Dan Sheldon

A full backgrounder on Manchester United's latest off-field appointment

The main questions facing Manchester United as the first-team start to return to pre-season training

Donny van de Beek is close to a move from Manchester United to Girona. The La Liga side are set to pay an initial €500k for the 27-year-old midfielder with a total add-ons package of €20m of which €5m are seen as realistically achievable. Girona are in the market for midfield additions after Aleix Garcia left for Bayer Leverkusen last month. Van de Beek joined United in 2020 from Ajax, fresh from helping them to the Champions League semi-finals under Erik ten Hag in the 2018-19 season. He has gone on to make only 62 appearances for United in the four years since, scoring two goals. Van...

Christopher Vivell has been appointed as Manchester United’s director of global talent on a temporary basis. The Athletic reported earlier this month that Vivell’s arrival at Old Trafford was on an initial short-term contract to help with the summer transfer window. He will report to the club’s newly-appointed sporting director Dan Ashworth. Vivell, 37, officially started his role on Thursday (July 4) and will assist United by lending his expertise around player recruitment and talent ID. Although Vivell’s appointment is a temporary one, there is a possibility that he...

Avram Glazer, a part owner of Manchester United and a member of the Glazer family who retain a majority stake in the club, has failed in a bid to become the controlling shareholder of NWSL side Angel City. Sources familiar with the discussions, who would not speak publicly owing to the sensitivity of the talks, confirmed that Glazer had pursued a stake in Angel City. He has missed out, however, to the Disney CEO Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay, who are now close to purchasing control of Angel City FC. Semafor first reported news of Glazer’s interest. Glazer had recently profited after the...

Southampton head coach Russell Martin has signed a new contract through to 2027 after he led them back to the Premier League at the first time of asking. Martin took Southampton up via a 1-0 play-off final win against Leeds United at Wembley Stadium in May and has now signed an improved deal. He joined the club last summer and was tasked with securing their instant return to the Premier League after they were relegated at the end of the 2022-23 campaign. Following a bumpy start to his tenure in charge, which saw Southampton lose four games on the spin in September, the 38-year-old turned their...

Jude Bellingham is being investigated by UEFA after he appeared to make a lewd gesture towards the Slovakia bench following his overhead-kick equalising goal for England. Despite previously indicating to The Athletic that Bellingham would not be expected to face any punishment for his actions, UEFA released a statement later on Monday which said that the 21-year-old will be investigated “regarding a potential violation of the basic rules of decent conduct”. It remains to be seen whether this will result in disciplinary action. This article has been updated to reflect UEFA’s...

Manchester United are in talks with Bayern Munich over a possible transfer for Matthijs de Ligt. The Athletic first revealed United’s interest on June 28 and the Premier League side have now opened formal discussions with the German club. De Ligt, a 24-year-old central defender, has been on United’s radar ever since coming through the youth system at Ajax before he joined Juventus in 2019. The Netherlands international spent three years in Italy before joining Bayern and made 30 appearances for the Bundesliga side last season. United’s interest is matched by that of Erik ten Hag, their...

Southampton are in discussions with West Ham United regarding a deal for Flynn Downes, with Kyle Walker-Peters in line to move in the opposite direction as part of a separate transaction. Downes, 25, spent last season on loan at St Mary’s and played a key role in Southampton’s promotion back to the Premier League. He made 33 appearances last term including the entirety of Southampton’s victory over Leeds United in the play-off final. The West Ham midfielder is highly regarded by Saints manager Russell Martin, who is keen to make him part of his plans for the 2024-25 campaign.

We break down the key moments from England's game with Slovenia in Cologne

Welcome to our weekly guide to everything that is happening in the summer transfer window

Gareth Southgate has encouraged his players to block out the “external noise” and also admitted to being his “own biggest critic”. Harry Kane and Declan Rice responded to Gary Lineker calling England’s performance against Denmark ’s***’ on his podcast, with Kane wanting former players to act more responsibly. Ahead of the Three Lions’ final group stage match against Slovenia on Tuesday night, Southgate said he was unaware of Lineker’s comments. “That’s the world we are in, and I am oblivious to it,” the England manager said. “It’s not important...

Slovenia head coach Matjaz Kek says he will make a late call on Benjamin Sesko’s fitness for the game with England on Tuesday. The Athletic reported that the 21-year-old has been dealing with a thigh issue ever since the end of RB Leipzig’s season and it is still affecting him at Euro 2024. He was withdrawn after 76 minutes of Slovenia’s 1-1 draw with Serbia on Thursday with the issue, which both Sesko and Kek played down after the game. Slovenia must beat England to guarantee passage to the last 16 with a fit Sesko key to their chances. Asked about the status of his star striker,...

Guehi's form, a kind draw, players unburdened by past failures... things could be a lot worse for England

Harry Kane says Gareth Southgate is “absolutely” the right person to lead England and has called on fans to “support him as the players do”. England and Southgate came in for particular criticism following Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Denmark in their second Euro 2024 group fixture. Southgate was appointed England manager in 2016 and led them to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup — the men’s side’s best finish at the tournament since Italia 90 — and final of Euro 2021 —  the team’s best ever European Championship showing. However, he has...