups, 1 FA Cup, 2 Premier League titles and even a Champions League trophy. If any Bristol City fans want this save to give themselves hope over the future, I can send it over. Internationally it's the era of Portugal, as they claim both the Euro and World Cup trophies.
Loyal Players Remaining: 4
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Bristol City (Premier League/Champions League), Lyon (Relegation)

With so few players left, now is probably a good time to speed it up once again. The final four will be tough to budge, so how about we move to 10-year intervals to try and cut down on dead years. And I'll be moving to the comments, because I've hit reddits character limit.

What a couple of days. I was planning on compiling a similar post to my piece last year in the belief that it would once again become redundant… Personally I was hoping that Arsene would step down at the end of the year but this hasn’t come to me as anything less than a shock. Although I have never met the man, he seems like a grandfather we all wished we had. A constant in my life, with him being at the helm nearly as long as I have been alive, I cannot thank him enough for the joy and elation right down to the downright lows with tears and smiles all along the journey.
 
The players, the style, the bottle kicks, the goals, the wins, the defeats, the Invincibles, the coat, the FA Cups, the stadiums, the Champions League Final, the Banter Era, the Invincibles, the man, the memories. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Merci Arsene.
 
The real challenge begins now however. As Arseblog has quite rightly pointed out the onus is no longer on the manager and this decision is all on the board to get right. If the manager turns out to be half the manager that Arsene was then it will be a success, if we continue to slide out of where we all want then the pressure should be pushed back to Kroenke, Gazidis and co. There is no longer someone to shield for them and they will for once have the microscope on them.
 
Well then, let’s get down to it. I am splitting this into three categories; the best odds, the curveballs and the ex-players. I will try to use as many facts as possible with as little of my own opinions but I can’t guarantee you’ll all agree…
 
The Main Protagonists (All odds from SkyBet)
Luis Enrique (5/2) - Unemployed
The current favourite for the job is Luis Enrique. The Spaniard’s last job was at Barcelona, where he had varying degrees of success. Following on from the all conquering sides from Pep Guardiola and the late Tito Vilanova, Enrique’s first season in charge ended in the treble with Barcelona defeating Juventus of the 2015 Champions League Final. This was followed by another La Liga in 15-16 and a Copa del Rey in his final season of 16-17. He led with a 4-3-3 formation throughout the majority of his tenure getting the best out of MSN and despite the successes he was often criticised for his setups rotating lineups more often than not to the dismay of both players and fans. Although he has been out of a job for over a year he is a man in demand, with Chelsea also in the running following on from the expected departure of Conte at the end of the season. He likes to play a fast flowing passing game which would be a natural continuation from Wengerball. New boy Sanlehi also worked with him at Barcelona and rates him highly.
 
Carlo Ancelotti (5/1) - Unemployed
What hasn’t Carlo Ancelotti won? Wherever he has been he’s had a huge amount of success; a world class manager with a wriley smile and a great admiration from a wide range of ex-players for his use of man-management techniques. A father like figure in the dressing room, he would be similar to Wenger in that respect. Following on from success at Real Madrid, PSG and AC Milan (when they were good), Ancelotti’s last role was at Bayern Munich where he was dismissed earlier in the season for an unusual falling out with some strong figures for his laissez faire style. However, he has shown that he can come into the Premier League and win it. He did it with Chelsea in 09-10 following a turbulent period for the Blues. The main style of play has been built on strong defenses (haha good luck with that…) and a real freedom in the final third with the main formations based around 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 and 4-4-2. This shows his versatility where it can help to get the best out of the players at his disposal. He could be the perfect man to be a stop gap and get Arsenal back to where we want it to be but is unlikely to be a long term appointment.
 
Joachim Loew (7/1) - German National Team Manager
I almost put this in my curveball section but the odds are very good on this from a range of sources. I really don’t believe that Joachim is the right man for the job. Despite success with the German national team, where they won the World Cup in 2014, he hasn’t managed a club team since 2004. His style of play would be suitable to Arsenal and would be similar to the current team, with a deployment of a 4-2-3-1 formation allowing for possession based football. He has always been able to get the best out of Mesut Ozil often deploying him on the right. Having said this, I think this is not the right choice following on from Wenger’s departure. A man with more club experience would be better in my opinion.
 
Massimiliano Allegri (10/1) - Juventus Manager
Seemingly the front runner this time last year, Allegri has fallen down the pecking order somewhat. An indifferent year for the side has seen the closest title race in years in Italy, especially following on from Napoli’s late winner last night against The Old Lady. Two victories this season against Tottenham and Real Madrid would make Allegri a popular choice amongst Arsenal fans. His huge amount of success has been built around the defensive stability and tactical versatility, which was shown against Sp*rs where he was more than willing to change from the favoured 3-5-2 to a 4-4-1-1 resulting in a snatch and grab at Wembley, haha! This versatility would be welcome in my opinion where it would be good to see Auba and Laca play up top together and if he could bring Pjanic with him from Turin then would it be all aboard the Allegri train?
 
Thomas Tuchel (12/1) - Unemployed
Seemingly linked daily with the PSG job, this is another manager that I do not believe would be arriving at the Emirates. Despite being able to get the best out of Aubameyang, it has been well documented of his falling out with Sven Mislintat and it doesn’t seem like those bridges have been repaired. I just can’t see this one happening because of this. I also don’t believe he has done enough to justify the job considering the players at his disposal whilst in Dortmund.
 
Julian Nagelsmann (16/1) - Hoffenheim Manager
The rising star out of Germany is the youngest on this list; at 30 years Nagelsmann has already led Hoffenheim to their first Champions League season last year and could be set to do so once again this year. Another disciple from the Klopp and Tuchel school of management, Mislintat is said to be a strong admirer. Although he is young in his managerial career he has shown that he can galvanize a team, is tactically versatile and uses the high press of the squad to good effect. He could be seen as a Klopp 2.0 and with the way that Liverpool have played this year it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. It would obviously be a long term replacement for Arsenal but it may be a step too far at this stage. However, he was touted for the Bayern Munich job before they hired Niko Kovac from Frankfurt. If Bayern were in for him then he should be near the top of our list.
 
The Outsiders
Brendan Rodgers (8/1) - Celtic Manager
I have put Brendan in this section despite the media talk and good odds, because this would be laughable. Surely… His huge amount of success in Celtic has to be taken into account but you must also take into account that this is the SPL and the Hoops have not a had a challenge since Rangers went bankrupt a number of seasons ago. An invincible season and 69 game unbeaten domestic run led by double invincible Kolo Toure was ended this season but we must also remember his time on Merseyside. The David Brent imitator, showed that he could potentially lead a team to the title but in all honesty this was down to the brilliance of Luis Suarez and not the tactical work of big Brendan. This would be a divisive decision and not one that is needed at this point in time.
 
Leonardo Jardim (14/1) - Monaco Manager
A personal favourite for myself, Jardim showed that he could compete with the best with the young Monaco team of 16-17 where they won Ligue 1 and reached the Champions League Semi Finals. A team torn apart last summer, Jardim has done well to keep Monaco in the top 4 and if they win their remaining games they will finish in second, 20 odd points off of oligarchs PSG… Able to get the best out of young starlets, Jardim deploys a traditional 4-4-2 which can often change into an odd 2-4-4 where the wing backs push forward when in possession. This could be interesting with Kolasinac and Bellerin moving forward and if he could bring Fabinho or the highly rated Thomas Lemar (or both? Please) then we would be very happy indeed. This would be an appointment with the long term in mind and I hope that this is the direction Arsenal go in.
 
Rafa Benitez (14/1) - Newcastle Manager
A successful first season back in the Premier League for Newcastle is likely to see them finish back in the top 10. This would be a great achievement for a very good manager. He knows the league very well through his time with Liverpool also. More of a defensive minded manager, Benitez has had varying degrees of success at rivals Liverpool, Chelsea and a stint at Real Madrid to forget. This would be a stable choice for Arsenal even if uninspiring…
 
Diego Simeone (16/1) - Atletico Madrid
This is the dream! Who I believe is the best manager in European football at the moment, we face Atletico Madrid in two upcoming matches in the Europa League semis over the next fortnight. A defensively organised team that has overachieved in the last decade when compared with Real and Barca, this has mainly been down to Diego. He plays a 4-4-2 and is able to get the best out of his players in terms of commitment and quality. Despite this, Simeone seemingly looks like he will remain in Madrid committing to the club for the foreseeable future. As much as I would like this, I cannot see it happening.
 
Antonio Conte (22/1) - Chelsea Manager
A very good first season with Chelsea last year has been followed by a disappointing second. Conte has fallen out with the board and is likely to be replaced at the end of the season. I personally feel he will be offered the Real Madrid job if they do not win the Champions League and it would be a longshot to see a manager go from two of the biggest clubs in England one after another. Most of us know how Chelsea play and his lack of rotation would worry me considering our injury records.
 
Ex-players
Patrick Vieira (9/1) - NYCFC Manager
The Frenchman was the catalyst for much of Arsene’s early success at the club. A gangly midfield maestro, Vieira is a legend and is one of the best players we have seen in red and white. Having said this, his only managerial job has been with New York City FC in the MLS. Despite the leagues growth in popularity and quality, this would be a large leap and with the club ties to Manchester City it would be odd to see them let him go to a rival. I think that this is a gap too far at the moment and the City hierarchy will want him to have some further experience before I see him following on from Guardiola.
 
Mikel Arteta (14/1) - Manchester City Assistant Coach
Personally, this would be the favourite for me out of all the ex players. Reportedly, he has admirers in the club in Sanlehi and Gazidis and he would have the chance to lead following on from the success with Manchester City as Guardiola’s assistant for the past 2 seasons. I am sure that he has learnt a lot and would likely deploy a similar brand to the one from the champions. It could be exciting from a fan favourite but with the complete lack of experience (no managerial job at all) it would be a huge leap and a great amount of expectation to follow on from Wenger. For that reason I hope for Mikel’s and Arsenal’s sake this one doesn’t go through.
 
Thierry Henry (18/1) - Belgian National Team Assistant Coach
Arsenal’s greatest ever player? Maybe. Wenger’s greatest ever signing? Surely. Should he be considered? No.
 
Conclusions
I hope I have summarised a wide range of options and have given some insight into tactics and quality of some of the managers that could be available to us this summer. Personally, I think the safest option would be Carlo Ancelotti. A natural succession to Wenger in terms of style I think he would do best to get us through what is expected to be a period of transition. There is nothing that he hasn’t seen and he has already proved himself in the Premier League. He has announced his interest and I think it would be silly to miss the opportunity.
 
Alternatively, if Allegri is relieved of his duties in Turin then he could be a very good replacement. A versatile manager with a huge amount of success, he knows how to get the best out of big egos and win trophies. I could see him going to Chelsea however, which should be seen as a compliment and the kind of guy that we should aim for.
 
For the long term I would love to see Leonardo Jardim and it would be fitting if a Monaco manager followed on from a former Monaco coach. It would almost be poetic… He has proven himself in the Principality and has shown that he can lead a team to compete with the best.
 
All in all, I hope we get this right. I’m sure much of it will depend on how we finish the season in the Europa League. Success means Champions League and will likely lead to a larger transfer budget and make the club more attractive for a replacement and new additions. Most importantly though, let’s learn from the mistakes with Manchester United and move forward in a dignified way giving Arsene the send off he deserves and supporting the new man, whoever he may be, to success and future glories. Come On You Gunners!
 
Edit: Formatting

Part 2 here - Part 3 here - Part 4 here

On Friday at 8pm UK time, Reading and Derby County will kick off the 127^th season of the English second division - also known as the Championship! 24 clubs will compete for 3 promotion spots to the Premier league (2 via automatic promotion and 1 via playoffs) and to avoid the 3 relegation spots to the third tier a.k.a League One.

Its looking like a really tight and competitive season. The league is absolutely full of ambitious player and managerial talent - the more time goes by the more it looks like a Premier League 2. If you want a competitive league with proper English football, that also has the spice of skilful players and forward thinking managers, it really is the place to go.

This is guide written by the fans who have come together on /Championship - an absolutely huge thanks to them. Do check out the sub, we try to keep it a good place to discuss the EFL, away from the rancid gloryhunting shithole that is /soccer (just kidding - I like this place). Lots going on, including a score predictor thread which is running all season.

This guide is in table order with the PL demoted sides first. Only 5 clubs today (because the Swansea one is a fucking novel and I can't fit any more in), the rest will be submitted tomorrow and Friday. Do bare in mind that not all the transfer news will be up to date as these guides were largely written a week ago. Point out to me if there are any clear errors with formatting or spelling.

Championship info, links and media

/Championship's 17/18 player of the season review

Season previews: The Guardian | Sky Sports | The Mirror
EFL focused podcasts: Not the Top 20 | The Totally Football League Show
The 17/18 table - Wolves, Cardiff and Fulham went up. Barnsley, Burton and Sunderland went down. This season West Brom, Swansea and Stoke join from the PL and Wigan, Blackburn and Rotherham join from League 1.
These are the bookies' favourites for promotion (via Oddschecker):

Club	Odds
Stoke	2.75
Middlesbrough	4
West Brom	4
Nottingham Forest	4.5
Leeds	4.75
Swansea	5

And relegation:

Club	Odds
Rotherham	2.2
Bolton	2.25
Ipswich	4.5
Reading	5
QPR	6
Hull	6

How to watch in the UK: Live rights are owned by Sky Sports. They are upping the number of televised matches this season. Reading v Derby on Friday is televised. The weekly highlights show previously on Channel 5 is moving to Quest TV, which apparently is on Freeview.
How to watch abroad: Depends, but in most territories, the iFollow Service is available, which is £110 to watch all a single club's matches. Bargain. I think the clubs that aren't on iFollow have their own similar streaming services.
Check out club Youtube channels - quite a few of them post extended highlights now with their own commentary, including Derby, Norwich, Sheffield Wednesday, Brentford and more. (You may need VPN to watch if you're abroad.)

Swansea City by RafiakaMacakaDirk and my_knob_is_gr8

Location: Swansea, Wales
Nickname: Swans, The Jacks
Major honours: Football League Cup (2013), Championship Play-off Winner (2011), League One Winners (1925, 1949, 2008)
17/18 finishing postion: 18th (Premier League)
Transfermarkt squad value: €115.5 mil NOTE: This number is as of July 22nd, when we still have Mawson (€15 mil), A. Ayew (€15 mil), Bony (€10 mil), Clucas (€8 mil) and Fernandez (€8 mil), who are all pretty much expected to be sold, or loaned out, before the season starts. Without all of these players except Bony (who's injured for a while so it makes it unlikely he'll be sold soon), the squad value would be around €70 mil.
Manager: Graham Potter joined the Swans on 11th June 2018. In 2010, he became head coach of Östersund, who were in the fourth tier of Swedish football. 5 years later, he got the club promoted into the Swedish top flight and in 2017, they won Svenska Cupen which qualified them for the Europa League where they managed to get through the group stage. He’s been applauded for what he did at Östersund and the way he managed to build the club up from nothing. The year after his success in the Europa league he signed a 3 year contract with Swansea.
Potter is well respected by The Swans and after a few years of poor managerial and financial decisions his appointment is seen as a step in the right direction to bringing us back to our old ways of being a well-run club. Potter has been recognised for his "progressive" and "unconventional" coaching methods. At Östersund, he encouraged his players and staff to engage in community activities, such as performing in theatre and music productions which was designed to take them out of their comfort zone. Potter describes his style of football on the pitch as "tactically flexible, attacking, and possession-based". At Östersund, he deployed a flexible 3–5–2 formation centred on ball possession.
Best player(s)/ talisman:With many of our best players being rumoured with a move away what good players that remain at the start of the season is yet to be seen.
Alfie Mawson is probably our standout player. He’s been amazing for us since we got him and was a bargain at about £3m. He’s great in the air and is just an all round tank. Keeping him will be a huge boost for us and should be solid in the championship.
Federico "El Pajaro" Fernandez has also been strong at the back with Alfie. The pair played with each other for the majority of last season and together became a solid unit. We will most likely sell him to reduce wages though.
Jordan Ayew put in a great shift last season and was our top goal scorer. His work rate was immense and was able to drop back and defend when needed. He’s fast, able to beat a man and a decent finisher. Sadly all these players are transfer targets for other clubs and might not even be here at the start of the season. If we can keep a lot of our players we should have a decent season but who knows who'll be left by the end of the window…
Rising star: Swansea’s U23 had a great season last year and with Potter wanting a young and fresh squad, a handful have moved up into the first team.
Our standout youngster, Oliver McBurnie, joined Barnsley on loan in January last season where he went on to win a Championship player of the month award after 6 goals in 8 games and went on to win Barnsley’s Player of the year award. While only 22, he’s struggled to break into our first team but will most likely be our main striker for the coming season. Be on the lookout for his long legs, miniature shinpads and ridiculous sock length! LEGS LEGS LEGS!!!
Connor Roberts performed well at RB last season and adapted quickly to the premier league where he battled Kyle Naughton to be in the starting line up and did great when given the chance. Decent at going forward and professional at the back. Hopefully potter puts him ahead of Naughton.
What happened last season?: What Happened last season?: After our great escape the season before and with Paul Clement at the helm there was optimism that the 17/18 season could be our turning point where we start rebuilding 'The Swansea Way". How wrong we were.
After a disastrous transfer window where we sold Sigurdsson and never replaced him and started panic buying the week before the transfer window closed we were left an obvious hole in our team. We had no creativity in midfield and no one could kick the ball into the box to save their life. And just to rub it in further Renato Sanches turned out to be more disappointing than Bob Bradley. With the team sitting bottom of the table Clement was sacked in late December.
Then along came the wise talking Carlos Carvalhal who managed to rebuild the confidence the team had lost. Our results took a turn for the good, beating Liverpool, Arsenal, Burnley and West Ham consecutively at home. He pulled us out of the relegation zone and things were looking good. However, the good times were quickly followed by the bad times. Our form turned and we didn’t win a single one of our last 9 matches. We were quickly relegated after pitifully losing to both Southampton and Stoke in our last 2 games of the season.
Highlights (Or lowlights):
The pass by Renato Sanches that summed up his and our season
Swansea City 3-1 Arsenal
Summer transfer business (so far): At the end of last season, it was clear we needed several transfers, both in and out. However, this would all depend on the manager we got.
Yan Dhanda (Free, Liverpool): A 19 year-old Midfielder, Yan Dhanda left Liverpool this summer and joined the Swans in a free, before we even hired Graham Potter. At one time one of the most promosing youngsters in Liverpool's Academy, injuries slowed down his progress, and ultimately made him fall behind other players. Citing lack of first-team playing time, Dhanda decided to join us this summer in hopes of getting regular playing time in the senior squad. Through 3 pre-season games, Dhanda has been one of the brighest and most impressive players in the squad, even scoring a game-winning goal and smashing a penalty in a shootout against Genoa. With our current injuries and shenanigans involved in our midfield, Dhanda has a good chance of becoming a starter and hopefully guide our midfield during the season.
Jordi Govea (Free, Real Madrid): Another 19 year-old from Ecuador, Jordi was the first signing under Potter. Not much can be said about the lad, but this is what Real Madrid had as his bio:

Jordi is an Ecuadorian defender who possess three key qualities for a player in his position: he's skilful, is able to go past a player and has a good shot on him. He's left footed and is able to send in good crosses on the run.

With Martin Olsson currently as our starting LB, and Kyle Naughton as the backup, the hope is that Jordi can develop on our U-23 squad and hopefully move up to the senior squad in coming years. Also the only man I've seen do a medical while wearing jeans (https://twitter.com/SwansOfficial/status/1015251916132057089)
Joel Asoro (€2 mil., Sunderland): Yet another 19 year-old, a Swedish winger who has represented his country in the younger levels, he was Potter's first senior signing. With world-class speed, and some impressive skills, Asoro was able to score 3 goals and get 2 assists last season in 26 apperances for Sunderland. While these numbers may seem a bit disappointing, many of these games were sub appearances on a very dysfunctional team. Along with Dhanda, Asoro has been one of the most impressive players during preseason, constantly beating his man with either speed or skills, and whipping in good balls to Legs. At the current rate, Asoro appears to have a good chance of starting on the right wing spot, with Nathan Dyer and Luciano Narsingh backing him up.
Predicted starting XI: NOTE: This is gonna be assuming Mawson, A. Ayew, Clucas, and Fernandez are all sold by the start of the season. If by some reason they end up staying, they are pretty much guaranteed to start. Based on the pre-season games so far, a lineup looking like this would be plausible, with Rodon most likely to be replaced by a CB (possibly Scott McKenna) when we buy one. Our second unit is looking something like this.
Best case scenario: Graham Potter is able to motivate and make sure our senior players (Fer, Carroll, etc.) stay fit, along with our youngsters being able to make an impact as expected, and also we retain Mawson, Fernandez, and Clucas, we can finish in the top 2 and get promoted automatically.
Worst case scenario: Our worst case scenario, and something many of us fear of happening, consists of primarily 3 things. 1. Graham Potter isn't given enough time to build an identity with our squad and is sacked by the midway point of the season by the greedy, dumb American owners. . 2. We end up not replacing the players we sold properly like last summer, therefore having a squad with holes everywhere and no chemistry. 3. Our youngsters such as Asoro, McBurnie, Dhanda and company don't pan out and progress at all, thefore becoming mediocre players. This would all culminate in us looking like Sunderland, and making relegation a probability.
Prediction: Realistically I see us selling Mawson and company in the last days before the season starts and not replacing them properly until later on. Because of this, as well as our current injuries with Fer and Clucas, I can see us initially struggling to build an identity but over time, we will start playing like Potter wants us and finishing the season strongly.
8th place, missing the play-offs by 4 points
What will happen to your closest rivals?: The scum that is known as Cardiff City will break the record for lowest points ever accumulated in a Premier League season, getting 5 points all from draws, and will therefore get relegated with 17 games to spare.

West Bromwich Albion by Joelwba

Location: The Hawthorns, West Bromwich, West Midlands
Nickname: The Baggies, The Throstles
Major honours: 1x League title, 1x League Cup, 5x FA Cup
17/18 finishing postion: 20th in Premier League (relegated)
Transfermarkt squad value: £101.16m
Manager: Darren Moore or Big Dave as he's known to Albion fans. A club icon as a player in the early 2000s, he returned to look after our U23 squad before being promoted to assistant manager by Alan Pardew in January. Following the end of Pardew's horrific reign, Moore took temporary charge with Albion facing inevitable relegation. He led us to wins over Newcastle, Spurs, Man Utd and a draw with Liverpool, somehow taking our futile battle for survival to the final week of the season. Following this he earned the head coach role permanently. Moore is loved among the Albion faithful, largely due to his reputation as a player here. He heavily favours a 4-4-2 formation and at the back end of last season, tended to soak up pressure and play on the counter attack. It will be interesting to see how his approach differs in a league where we are one of the favourites, not fighting to survive (hopefully)
Best player(s)/ talisman: It's an interesting situation for Albion currently. There are plenty of Premier League quality players still in the squad. A lot depends on if they are picked off before the deadline shuts. Chris Brunt is a club stalwart and likely to be reappointed as captain. He is adored by the fans and in my opinion will be an incredible asset in the championship. His set pieces alone will bring 10+ goals to the side. Kieran Gibbs is a high quality player who appears to be set to stay and should make a big difference. Jay Rodriguez, Craig Dawson, Salomon Rondon and Nacer Chadli should all make a big difference in this division IF they stay. In all honesty I expect to lose a few of the above. Sam Johnstone appears to be an astute signing to replace the outgoing Ben Foster.
Rising star: Sam Field he's one of our own! He looked completely at home against some of the top Premier League sides last campaign. A box-to-box midfielder, he's full of energy and looks so comfortable on the ball. I expect him to be a major part of our side this season, having just signed a new long-term deal.
Kyle Edwards is an exciting attacking midfielder who has been impressing in pre-season. He may have a part to play following a loan spell at Exeter last campaign.
Jonathon Leko looked like a potential world-beater when he first came through a couple of years back. A lightning quick winger full of tricks. A loan spell at Bristol City and limited appearances later he seems to be losing his way. Will be an interesting one to watch.
Finally, the enigma that is Olly Burke. After signing with us last summer for £15m, he failed to impress any of the four managers we had over the season. He looks exciting when he comes on, without any end product so far, and was unfairly blamed for a loss at West Ham by Alan 'Coward' Pardew. We all know the talent he's got. Hopefully we can see it this season.
What happened last season?: Let's not talk about it... We finally escaped the stranglehold of Tony Pulis, only to opt for the human joke that is Alan Pardew and duly hurtled towards relegation. Four of our players stole a taxi and then played (and lost) the following weekend.
Pardew was sacked about 3 months too late, and Moore took over, restoring pride with some notable wins over Man Utd and Spurs.
This season we also lost the great Cyrille Regis, and the outpouring of emotion and the coming together of the club during the weeks after his passing was something special.
Summer transfer business (so far): We started by releasing Claudio Yacob, Boaz Myhill and Gareth McAuley. Yacob and McAuley will be greatly missed but it is perhaps the right time for them to go.
Jonny Evans departed for Leicester for a cut-price £3m, Ben Foster left for Watford and James McClean has departed for Stoke City.
Sam Johnstone has been bought in to replace Foster, with Jonathon Bond arriving as backup. Kyle Bartley has joined from Swansea City and it appears that Harvey Barnes will soon be arriving on loan from Leicester.
Finally, James Morrison is currently out of contract but still with the club. His future is uncertain.
I am very happy with Johnstone and Bartley. It has been a quiet window for Albion so far but that is largely a good thing. The squad is packed with Premier League talent and the window is more about keeping hold of them.
There is major interest in Dawson and Rondon, along with interest in Rodriguez, Hegazi and Chadli. If any of the above go, then we would need to replace. Otherwise I would be happy with another striker and another CB.
It is also worth mentioning that every player in the Albion side suffered a 50% wage cut upon relegation which means that we are financially sound despite relegation, but may lead to more big names leaving.
Predicted starting XI: This is my best attempt. It will undoubtedly be 4-4-2. We may see Nyom in at right back and perhaps Barry in for Field.
Obviously about half of this side could leave, so we shall see.
Best case scenario: The bulk of the side remains and the quality in the side shines through as we breeze to automatic promotion.
Worst case scenario: The better players leave or do not put the effort in. Moore cannot transfer his great start into his first full season in management. We become embroiled in a relegation battle
Prediction: It will be somewhere in the middle. I'd like to think we'll go up automatically but I think play-offs are more likely. 6th
What will happen to your closest rivals?: Villa won't go down but will settle into mid-table, despite the recent takeover.
I think Wolves will do well in the PL, although I don't know how long Nuno will last before a big club comes in.

Stoke City by mrmariomaster

Location: Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
Nickname: The Potters
Stadium: bet365 Stadium, 30,089 seats
Major honours: 1972 League Cup
17/18 finishing position: 19th, Premier League
Squad value: £127.8 million
Manager: Gary Rowett signed from Derby in May. His honest attitude has brought lots of optimism to fans, who are looking forward to an overhaul of the Club. His style of play seems to change based on the squad he has available.
Best Player: Joe Allen was vital to the Club last season, giving us hope that we would avoid relegation. His massive new contract signed this summer shows how loyal and committed to the Club he is, and will be a vital player this season.
Rising star: Tom Edwards is a local lad who has won the Under 18 Player of the Year award twice in the Club. In the latter parts of last season he played some good first team football.
What happened last season: A pathetic attempt at a season that had been coming for a while under Mark Hughes. Paul Lambert was appointed in January, but a win rate of just 2 in 15 matches wasn’t enough for him to keep his job and miss out on the million pound bonus offered to him.
Transfer business so far: So far this has been a decent transfer window. Peter Etebo had an amazing World Cup for Nigeria and Benik Afobe looks really promising. Adam Federici has also been appointed to replace Lee Grant. Xherdan Shaqiri has left along with a few players like Stephen Ireland and Glen Johnson who will not be missed. Badou Ndiaye also looks to be on his way out, but it looks like Jack Butland will stay with us, which is massive. Perhaps most surprising are the new contracts signed by our 2 best players last season, Joe Allen and Moritz Bauer.
Predicted Line up: Here is our predicted squad. I’m not sure what formation we will have. EDIT: This is a new version, complete with our rumoured new signings and in the right formation.
Best case scenario: Stoke will finish top with an all-time Championship points record.
Worst case scenario: A mediocre start to the season will see Rowett sacked and Stoke with a disappointing mid-table finish.
Prediction: I think with our squad and our new manager, we will finish 1st.
What will happen to our closest rivals? Port Vale will be relegated to the Vanarama National League.

Aston Villa by trueschoolalumni

Location: Villa Park, Trinity Rd, Birmingham B6 6HE
Nickname: The Villans, The Villa, Prince William's Club, David "Twat" Cameron's Second Club.
Major honours: 7 First Division wins, 7 FA Cups, 5 League Cups, 1 European Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 1 Intertoto Cup
17/18 finishing postion: 4th
Transfermarkt squad value: £67.77m and dropping fast
Manager: Steve Bruce (for now). Former Man Utd playing legend who's been a fixture of English football for decades. He joined Villa in 2016 after successful runs at Hull, Sunderland (yes they were good once) and Birmingham City. A bit of a promotion specialist, he's taken Championship clubs up to the Premier League 4 times in the past and just missed out last season, losing 1-0 to Fulham in the Playoff Final. Tactically, he's fairly old school who prefers 4-4-2 or a 4-1-4-1, usually involving a big man up top. Fun fact: while managing Huddersfield in 1999 he wrote three novels, "Striker!", "Sweeper!" and "Defender!", which focus on main character Steve Barnes, a football manager. Barnes solves crime and takes on terrorists, and the books have become prized rarities. The Guardian's Football Weekly podcast managed to get a copy and read out some of the copy - suitably awful.
Best player(s)/ talisman: There's only one Jack Grealish. A Villa boy through and through, he's been with the club since 2001 (aged 6), and made his way into the first team in the 2013-14 season. He's been the centre of controversy a few times, most notably getting on the beers and passing out on a Tenerife street. Playing as a number 10, his quick feet and dribbling skills provide a number of goals and assists, as well as fouls. He probably went down a bit too easily when first in the Premier League, but time in the gym has noticeably toughened him up and he's a much more solid player as a result. One of the better players in the Championship, and due to Villa's abject finances, a transfer target for the likes of Leicester.
Rising star: Keinan Davis could possibly be it, potentially Andre Green and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy as well.
What happened last season?: Have you ever walked into a casino, spotted the roulette table and popped £10,000 on red? It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off. You've doubled your money if you win, but look like a right git if you lose. Villa figured this was a good way to approach 2017-18: spend millions on players, get in lots of loans, gamble everything on achieving promotion. After a so-so start, Bruce got the team playing well, stringing together a number of wins and moving through the playoff spots. Unfortunately they ran into a few teams playing out of their skin - champions Wolves ran away with the league and boasted a squad that included several Champions League players. Neil Warnock's Cardiff couldn't stop winning and grabbed the second automatic promotion. In the playoff final Villa came up against a Ryan Sessegnon-led Fulham and were just pipped at the post 1-0.
Summer transfer business (so far): It's one-way traffic, due to absolutely abysmal finances. Loan spells for Lewis Grabban, Robert Snodgrass, Josh Onomah and Sam Johnstone have all ended, which is almost the spine of the team (Johnstone in particular - he was arguably the best keeper in the Championship and personally bagged a number of wins). Plus clubs are circling to pick off whatever assets we have left (eg. Jack Grealish, James Chester). With no prospect of anyone new coming in, it looks like the youth academy will be getting a lot more game time.
Predicted starting XI: Possibly this, but half these players could be gone before the first match.
Best case scenario: Mid-table anonymity would have to be best case - Villa are a mess and could go down this time around.
Worst case scenario: Our finances are the real issue - they are dire. Villa need to find £9 million this month to avoid going into administration. Owner "Dr." Tony Xia is a billionaire, apparently, but tax bills went unpaid and the question remains if he's able to support the club as generously as he has in the past. Administration, points deductions and potentially relegation to League One are all real possibilities right now. It's not looking good.
Prediction: Due to financial irregularities in the 23 clubs above us, Villa will get into the Champions League and take out the likes of Atletico, Bayern and Real Madrid on the way to our second European Cup. "Taylor, Green, prepared to venture down the left. There's a good ball played in for Jack Grealish. Oh, it must be and it is! It's Keinan Davis!"
What will happen to your closest rivals?: Unfortunately the Scum managed to avoid League One in the final rounds of the season. Here's hoping they go one better. Agbonlahor to re-sign for one game: the Derby. And score the winner, again.

Middlesbrough by OneSmallHuman

Location: The Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
Founded: 1876
Nickname: The Boro (Or just Boro)
Major honours: The League cup 2003-2004 season
17/18 finishing position: 5th
Transfermarkt squad value: 79.34m
Manager: Tony Pulis became manager of us in late December 2017, replacing the sacked Garry Monk after a pretty lacklustre few months of the campaign (despite where our league position was). Pulis is known in England for being the man that is never relegated when in charge of someone in the top flight. We are all aware of Tony Pulis' style of football. You start by having a strong and massive defence and maximise your use of set pieces to gain an advantage. Pulis is a lover of all set piece plays, whether that is crossing the ball in from a corner or free kick, or launching a ball into the box from a throw in, they're all in his arsenal of weapons. 'Pulisball' as it is pretty much known. Pulis has achieved promotion from the championship once before with Stoke, and I hope he achieves it again with us this season
Best player(s)/ rising star: I mean, where else do I begin. Adama Traore. Arguably the best player in the championship on his day and is one of the most frightening dribblers in English football, maybe even world football. The winger is known for his speed and dribbling ability although is usually criticised for his lack of end product. Before last season I would've agreed, however 5 goals and 10 assists, with all but 2 assists coming before Pulis' arrival show the progression of the Spanish winger.
As for other members of the squad, Ben Gibson, the prodigal son. Boro through and through he's progressed into a commanding centre half with the ability to play out from the back thanks to Karanka. He gained attention and emerged as one of the few given credit after our disappointing premier league campaign but was only the subject of one bid upon our relegation, from now manager Tony Pulis. It remains to be seen whether he'll be here come the first game of the season, but I hope he will be.
As for future stars, Dael Fry, already has played 2 championship campaigns for us and looks as assured as a veteran of the game. Another centre half produced by our academy and he is being played in cdm this pre-season by Pulis, to add to his versatility. Hopefully a standout season for him, especially if Gibson does end up leaving. Finally, yes, he does always look as confused as images of him show.
What happened last season?: Well, the first half of the season was tragic under Monk. We played really poor football at times and looked like we hadn't defended a day in our lives. There was also no consistency in the team, we'd win one game then lose the next. A key theme under both managers however, was our inability to beat those around us in the table. After Pulis' appointment the results picked up and it ended with us finishing 5th in the table. We ultimately lost in the playoff semi finals to Aston Villa but honestly, we didn't think we'd even be in the top half around Christmas.
Summer transfer business (so far): Just the three deals to talk about so far. We've acquired Paddy McNair from Sunderland who looks like a decent player. He's been utilised in right back and midfield during pre-season so it looks like they'll be his positions for the season. I imagine he'll play alongside Clayts and Howson in a midfield three.
Aden Flint was signed from Bristol City and I think I'm in the minority when I say I don't like how much we paid for him. Obviously the man is a Pulis player but I'm a bit unsure about his defensive ability. That being said he's looked strong during pre-season and I'm sure Pulis will get the best out of him. Fabio departed our club for Nantes so we'll need more full back cover.
As for the rest of the window, I expect Gibson to leave but will be delighted if he doesn't. One of our strikers will also leave and Braithwaite should follow after his decent World Cup performances. We'll probably bring in a striker and a winger and hopefully hold onto Adama. That'd be a successful window in my eyes.
Predicted starting XI: My best guess The only other guess I could make is that Gibson might leave and then Ayala would start, but he's injured at this point in time. Britt might play over Gestede too if Pulis is feeling fancy.
Best case scenario: It has to be top of the pile right? It's not out of the question to imagine us up there and if everything clicks then we've got a chance. A defence that scores more than some teams' strikers, Adama channelling his inner Messi and finding consistency, Rudy/Britt/Bamford scoring for fun. It could be carnage.
Worst case scenario: I can't see us finishing outside the playoffs, if we did then that would be gut-wrenching. But if we did then that would most certainly be the worst. Realistically, it'd be losing in the playoffs... again, and if it were in the final again then god help me. Although saying this, now losing Bamford and maybe Traore will be a worst case scenario in itself, definitely if they're not replaced.
Prediction: Have to be confident, although it always kills me. 1st or 2nd. Tony Pulis and his nice white trainers carry us to the promise land. That being said, we never do it the easy way.
Best Match of Last Season Sorry Leeds fans, but it had to be. "Hattrick Bamford" as our Twitter account tweeted, 3-0 against Leeds with Adama running the show. Leeds clearly found some positive from the game as they're set to sign him off us. This was the sign of what we should've done more last season. Showed what Paddy could've been too if given an even more extended period in Striker by himself. Oh well.
What will happen to your closest rivals?: Who even are our closest rivals in this league? We're in geographical purgatory. Can't say Sunderland anymore so what? Leeds? Bielsa either turns them into the well oiled machine they hope for or he succumbs to the old Leeds ways and is sacked by December. As for the Mackems, probably promoted from League 1.

Arsenal vs FC Koln
Competition: Europa League
Kick-off: 8:05pm, Thursday, September 14th.
Location: Emirates Stadium
Team news:
Arsene Wenger will rest a host of first-team players when Arsenal begin their Europa League campaign at home to FC Koln, but Alexis Sanchez and Jack Wilshere may feature.
Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka, Danny Welbeck and Alexandre Lacazette have all been left out of the squad
Wenger says the best way of returning to the Champions League next year is via a top-four Premier League finish.
"We did that for 20 years," he said.
"We got 75 points last year and overall, I am humble enough to be happy to win every competition," added the Frenchman.
"I think the best way to do it is through the Premier League."
Wenger has included Chile forward Sanchez in his squad for Thursday's game.
The 28-year-old - Arsenal's top scorer last season with 30 goals in all competitions - was close to joining Manchester City this summer before the Gunners pulled out of a £60m deal.
Opta stats:

• This is the seventh consecutive season Arsenal have faced German opposition in Europe - they've faced Bayern Munich in four of those (2012/13, 2013/14, 2015/16 and 2016/17), Borussia Dortmund in three (2011/12, 2013/14 and 2014/15) and Schalke once (2012/13).
  
• Arsenal and Cologne faced each other in the 1970/71 Fairs Cup, with the Gunners losing on aggregate on away goals. Arsenal won the home leg 2-1 at Highbury with goals from Frank McLintock and Peter Storey.
  
• This is Arsenal's first European match not played in the Champions League since the 2000 UEFA Cup final, which they lost 4-1 on penalties to Galatasaray after a 0-0 draw.
  
• Cologne's last European match against English opposition came in September 1995 - they routed Spurs 8-0 in an Intertoto Cup match.
  
• In European competition proper, Cologne's last win over English opponents was in December 1976, beating a QPR side featuring Frank McLintock in the UEFA Cup.
  
• The Gunners haven't lost a home game on a Thursday since Boxing Day 1974, losing 2-1 to Chelsea at Highbury - they've won eight and drawn three since.
  
• Including qualifiers, Cologne will be the 64th different team Wenger has faced in European competition as Arsenal manager - he has registered at least one win over 56 of the previous 63 (89 per cent).
  
• Lacazette has been involved in 10 goals in his last 10 starts in the Europa League (eight goals, two assists).
  
• Of players to have featured in the Europa League for at least 600 minutes since 2009/10, Mesut Ozil has the best minutes per assist ratio, averaging an assist every 110 minutes. Ozil featured in the 2009/10 Europa League, assisting six goals in eight matches for Werder Bremen.
  
• In three of Arsenal's last four European competition campaigns outside of the Champions League, the Gunners have reached the final - 1994 and 1995 Cup Winners' Cups and 2000 UEFA Cup final.
  

Betting:
Arsenal are just 4/9 with Sky Bet to make a winning start to their Europa League campaign, with Cologne up against odds of 11/2, while the draw is priced at 7/2. The Gunners are joint outright favourites at 7/1 alongside AC Milan, while their German opponents are given a 33/1 chance. Lacazette and Olivier Giroud head the first goalscorer betting at 11/4 apiece, while Artjoms Rudnevs is considered the visitors' main threat at 10/1 to open the scoring.

Auto-Refreshing Transfer News Thread from Sky Sports
Auto-refreshing reddit comments link
18:04

HYNDMAN JOINS HIBS

Hibernian have announced the signing of midfielder Emerson Hyndman on loan from Bournemouth until January.
https://twitter.com/HibsOfficial/status/1027253201790230528
17:55

BREAKING NEWS

Sky sources understand Rangers have rejected West Brom's £3m bid for James Tavernier and will not consider selling until their valuation of the full-back has been met.
17:54

GILLINGHAM EXIT

https://twitter.com/TheGillsFC/status/1027250707324391424
17:50

ONE IN AT MORECAMBE

Morecambe survived relegation to the National League by the skin of their teeth last season and have beefed up their forward line in a bid to avoid a repeat performance this season.
https://twitter.com/ShrimpsOfficial/status/1027235878429773824
17:41

SCHOLES: UNITED NOT CONTENDERS

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes does not believe his former club have the quality to challenge Manchester City or Liverpool in the Premier League this season.
"When you look at Manchester City, possibly Liverpool, I don't think they [United] have the quality of those two teams at the minute. Liverpool have made some really good signings. United finished above them last season," said Scholes, speaking in Hong Kong.
"I just don't see United getting closer to City. City are a really good side, great manager, some great players, a way of playing that they all know about and Manchester United seem to be not too sure what's going on.
"You don't really know the team, you don't really know the players, you don't know how they're going to perform from one week to the next. So I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see them challenging for the league this year."
17:23

WATCH: TRANSFER CENTRE

The Transfer Centre rounds up of all the latest summer transfer stories from Sky Sports News.
17:13

LOAN DEAL

Hartlepool goalkeeper Ryan Catterick has joined Guisborough Town on a short-term loan deal.
17:13

LOAN DEAL

https://twitter.com/CAFCofficial/status/1027239679253471233
17:11

WATCH: 'PEP TREATS KEEPERS LIKE PLAYERS'

New Southampton goalkeeper Angus Gunn says working with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City played a big part in his development.
17:07

NEWCASTLE UPDATE…

Here’s the latest from Sky Sports News’ Richard Graves…
“It’s certainly never dull is it around Newcastle United, especially in the transfer window. You feel they are probably still in the market for another striker, despite bringing in Salomon Rondon on a season-long loan. They also need to strengthen in defence. Federico Fernandez, the Swansea City defender is certainly one name that has been linked with Newcastle. In terms of attacking options Liverpool striker Danny Ings is another name.”
17:03

GERRARD THE TRANSLATOR

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard entertained journalists in his news conference by acting as translator for new signing Nikola Katic.
16:57

SPURS LATEST

SSN reporter Roger Clarke gives us an update from Tottenham's training ground in Enfield:
"It will be interesting to see what Spurs do next, with Villa seemingly digging their heels in. They are saying Jack Grealish is not for sale.
"So do Spurs go back in with an improved offer and hope they can force Villa's hand going into TDD? Or do they look elsewhere?
"But Grealish seems to be the one they really seem focussed on and have been all summer..."
16:50

'THIS SEASON IS ABOUT WINNING'

Alexis Sanchez says he has put last season behind him and it is all about winning things with Manchester United this term.
16:48

HIBS WON'T BE DISTRACTED BY MCGINN TRANSFER TALK

Efe Ambrose is confident Hibernian can brush off the loss of Scotland midfielder John McGinn and produce another memorable European performance against Molde.
McGinn was absent from training on Tuesday and Wednesday after going down to Birmingham for talks as Aston Villa battle Celtic for his signature.
"I don't think it's going to affect us," the former Celtic defender said. "We are a team, not an individual. We know it's been coming so we will just focus on the game, that's the most important thing for Hibs.
"We know if John is here he is a plus for the team, he is a good player. So we are without John but we are still here and we still have the quality of player to do well.
"So we focus on the game and leave John to deal with everything that is going on around him.
"We wish him well but in football players come and go so we are not going to be distracted by his transfer."
16:40

HIBS IN HYNDMAN LOAN TALKS

Hibernian are in talks with Bournemouth over the loan move for Emerson Hyndman, according to Sky sources.
The American has previously played in Scotland while on loan at Rangers in 2017.
Hibs want to get the deal done before the UEFA Deadline tonight so he can play in the Europa League qualifier against Molde at Easter Road tomorrow.
16:35

EVERTON LATEST…

Here’s an update from Sky Sports News reporter Vinny O’Connor at Everton's Finch Farm training ground:
“It’s good news for Evertonians at the moment. This deal is close, very close. Bernard flew into Manchester airport earlier this afternoon.
"Not only was he met there by our camera, but he was also met by Everton’s player liaison officer as well. He made the short trip to Everton’s Finch Farm training ground. He arrived at around 4.15pm and he’s been in there ever since.
"He’s going through the formalities of a medical and they also have to go through the process of sorting out a work permit as well. No real problems are anticipated, certainly from the information we are getting at least. The way this is going to pan out it seems is that once this deal is signed and sealed the likelihood is that Everton will announce Bernard tomorrow, well into time of the 5pm deadline."
16:32

TEA-TIME WHISPERS

The latest from our friends at Football Whispers as we approach tea time...
https://storify.com/services/proxy/2/XB0hRUBaFHJzlTF_dTyFuQ/https/storify.com/services/proxy/2/3zW0Xcwdm6wwUWbFmPP-_g/https/d2kmm3vx031a1h.cloudfront.net/cmr6c202RtuD9acinTnm_2018-08-08-17-13-58-sky-top-10-graphic.png
16:31

WEST BROM MAKE £3M TAVERNIER BID

West Brom have made a £3m bid for Rangers captain James Tavernier, according to Sky sources.
The 26-year-old full-back has made more than 140 appearances for the Ibrox club since joining from Wigan Athletic in 2015 and scored a penalty for Rangers in their opening day draw against Aberdeen on Sunday.
16:18

'MAN UTD WORKING ON FOUR TARGETS'

Sky Sports News reporter Kaveh Solhekol gives us an update on Manchester United's pursuit of Jerome Boateng and Harry Maguire, among others...
16:08

ALEXIS WANTS 'BIG SIGNINGS' AT UNITED

Alexis Sanchez says Man Utd must sign players of Arturo Vidal's calibre if the club are to compete for trophies this season.
"At United we have to sign big players, with experience," Sanchez told Sky Sports. "Barcelona just signed Arturo Vidal, who is a great player and my team-mate from Chile.
"He is an example of the type of players we need to sign in order to win trophies and compete at the highest level.
"From what I've seen in training, Fred is a player who always wants to get forward, he is always trying to get forward and from a personal point of view I think we'll be able to combine well and it will be good for my game."
15:53

BRYAN SET FOR VILLA MOVE

Joe Bryan has undergone a medical and looks set to join Aston Villa in the next few hours, SSN understands.
Villa manager Steve Bruce has reportedly fought off interest from a number of Championship clubs for the Bristol City defender.
The fee for the 24-year-old is thought to be in the region of £5m.
Bryan made 48 appearances in all competitions last season and was involved in Bristol City's season-opening 1-1 draw at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
15:50

LOPETEGUI WANTS KOVACIC TO STAY

Real Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui says he wants Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic to stay at the Bernabeu.
15:45

BIRMINGHAM SIGN CAMP

Birmingham have completed the signing of goalkeeper Lee Camp on a free transfer from Cardiff.
The 33-year-old, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Sunderland, has penned a two-year contract with the Sky Bet Championship club.
Camp is set to become Birmingham's first-choice goalkeeper, casting doubts on the future of both David Stockdale and Tomasz Kuszczak.
https://twitter.com/BCFC/status/1027215401942429697
15:43

SMITH JOINS SEATTLE

Bournemouth defender Brad Smith has joined MLS club Seattle Sounders on a season-long loan.
The Australia international made 11 first-team appearances for Bournemouth after moving from Liverpool in 2016, and missed the majority of last season with a hip injury.
Bournemouth retain the option in January to recall Smith from Seattle, who are currently eighth in the Western Conference.
https://twitter.com/afcbournemouth/status/1027215975203188736
15:35

MAN UTD WANT BOATENG ON LOAN

Man Utd are keen to bring Jerome Boateng to Old Trafford – but only on loan, rather than on a permanent basis, SSN understands.
Jose Mourinho still has the German international as his No 1 choice recruit – but privately behind the scenes at United there are fears over a permanent contract for a player with a chequered history of injuries.
Boateng, 29, suffered muscle and tendon injuries over the past three Bundesliga campaigns, missing 27 games in total since December 2016.
With one day left of the summer window, Mourinho is running out of time to find a new central defender. Privately, United believe Harry Maguire is not for sale at Leicester and as things stand, Yerry Mina’s chances coming to Old Trafford looks increasingly slim.
Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward has made funds available to Jose, but is determined not to pay over the odds in the current market.
15:32

WOLVES CLOSE IN ON DENDONCKER

Wolves are closing in on a deal to sign Belgium international Leander Dendoncker, according to Sky sources.
SSN understands the Anderlecht midfielder travelled to England on Wednesday to discuss personal terms and undergo a medical with the Premier League club.
Dendoncker has made more than 170 appearances for Anderlecht since his debut for the club in 2013.
The 23-year-old has represented Belgium on six occasions and was included in Roberto Martinez's final 23-man squad for the World Cup in Russia, in which the Red Devils finished third.
15:22

BERNARD ARRIVES AT FINCH FARM

Brazil midfielder Bernard has arrived at Finch Farm to undergo his medical at Everton.
15:19

BORO TAKE HUGILL ON LOAN

Middlesbrough have completed the signing of West Ham striker Jordan Hugill on a season-long loan.
https://twitter.com/Boro/status/1027211693028466689
15:16

MCGINN TO MISS HIBS' EL CLASH

Hibernian will be without John McGinn for the Europa League encounter with Molde after Neil Lennon resigned himself to losing the midfielder following bids from Celtic and Aston Villa.
15:03

WATFORD KEEN ON WARD-PROWSE LOAN

Watford are interested in a loan deal for Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse, according to Sky sources.
However, SSN understands the young English midfielder is not available on loan and the Saints will rebuff any such advances for the player.
14:46

TRIO IN TALKS FOR SLIMANI

Sporting Lisbon, Fenerbahce and Besiktas are all in talks to sign Leicester striker Islam Slimani, according to Sky sources.
Slimani was Leicester’s record signing when they paid Sporting £28m for him two years ago.
The Algerian spent the second half of last season on loan at Newcastle.
14:42

'WITSEL TURNED DOWN MAN UTD'

Axel Witsel rejected a move to Man Utd this summer, the player's agent has claimed.
Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund completed a deal to sign Witsel from Chinese side Tianjin Quanjianearlier this week.
"There were other candidates. Manchester United wanted him, Napoli too," Paul Stefani told Belgian outlet HLN.
"But I told Axel: 'At Dortmund you are the number one, at Manchester you are one of the many... and at Napoli too'."
14:32

GREALISH DISAPPOINTED AT VILLA STANCE

Jack Grealish is very disappointed and disillusioned that Aston Villa are refusing to sell him to Spurs, according to Sky sources.
We understand the midfield player was promised he could leave before Villa’s new owners arrived at the club last month.
Grealish has not given up on moving to Spurs and he is still hoping that Villa will let him move.
14:23

ALL QUIET AT HUDDERSFIELD

As we wait for new signings at Huddersfield, the locals enjoy a game of crown green bowls...
14:20

GIROUD TO HOLD CHELSEA TALKS

Olivier Giroud says he is set to hold talks with Chelsea over a new contract.
The France World Cup winner joined the Blues from Arsenal in January, but his current deal expires at the end of this season.
Giroud attracted interest from Atletico Madrid earlier this summer.
"No, I am happy here at Chelsea. I just arrived a few months ago and am just starting to settle well,” Giroud told the Standard.
"I still have one year (of my contract) to go with Chelsea, plus maybe another one. I'm going to discuss that with the club at the right time. There is no rush."
14:15

BERNARD ARRIVES!

Good news for Everton fans as Brazil international Bernard has arrived at Manchester airport ahead of his expected medical at Finch Farm, which the midfielder is expected to have in the next 48 hours.
14:09

BACHMANN JOINS KILMARNOCK ON LOAN

Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann has moved to Kilmarnock on a season-long loan.
The 24-year-old former Austria U21 international, who joined the Hornets in July 2017, will spend the entire 2018/19 campaign with the Scottish Premiership side who are managed by Steve Clarke.
https://twitter.com/OfficialKillie/status/1027195190191247360
13:56

LYON CAN'T RULE OUT FEKIR

Lyon manager Bruno Genesio admits Nabil Fekir could still leave the club as the summer transfer window comes to a close.
13:45

WHY GREALISH IS IN DEMAND

Why is Tottenham transfer target Jack Grealish worth £25m? We have compared his stats against the average Premier League midfielder to find out..
Read the feature HERE
13:39

DOCHERTY JOINS SHREWS

Rangers confirm midfielder Greg Docherty has joined Shrewsbury Town on a season-long loan deal.
Docherty, who joined the Light Blues from Hamilton Accies in January, has made 14 appearances so far in his time at Ibrox.
13:25

CRUYFF NAMED CHONGQING LIFA BOSS

Jordi Cruyff has been named manager of Chinese Super League side Chongqing Lifan.
The former Manchester United player ended a successful six-year spell at Maccabi Tel-Aviv earlier this year, which included stints as sporting director and head coach.
The 44-year-old succeeds Paulo Bento, who lost his job with Chongqing Lifan last month.
13:11

BOATENG STILL KEEN?

Sky in Germany are reporting that defender Jerome Boateng turned down a move to Manchester United for football reasons but, we are told he wants to move to United and Jose Mourinho wants to sign him.
13:05

MAGUIRE HOPING FOR MAN UTD MOVE

One source has told us United have already had two bids turned down by Leicester for Harry Maguire. The second bid was worth about £60m.
Leicester are in advanced talks to sign two centre backs – Filip Benkovic from Dinamo Zagreb and Caglar Soyuncu from Freiburg – at a combined cost of about £35m.
As far as Leicester are concerned, Maguire is not for sale; they signed him for £17m from Hull City last summer and he has four years left on his contract.
Leicester are expected to offer him a new deal after his impressive performances for England in the World Cup this summer.
12:59

BREAKING NEWS

Sky sources: Leicester defender Harry Maguire is still hoping Manchester United will sign him with just one day to go before the window closes
12:56

AGENT WORLD LIKE 'WILD WEST'

Football agent Jon Smith says FIFA's deregulation of agents has created a 'watery' situation when it comes to player representation.
12:48

CONNOLLY TO JOIN WIGAN

Sky sources: Defender Callum Connolly will join Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan from Everton
12:35

VILLA LEAD RACE FOR McGINN

Aston Villa are in pole position to sign John McGinn despite renewed interest from Celtic, according to Hibernian head coach Neil Lennon.
Hibs midfielder McGinn spent Tuesday in talks with Aston Villa but Celtic are believed to have matched the Sky Bet Championship club's offer after having several previous bids rejected.
Lennon said: "He went down to Birmingham, I think he is having a medical there. A fee has been agreed. I don't know if personal terms have been agreed yet.
"I think Celtic have matched the offer but I think Villa are in the driving position at the minute."
12:24

BREAKING NEWS

West Brom have rejected an offer from Watford for Craig Dawson, according to Sky sources.
It is understood the offer was an initial loan year-long loan for a fee of £750,000.
The offer also included an option to buy Dawson for £2.5m instalments over four years adding up to a potential total of £10m.
12:18

LATEST TRANSFER BULLETIN

Here's your latest Transfer Centre bulletin from Sky Sports News at lunchtime
12:16

SARRI ON KEPA

Chelsea are in advanced talks to sign Athletic Bilbao's Kepa Arrizabalaga and Maurizio Sarri has been impressed by what he's seen of the goalkeeper.
12:08

NO POGBA WAGE DEMANDS

Paul Pogba has not made any wage demands to keep him at Manchester United, according to Sky sources.
On Tuesday, a newspaper report claimed he had demanded a £200k-a-week wage rise to stay at Old Trafford following interest from Barcelona.
However, we have been told that Pogba has made no wage demands.
12:05

HUGILL'S BORO MEDICAL

Sky sources: Jordan Hugill has arrived on Teesside to undergo a medical with Middlesbrough.
This will be a season-long loan deal for the striker, who signed for West Ham for £9.5m in January.
12:04

GREALISH 'KEEN TO LEAVE'

This one is slaloming a tad, isn't it?
SSN understands that Grealish is disillusioned that his dream move to north London now looks doomed and remains desperate to play for Mauricio Pochettino and to test himself at the highest level for a top four Premier League club.
11:57

BREAKING NEWS

Sky sources: Jack Grealish remains keen to move to Spurs and is desperate to test his skills in the Champions League.
Grealish, who trained with the Villa squad this morning, was due to complete a £25m move to Spurs until Villa's new owner, Nassef Sawiris intervened.
11:47

BREAKING NEWS

Leicester City are closing in on the signings of Caglar Soyuncu and Filip Benkovic, SSN understands.
Soyuncu, 22, could cost up to £20m. The Freiburg defender has won 15 international caps for Turkey and Leicester are confident a work permit won’t be a problem.
His agent, Mustafa Dogru, has confirmed on Twitter that they are in negotiations with Leicester over a deal, but he’s stressed there is no agreement yet.
Croatia U21 international defender Benkovic is in Leicester today discussing personal terms. He is expected to undergo a medical later today.
11:29

BREAKING NEWS

Sky sources: Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic to have medical at Chelsea today ahead of a loan move.
11:18

CHELSEA DUO TALK TO FEKIR

Olivier Giroud says he and Eden Hazard have spoken to Nabil Fekir about the possibility of joining Chelsea and would “welcome him” at the club.
The 25-year-old Lyon man looked set to join Liverpool from Lyon earlier this summer before negotiations between the clubs ended.
"I spoke to him when we were together in the French national team, when his move to Liverpool fell through," Giroud told Foot Mercato. "Then we discussed Chelsea, and I even think that Eden said a couple of words to him.
"We would obviously welcome him, he is a super player, but I don't know if this is something that could happen as the window closes on Thursday."
11:11

WHO IS KEPA?

We profile Kepa Arrizabalaga as the Spanish goalkeeper edges closer to a big-money transfer to Chelsea...
Read the feature HERE
10:55

GREALISH 'GOING NOWHERE'

Big news coming out of Villa Park.
Sky sources: Jack Grealish will not be sold to anyone in this transfer window, despite interest from Tottenham and 'other clubs' this window.
Sources are telling us Aston Villa's new executive chairman Nassef Sawiris has told Tottenham and any other potential suitors he is not interested in their money.
10:52

BREAKING NEWS

Aston Villa's new owners says Tottenham's £25m bid for Jack Grealish has been rejected outright.
10:44

BORO IN TALKS WITH BOLASIE

Sky sources: Middlesbrough remain in discussions with Yannick Bolasie as they attempt to persuade him to move to The Championship.
Everton winger Bolasie has been told he’s surplus to requirements at Goodison Park; Crystal Palace are interested but Boro is a more likely destination.
Middlesbrough are discussing both a permanent transfer and/or a loan with a view to a permanent deal. Bolasie is valued around £15m.
10:39

LATEST WHISPERS

The latest from our friends at Football Whispers as we approach midday.
https://storify.com/services/proxy/2/SbmQfujv3atpIEi1oJBIIQ/https/d2kmm3vx031a1h.cloudfront.net/juYkfzeJQfXfLeIr0L0U_whisssss.png
10:34

WILLIAMS IN BARNSLEY MEDICAL

Sky sources: Huddersfield Town defender Jordan Williams undergoing a medical at Barnsley ahead of a permanent move
10:31

BORO WANT HUGILL

Sky sources: Middlesbrough are in talks with West Ham over a loan move for Jordan Hugill. The Middlesbrough-born striker only signed for the Hammers for £9.5m in January.
10:30

KEPA SITUATION

Quite a complicated one, this, but let me explain...
Athletic Bilbao have announced that Kepa Arrizabalaga has bought himself out of his contract.
This is the done thing at Athletic Bilbao; the same happened with Ander Herrera, Javi Martinez and Aymeric Laporte.
It essentially means Kepa is now a free agent and will join Chelsea. The Blues will have paid the money to Kepa, his agent or the company who owns him in order to buy himself out of the contract.
Make sense? Good.
10:23

BREAKING NEWS

Athletic Bilbao have confirmed goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga's release clause has been activated.
Sky Sports News reported yesterday Chelsea were advanced talks to sign Kepa.
10:16

LOPETEGUI TIGHT-LIPPED ON COURTOIS

Real Madrid head coach Julen Lopetegui refused to comment on the strong rumours linking Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with a move to the Bernabeu.
"I always say that I'm not talking about players who are not at Real Madrid. Keylor (Navas) is our goalkeeper and there are no other goalkeepers I can talk about except Keylor, Kiko (Casilla), (Andriy) Lunin and Luca (Zidane).
"Keylor is phenomenal, he has our full confidence and is an extraordinary goalkeeper. He's delighted to belong to Real Madrid and we're delighted with him."
10:04

DOUBLE IPSWICH SIGNING

Ipswich have signed centre-back Toto Nsiala and midflieder Jon Nolan from Shrewsbury Town for a combined fee of £1.75m.
Both players have signed three-year deals with the club having the option of a further 12 months.
09:48

BREAKING NEWS

Celtic look set to complete a long-term loan deal for Australia World Cup youngster Daniel Arzani later today.
The 19-year-old midfielder, who made three sub appearances in Russia, has passed a medical and joins Celtic on a two-year loan, having completed his transfer from Melbourne City to Manchester City, SSN understands.
09:47

BAYER STRIKER SIGNS DEAL

Bayer Leverkusen striker Joel Pohjanpalo has signed a contract extension until 2022, the Bundesliga club have announced.
The 23-year-old Finland international, who is currently recovering from an ankle injury, has made 18 Bungesliga appearances for the side and scored seven goals.
09:32

HUDDERSFIELD IN TALKS WITH MBENZA

Huddersfield are now in talks with Montpellier winger Isaac Mbenza, according to Sky sources.
Sky Sports News understands Terriers boss David Wagner is keen to add another wide player to his squad after selling Tom Ince to Stoke.
Mbenza scored 10 goals in 43 appearances last season as Montpellier finished comfortably mid-table in Ligue 1.
09:30

WAGHORN SIGNS FOR DERBY

Derby have completed the signing of Martyn Waghorn from Ipswich.
The 28-year-old striker signs for £5m on a three-year contract.
09:15

WHERE NEXT FOR BOATENG?

It now looks likely Jerome Boateng will stay at Bayern Munich or move to PSG.
If PSG are able to present an interesting total package for him, he is likely join them. A decision is expected within the next two weeks.
Boateng has a great relationship with Bayern’s new coach Niko Kovac; they are both from the same district in Berlin and Boateng feels Kovac appreciates him as a player.
09:11

BOATENG TO MAN UTD OFF

And here's why...
Jerome Boateng’s decision not to join Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford was because he doesn’t believe Manchester United can win the Champions League this season.
Sky in Germany understand that Boateng spoke to Jose Mourinho earlier this week to explain that he was honoured by United’s interest in him.
However his aim remains to win one more Champions League title – and he feels United are not strong enough to do so in the forthcoming campaign.
09:05

BREAKING NEWS

Defender Ben Mee has signed a new three-year contract at Burnley.
The 28-year-old is now committed to at least 2021, with the option of a further 12 months.
09:01

BREAKING NEWS

Winger Adama Traore has completed his move from Middlesbrough to Wolves on a five-year deal.
08:48

BRIGHTON SIGN SIMPKINS

Brighton and Hove Albion have completed the signing of midfielder Emily Simpkins.
The 28-year-old joins the club on a free transfer after leaving Doncaster Rovers Belles this summer, and has signed a one-year contract.
08:43

BREAKING NEWS

Sky sources: Bernard is currently travelling from Brazil and is expected to arrive on Merseyside this afternoon ahead of a medical at Everton.
Sky Sports News understands that Everton manager Marco Silva has played a key role in the last 24 hours, in persuading Bernard to join the club
08:32

WOLVES SWOOP FOR CLUCAS

Midfielder Clucas saw his move to Burnley collapse over the weekend, and Wolves have moved quickly to try to bring him to Molineux.
A formal approach is expected later today.
08:30

BREAKING NEWS

Wolves are keen to sign midfielder Sam Clucas from Swansea before tomorrow’s deadline, SSN has been told.
08:28

COURTOIS > REAL DETAILS

It is understood Thibaut Courtois is currently in Belgium awaiting permission from Chelsea to fly to Madrid to undergo a medical.
Real have offered to loan midfielder Mateo Kovacic and pay £35m for the Belgium goalkeeper, but Chelsea are yet to accept the deal.
Courtois is keen to move back to Madrid, where he spent three years with Atletico, due to family reasons.
The 26-year-old, who has less than year remaining on his current contract at Stamford Bridge, did not report back for training on Monday after being given extra time off following the World Cup.
08:26

BREAKING NEWS

Real Madrid are expecting Thibaut Courtois to arrive in Madrid on Thursday ahead of completing a move to the Bernabeu, according to Sky sources in Belgium.
08:11

HIBS CONFIRM AGYEPONG

Thomas Agyepong has joined Hibernian on a loan move from Manchester City.
The 21-year-old is now awaiting the completion of the necessary visa process before joining up with Neil Lennon’s squad.
The winger signed for Manchester City in 2015 from the Right to Dream Academy, spending his time since then on loan at Twente and then two seasons at NAC Breda.
08:03

PAPER TALK

• Watford have made a £10m offer for Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse (Daily Mail)
  
• Everton are confident they can sign Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma on loan if they are unable to complete a move for Yerry Mina (Daily Mirror)
  
• Burnley have offered £10m for Abdoulaye Touré, the Nantes midfielder (The Times)
  
• Fulham have offered £8m for Hugo Mallo, the Celta Vigo right-back (The Times)
  

07:52

THE BEST OF GREALISH

Spurs fans: here's what you'd be getting. The best of Jack Grealish from the Championship in the 2017/18 season.
07:44

ATLETI SIGN KALINIC

Atletico Madrid have completed the signing of former Blackburn striker Nikola Kalinic from AC Milan.
The 30-year-old, who made 42 appearances for AC Milan last season - scoring six goals - completed his medical in Italy on Tuesday.
Sky Italy report the deal is in the region of €15m (£13.5m) including bonuses.
07:30

'SPURS A GOOD FIT FOR GREALISH'

Moving to Tottenham is perfect for Jack Grealish, says the panel on The Debate show.
07:27

FEKIR LATEST

Nabil Fekir was left out of the Lyon's squad to face Chelsea last night admid reports of a move to Stamford Bridge.
He did come close to signing for Liverpool this window and Lyon Manager Bruno Genesio can't rule out a late move.
"It's too early to say. He wanted to leave at the end of last season, but came back to training yesterday and was happy.
"Who knows? There may be opportunities that come up before the end of the window. For now, he is a Lyon player."
07:18

MORNING WHISPERS

The latest from our friends at Football Whispers this Wednesday morning...
https://storify.com/services/proxy/2/gjUGxw5AgiQml_GoPLufAw/https/d2kmm3vx031a1h.cloudfront.net/7XtxQarrTVuthiCoXKad_2018-08-08-08-12-10-sky-top-10-graphic.png
07:13

SARRI: NO HAZARD ISSUE

Maurizio Sarri has hinted Eden Hazard will stay at Chelsea after he held positive talks with the Belgian.
Hazard had been the subject of interest from Real Madrid this summer but Sarri confirmed he has had talks with Belgium star the attacker more than once, suggesting the 'problem' surrounding his future has been resolved.
Sarri said: "I don't see a problem in this moment. I have spoken with Eden two or three times in the last two days.
"He has spoken of everything. I think this problem - the Hazard problem - is not present now."
06:59

POGBA: THE REPORTS

There are plenty of newspaper reports surrounding Manchester United the day before the window shuts, and the majority of them concern Paul Pogba.
It would be the biggest shock of the window if he was to leave... but the clock is ticking.

• Pogba wants a £200,000-a-week pay rise to stay at the club, according to The Sun.
  
• Meanwhile, the Daily Mail report that Pogba has told United team-mates he wants to leave and has already agreed a £350,000-a-week contract with Barcelona.
  
• The Daily Star say United are furious with Pogba's agent Mino Raiola for trying to engineer a move to Barcelona for the France star.
  
• Sky in Italy say United have rejected an offer for Pogba from Barcelona of £45m plus Yerry Mina and Andre Gomes.
  
• But United apparently have no desire to part with Pogba, who has just returned to training after winning the World Cup with France.
  

06:47

ROONEY: UTD NEED TWO SIGNINGS

Wayne Rooney hopes Manchester United can mount a Premier League challenge against Manchester City but admitted they need two more signings to do so.
"I hope someone can catch them - it would be nice, so hopefully Manchester United can. I think maybe another signing or two.
"I am sure Jose [Mourinho] has been getting the team right. I know there has been a lot of talk about pre-season in the press but I am sure behind the scenes, Jose has been giving them the right amount of work."
06:35

'BOLT WON'T GET SPECIAL TREATMENT'

Central Coast Mariners coach Mick Mulvey says Usain Bolt will be treated as any other player when he joins the Australian A-League club this month on an "indefinite" trial.
Mulvey will make the final decision over whether Bolt is offered a contract as the Jamaican sprinting great pursues his long-held dream of playing professional football.
"If it was up to him he'd be coming in without any hoopla but that's impossible for a person of his stature. I'm really happy and really looking forward to having him train with the club.
"I'm sure when he arrives he'll give a good account for himself and we'll see what happens from there. If it works, he will be offered a contract."
06:22

TRANSFER CENTRE

The latest transfer bulletin from Sky Sports News this Wednesday morning...
06:15

GET INVOLVED!

https://twitter.com/SkySportsNews/status/1027034124106821632
06:09

KLOPP: NO IDEA ON TRANSFERS

Jurgen Klopp says he's excited about the transfer window but has 'no idea' if there will be any further signings at Liverpool.
06:03

TRANSFER HEADLINES

• Man Utd want Boateng on loan
  
• Alexis wants 'big signings' at Utd
  
• Watford keen on Ward-Prowse
  
• Three clubs in talks for Slimani
  
• 'Witsel turned down Man Utd'
  
• Regionals: Arsenal eye Vida
  
• Maguire hoping for Utd move
  
• Owner: Grealish staying at Villa
  
• But Grealish is 'keen on move'
  
• No Pogba wage demands
  
• Kepa release clause activated
  
• Kovacic in Chelsea medical
  
• Why Boateng turned down Utd
  
• Courtois to Real on Thursday
  
• Deadline Day on Sky Sports
  
• Transfer Talk podcast: Download
  
• Premier League ins and outs
  
• New football season offer
  
• Fantasy Football: Win £50k
  

06:00

GOOD MORNING

And welcome to Sky Sports live Transfer Centre, bringing you all of the latest news and rumours from the window.
It's Wednesday, August 8, and we're in the bizarre position of having just a day-and-a-half of the window left. It's sure to be a frantic day, and we'll bring you absolutely everything until close of play this evening.
Join the discussion on Discord. I am a bot. Found any errors? Contact /Football Mods