boss

Barca were without Andreas Christensen, Eric García and Xavi Espart, leaving them fragile in defence, with 20-year-old midfielder Brian Farinas making his Champions League debut and just second start at right-back.

The hosts had not kept a Champions League clean sheet in 18 games, a run stretching back to April 2025, and there was real fear from seasoned Barca watchers that Villa would exploit their weakness.

In the first half Matty Cash, Gomes and Johan Manzambi, twice, made Barca sweat as the visitors created chances without taking them.

German Leon Goretzka hit the post in the second half but by then the game was done after Raphinha’s strikes.

Lamine Yamal, Anthony Gordon and Joao Cancelo went close to adding to Barca’s tally, but Emery remained philosophical.

“The test was definitely not in the level we want to achieve but there are a lot of things to learn, a lot of experience for the players and us,” he said. “It is giving me a lot of information to analyse and compete at this level.

“Overall, we are competing fantastically in the Champions League, although playing the match we played we have work to do to get to this level [of Barcelona].

“We were sometimes achieving it and close to scoring goals but we must be ruthless in the attacking third, 3-0 is maybe more than we deserved, but we accept the defeat.”

It was still a reminder of how far Villa have come under Emery, who took over when they were three points above the Premier League relegation zone.

A Champions League night against Barcelona in the Nou Camp was fanciful when the Spaniard walked in the door from Villarreal.

Since then, he has delivered the Europa League title and two Champions League campaigns and this defeat in Spain will be another key marker in Villa’s journey with him as they now prepare to visit Manchester United next on Sunday.

“Barcelona made the right decisions at the right times and scored really good goals,” captain John McGinn told TNT Sports.

“The manager spoke about being clinical at important moments in the game. When you come here, 50-50s sometimes don’t go your way. They also leave players up the pitch so if you lose the ball they can be away.

“I think we are competitive against teams at this level, we have shown that whether it is Bayern Munich or PSG. It was a huge learning curve for us and I am sure it will stand us in good stead for the future.”

Speaking to Andover Town’s website,, external Skeates said: “I’ve been involved in football a long time and I’ve genuinely never seen anything like what happened today from an opposition side.

“All 11 of their players walked off perfectly fine at half-time with us 7-0 up.

“They eventually came back out with seven, so apparently four must have managed to get injured in the changing room.

“We scored pretty much straight away to make it 8-0 and from there it became a complete farce.”

BBC Sport has asked the league for Paulsgrove FC’s contact details but that request was declined.

However, several posts on X appearing to come from Paulsgrove’s official account claimed the players were all genuinely injured.

One reply to a post from Skeates read: “Sadly can’t make injured player [sic] continue”.

Skeates said Andover Town would submit a report to the league.

A spokesperson for the Hampshire Premier Football League said: “As is standard for any abandoned game, an investigation is under way and until that process has been completed, we cannot make any comment.”

Andover Town are mid-table in the 16-team league, which is in the 12th tier of the English football pyramid.

Paulsgrove are bottom, having lost all 10 games this season, including three completed games where they were beaten by eight goals or more.

The owner of the Villa Vie Odyssey ‘never-ending cruise’ has broken his silence after passengers claimed they were ‘dumped’ in Cambodia. The round-the-world voyage came to a halt this week, with the ship now docked at the Cambodian port of Sihanoukville.

The boss of a ‘never-ending cruise’ has said he feels awful after passengers claimed they were ‘dumped’ in Cambodia when their round-the-world voyage came to a halt. The Villa Vie Odyssey remains moored at Sihanoukville, on the Gulf of Thailand, with no departure date confirmed by its operator.

Passengers claim they were given just seven hours’ notice to leave the ship on Tuesday and received no assistance with making alternative arrangements. Randy Cassingham, one of those on board, alleged they had been “dumped” in Cambodia. Mikael Petterson, founder and executive chairman of Villa Vie Residences, spoke to reporters the following day.

“I feel awful,” he said when contacted by phone on Wednesday, Business Insider reported. “I’m the villain in the story, but I’m doing everything I can to support the residents on a solution.” Mr Petterson described disappointing passengers as “incredibly deflating”.

He added: “Nobody that’s tried residential cruising has succeeded, and we’ve gone further than anyone else. But I think we would have been absolutely fine – and we would have seen this through – if there was no Iran war.”

On Thursday, Captain Emanuele Giudice spoke to reporters on the dock, telling them that passengers were asked to leave because the fuel situation was “critical”.

The Odyssey was promoted as a way to combine long-term living at sea with travel across all seven continents. Its operator offered to “make the Odyssey your permanent home,” with cabins available to buy for the lifetime of the vessel from around $230,000 (roughly £171,000).

According to Cambodian authorities, the ship was carrying 203 passengers, most of them American, and 156 crew members. It has room for 650 passengers. In a statement on Tuesday, Villa Vie Residences said monthly fuel costs had soared following the US and Israel invasion of Iran. The company said costs per cabin, previously averaging $1,800 (£1,340), had risen to an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in some parts of Asia.

The operator tried to reduce fuel use by cutting back its itinerary and spending longer in port, but said those measures had not been enough to offset the rising costs. Mr Petterson told CBS News the company would “likely file for Chapter 11 here any day, right, which will put a stay on that while we go through the restructure process”.

CBS also reported claims from insiders that crew members had to buy food from local supermarkets after an unpaid supplier stopped making deliveries. A Villa Vie source told the Express that staff had occasionally used a corporate credit card to buy supplies, but said all employees had since received their wages.

For some passengers, the voyage had been intended to last for years. Paul and Lynn Montoya, a retired couple from Wyoming, told AP News they had bought a window cabin and joined the ship in Panama 17 months ago. Mr Montoya said itinerary changes, unreliable internet access and declining food standards had prompted many residents to leave in recent months.

Sisters Carol Larson, 69, and Crystal Lavering, 72, from California, had lived in separate cabins for 18 months. They described the suspension as heartbreaking but remained hopeful the cruise could resume. “I hope there is a movement for the residents to buy the ship and I am hoping that goes through because it’s a dream to live on the ship and I don’t want it to end,” Larson said.

The ship arrived in Sihanoukville last Friday and had been due to leave on Wednesday, according to Long Dimanche, deputy governor of Preah Sihanouk province. He said it was now expected to refuel and depart Cambodia on Saturday, although the operator has not publicly confirmed that date.

Built in 1993, the Odyssey sailed under several names for different cruise lines before being grounded during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Villa Vie Residences bought it in 2023. Its current voyage began in October 2024 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, following refurbishment. The journey was originally scheduled to last three and a half years, with a second cruise provisionally due to finish in August 2030.

Michael Carrick is never short of advice around how he should do his job as head coach of Manchester United.

Few of his players divide opinion quite so much as skipper Bruno Fernandes.

So, it stands to reason there are a variety of views around whether Fernandes should be dropped for Sunday’s vital Premier League game against Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

Former Everton and Rangers striker Duncan Ferguson has no doubts.

“It is a big problem for Michael,” he told The Overlap podcast. “Put people in the team you trust. Your captain has thrown you under the bus. If you don’t think he is playing for you, get him out. I wouldn’t pick him even though he is their best player.”

Joe Smith, respected host of Manchester United fan channel Stretford Paddock, is of the same opinion.

“I don’t think Fernandes should play on the weekend,” he said. “I don’t think (Lisandro) Martínez should’ve played against Leeds, because otherwise they’re running the ship here.”

United fans heading back on flights from Como to Manchester had a view, although much of it was wrapped up in their general thoughts about the club, most of which were negative.

But only one man’s opinion really counts. Carrick is the man who picks the team.

His friend and former team-mate Wayne Rooney has a view on that.

“When Martinez came out, I said this is an absolute nightmare because it will rip the dressing room apart,” he said on the United Stand podcast.

“That was the start. We’ve seen it now with Bruno and you’re going to see it with more players because they don’t want to take responsibility.

“I was in that situation [as manager at Plymouth and Birmingham City] and if I was in Carrick’s position now, I’d come out fighting. There’s no more Mr Nice Guy.”

Arsenal‘s style of play has been criticised this season but, even before Saka’s withdrawal, the Gunners played on the front foot and enjoyed more possession than their German opponents.

Losing Saka, who has scored four goals in 11 appearances in all competitions, will be tough to deal with.

But the Gunners have invested heavily in their squad over the past two summer transfer windows and have options.

Madueke can play on both wings, while summer signing Christos Tzolis – although currently out with a hamstring injury – has started the season well.

The Gunners also have 16-year-old Max Dowman as an attacking option, and the youngster has already shown that he can have an impact for the senior side after scoring in the Premier League last season.

Arteta, who was asked what the rest of the forward line will need to do in Saka’s absence, said he was pleased with what he saw against Bayern.

“I think Ebs [Eze] had a great game. Not only the ball, but the actions. His overall performance, I think his commitment without the ball as well,” he said.

“And when the other ones come in, I think they really contributed to this. First of all, the energy.

“And then to bring different tools that the team needed in that moment to get something out of the game. So, very pleased again.”

Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick says he is “telling the truth” when he says the club have moved on from Lisandro Martinez’s explosive post-match comments this week.

Carrick’s close friend and team-mate Wayne Rooney led the condemnation of Martinez, saying the Argentine defender could “rip the dressing room apart” with his attack on United’s hierarchy after the 2-0 Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid.

Former United skippers Roy Keane and Gary Neville have also had their say, among a huge amount of analysis.

Martinez has apologised for the timing of comments, which turned the spotlight on director of football Jason Wilcox, but not for the words themselves.

“There’s a lot of people who say a lot of things – ex-pros or not ex-pros – it doesn’t necessarily mean they understand what is going on here,” said Carrick in his pre-match media conference at United’s Carrington training ground.

“Just because people talk on the outside doesn’t mean that is the truth. I am telling you the truth. The squad today was in a fantastic place, better than I have seen it for a while. That is it, plain and simple. We are living it every day and know what it feels like.

“We are emotional and care a lot. Sometimes someone says something that maybe you shouldn’t say at that certain time, but it doesn’t distract us from what we are creating here and the environment and spirit within the group.

“It [the squad] is not affected, I am telling you.”

Carrick confirmed Martinez would be “part of the squad” for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Leeds at Elland Road (14:00 BST).

More to follow.

The head of the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) was initially skeptical about the utility of high-altitude balloons, but now sees them as a “game-changing” capability. Lt. Gen. John Rafferty’s comments follow a separate disclosure that the Army axed plans for a balloon swarm test in the Pacific last year and instead sent those systems to support real operations in the Middle East. TWZ has been closely tracking the expanding use of high-altitude balloons and other lighter-than-air systems globally for intelligence gathering, as platforms for launching drones, and in support of other missions, for years now.

Lt. Gen. Rafferty was asked about high-altitude balloons during a media roundtable today, at which TWZ was in attendance, on the sidelines of the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) main annual convention. Army Col. Joseph Mroszczyk, head of SMDC’s Transformation Integration Directorate for Space Superiority (TID-Space Superiority), also discussed the service’s use of balloons during the roundtable. Breaking Defense first reported on the shift of balloon-based capabilities from the Pacific to the Middle East on Monday.

“I’ll just give a little personal history on high-altitude balloons. I started in the Army Futures Command in the Long Range Fires-Cross Functional Team. There was this talk of high-altitude balloons. I think it was the ISR [intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance] task force was talking about it,” Rafferty said. “It just sounded crazy to me that we were considering this.”

“Then, a few years later, when the Sergeant Major [SDMC Command Sgt. Maj. Rickey Jackson] and I were together in the multi-domain community in Europe, I went with the 2nd MDTF [Multi-Domain Task Force] to Morocco for training and experimentation,” he continued. “[I] saw the high-altitude balloons in action, and I was immediately convinced after I understood better how they worked and how their ability to station-keep, and their ability to sense and even deliver effects from high altitude. It was game-changing for me.”

Broadly speaking, the main benefit that modern high-altitude balloons offer is their ability to be deployed persistently for days, weeks, or even months at a time. Designs available on the market today can hold their position, in spite of prevailing winds, and moderate their altitudes to keep on station, after precisely navigating to an assigned operating area.

On top of their persistence, the altitudes at which these balloons operate provide excellent fields of view for radars, cameras, and other sensors in all directions and across very broad areas. From a perch of 60,000 feet or more, they also offer a way to peer into certain denied areas while still soaring in international airspace and keeping further away from potential threats.

The video below from high-altitude balloon maker Aerostar offers a good general overview of the kind of capabilities on the market today.

Aerostar Thunderhead Balloon System Full Video Updated 1 5 23

As Lt. Gen. Rafferty noted today, ISR is not the only use case for high-altitude balloons, either. They can serve as communications relay nodes, as well as launch platforms for swarms of drones and other expendable payloads. These are all capabilities the Army has explicitly talked about as part of broader plans for balloons in the past. Other countries, especially China, are already actively employing high-altitude balloons for ISR and other missions, as we will come back to later on.

“In my former role as an MDTF commander, we experimented a lot in the Pacific with those [balloon-based] capabilities. We have leveraged different size platforms,” Col. Mroszczyk added today. “In this [TID-Space Superiority] role, as a proponent, what I’m pushing for is a family of stratospheric systems that really covers smaller size all the way up to larger size types of platforms in terms of balloons.”

“What that enables us to provide is space-like capabilities, really exploiting a transition point between what is normally considered the aerial layer and the space domain,” he continued. “Really, where you go from about 60,000 feet to 100,000 feet is what we focus on in the stratosphere. That operational space allows some persistence and broad coverage in an area where you can deliver space-like capabilities in terms of payloads, but then also take advantage of the deep access that you get from a stratospheric balloon.”

“So, being able to go, take advantage of winds that are pushing you where you want to go already to be able to get either launched effects or other types of payloads for sensing and communications and extension of your launched effects portfolio,” he added. “That is a way that we can help exploit the stratosphere, and we’re looking to do that throughout multiple experiments over the course of the coming year.”

“Launched effects,” is a catch-all term the U.S. military now routinely uses to talk collectively about uncrewed aerial systems designed to be launched from other platforms in the air, on the ground, and/or at sea. This encompasses drones configured for a wide variety of missions, including surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, signal relay, and even kinetic attack.

Col. Mroszczyk talked about plans to further demonstrate how high-altitude balloons will be commanded and controlled, as well as networked together with other Army capabilities, when asked to elaborate on what the forthcoming experimentation would entail.

As mentioned, the Army had also planned to demonstrate the ability of balloons to operate in swarms with a high degree of autonomy in the Pacific region last year before those assets were redirected to the Middle East. When exactly that deployment occurred and how long it lasted are unclear.

“We were asked to pivot and do some experimentation in combination with operations, and we pivoted and supported operations in CENTCOM [U.S. Central Command],” Andrew Evans, Director of Strategy and Transformation with the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, or G-2, told Breaking Defense, per the story that outlet published on Monday.

“They were effective for the mission that they were assigned,” he also said, but declined to elaborate further, according to Breaking Defense. “Balloons can be a little finicky in terms of temperature, and you have to contend with environmental characteristics.”

“We had a lot of help from vendors in this space, but as you think about employing your systems and going from something like a Pacific [theater] to something like a CENTCOM [theater], you learn where those friction points might exist between what the military might need to inherently own, and … what a vendor could help provide in terms of the service,” Evans added. Furthermore, “balloons can be a little finicky in terms of temperature, and you have to contend with environmental characteristics.”

The remarks today from Lt. Gen. Rafferty and Col. Mroszczyk underscore the Army’s commitment to fielding new high-altitude balloon-based capabilities and the immense benefits the service sees in them. However, the continued emphasis on testing and experimentation highlights a discrepancy with the state of the service’s current efforts, and even more so in light of global trends.

The Army has been openly talking about balloons as part of its vision for a new multi-layered persistent sensor architecture, and how they could also be used to launch drones and other ‘effects,’ for at least six years now. In that same time, China has very actively shown off its ability to gather intelligence and conduct other missions using balloons and other lighter-than-air craft on a broad operational level across the Pacific. TWZ had been reporting on this reality for years before it was thrust fully into the public consciousness after a Chinese spy balloon passed over parts of the United States and Canada back in 2023.

Other countries, including U.S. allies and partners, are increasingly fielding balloon-based and other lighter-than-air systems, too. Forces in Ukraine have notably been using balloons to conduct kinetic attacks and launch drones in the course of the ongoing conflict with Russia. On the other side of that conflict, Russian forces have used balloons as decoys to confuse and misdirect air defenses.

The Middle East deployment does show new efforts on the Army’s part to operationalize high-altitude balloons on a more widespread basis, but also that it is still relying on largely experimental capabilities to do so. Earlier this year, the service called attention to the establishment of a new schoolhouse for high-altitude balloon training to help further lay this groundwork, further underscoring how all of this is still very much in its infancy.

The remarks today from Lt. Gen. John Rafferty, especially, show there is substantial support within the Army for pushing ahead with high-altitude balloon programs. At the same time, there is clearly much work to be done if they are to have a truly game-changing impact, while the gap with China and others only continues to grow.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Paris St-Germain boss Luis Enrique says he was surprised to learn Manchester City had been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules and he hopes the club can avoid sanctions.

City host European champions PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday (20:00 BST) – their first home match since being found guilty of the majority of 115 charges.

“There is a lot of noise around Manchester City and there is often noise around big clubs,” said Enrique when asked about City’s guilty verdict at a news conference at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

“We have just have to to wait and see what the final decision will be. I hope everything works out well for Manchester City because I think what they have done on the pitch has been incredible over the last few years and they certainly deserved to win on the pitch all the trophies they have won.

“Now we have to wait to see what the authorities decide or the judge is going to say.”

An independent commission found City had broken rules over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018 by creating “sham” contracts with commercial partners to secretly funnel more than £830m into their football operations.

City insist they are innocent and have appealed.

Luis Enrique added: “The first thing that you hear, it is a surprise, but we need to respect the process and wait for the final decision.

“The authorities are responsible for making these decisions. But speaking only about football, they deserved those trophies. I love their football. Beyond that, we have to wait for the decision.

“The trophies you win on the pitch remain on the pitch. They deserved to win that and I hope they can avoid the sanction. But we have to wait.”

When Marco Silva was appointed Fulham boss in 2021 he brought a stability to the club that ensured they were competitive in the Premier League, without ever really being in danger of being relegated.

Silva departed in the summer to become head coach of Benfica and in appointing Arbeloa as his replacement, Fulham were undoubtedly taking a bit of a gamble.

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid player arrived with limited managerial experience at senior level, having had a brief spell in charge of Real Madrid from January until May this year.

The biggest problem Fulham have had under him is conceding late goals, with his side having let in goals in the final 15 minutes in four of their six Premier League matches.

Despite that, Arbeola was defiant after the Ipswich defeat, insisting he is right man for the job at Fulham, and he can handle the pressure of needing to turn things around.

“Maybe you don’t know me but I played for the best team in world. I have coached the best team in the world,” he said.

“Maybe you don’t know, but just to let you know, that pressure is part of my life since I was a kid.

“So, it is normal in football. It is normal for players, it is normal for coaches and everybody that is around a team.

“I think pressure is something that is important for me and I like it.”

Mikel Arteta says his conscience is clear over Manchester City’s Premier League rule breaches during a period when he was assistant manager at the club.

The Arsenal boss worked under Pep Guardiola between 2016 and 2019, which overlapped with the nine seasons during which City have been found to have broken rules and disguised secret funding of more than £830m.

In his first news conference since the ruling – which the club has appealed – Arteta attempted to bat away questions, saying he wanted to “respect” the ongoing process.

However, towards the end of more than half an hour of questioning, he was asked: “You were at City for three and a half years, is your conscience clear? You had a senior position there, is your conscience clear?”

Arteta answered: “Yes”.

His answer was one word, but it was arguably the most revealing part of the whole interaction.

It was the only occasion where the Spaniard did not in some way revert to his messaging about not giving opinions on the case until such a time as there is a resolution.

Arteta was at no point combative, but it was clear he arrived at Arsenal‘s training ground with a response he was determined to stick to.

Asked if he had spoken to Guardiola, he added: “I prefer not to answer those questions.”

Arteta was asked for his reaction to the damning report from the independent commission, which found City had arranged “sham contracts” with a number of commercial partners to disguise earnings.

He said: “I fully understand the question, but obviously I think it’s very important that we respect the process, the timelines, and it’s still an ongoing process that is not resolved because it’s been appealed.

“My position, and I think the club’s position, is not to make any further comments until this is fully resolved.”

When asked if he thought, that to preserve the integrity of the Premier League, the appeal and sanction needed to be resolved this season, he replied: “The people are responsible to manage this process and to come to the right conclusions and I’m sure it will be done and it will be resolved in the right way. We have to trust that.”

Arteta also added he “100%” believed the Premier League remains the best in the world.

Arsenal, who sit three points behind league leaders City, face fifth-placed Leeds on Saturday at Emirates Stadium.

Royal Marine commandos providing security at Wimbledon would like “nothing more than to sort out” disruptive social media influencers at the prestigious tournament, its chief executive has joked.

US Open organisers accredited 100 influencers and content creators for this year’s tournament.

But when a match involving two-time champion Naomi Osaka was disrupted by a group of influencers conducting a photo shoot, it prompted a debate about tennis etiquette.

Richard Atkinson, interim chief executive at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, said Wimbledon did not offer accreditation to influencers and sources have indicated to BBC Sport that is unlikely to change in the near future.

While Atkinson acknowledged that influencers were a “crucial part of the marketing mix” and to ban them from attending the tournament entirely would be “nonsense”, he said any that were brought in by brands would be “tightly chaperoned”.

He also backed the traditional “self-policing” ethos at SW19, whereby fans respect the action.

After the disruption at the US Open, world number four Coco Gauff said it was important to welcome a “new demographic” to the sport, but said: “I think it’s just, follow the etiquette of the sport. That’s all.”

And Wimbledon’s boss made it clear he does not expect to see a repeat at the All England Club.

“We don’t have a category of accredited people called influencers,” Atkinson told a panel at Leaders Week London.

“That said, clearly influencers are a crucial part of building your brand around the world in the third decade of the 21st century.

“What you have to do is keep them under control. One of our big partners, Polo Ralph Lauren, will have their influencer, but they are all tightly chaperoned.”

He said the atmosphere at the US Open is “very New York City”, adding: “It’s dead easy for someone who has just bought a ticket to show up there with their ring lights and literally start broadcasting in the middle of a match.

“If you tried to do that at Wimbledon, I think you’d probably have some Royal Marine Commando…”

He then joked: “We do have military. And they would like nothing more, I suspect, than to sort out some influencer.”

Fans will also not be allowed to bring portable ring lights – a piece of equipment used by content creators – to SW19.

Atkinson did, however, point out that the media landscape has changed, and suggested there is a place for embracing influencers and content creators to ensure Wimbledon remains relevant.

“It’s just a crucial bit of the marketing mix, of course it is,” he said.

“We’re not in the world of newspapers and television anymore, right? The world has changed. But it’s just really important, it’s a bit of a cliched expression, you’ve got to sort it out in a Wimbledon way. But to say “we’re not going to have any influencers at Wimbledon”, it’s obviously nonsense.”

“Our marketing team work meticulously to make sure they are working in a way that is consistent with our Wimbledon brand and keeps that magic that I was referring to earlier.”

Exeter boss Rob Baxter says he has been impressed with how young Wales back-row Kane James is maturing.

The 21-year-old won his international first cap in July when Wales lost in Argentina in the Nations Championship.

James broke into the Exeter squad last season and has started both of the Chiefs’ Prem games so far this campaign.

“He’s just following that really nice route where he’s improving at a nice rate, he’s having some good impact on games,” Baxter said.

“Kane can be really pleased with the trajectory his game is going in at the minute.”

James’ physical development has also been noted by Baxter, who says the former England Under-20 player – who switched allegiance to the country he grew up in earlier this year – has been working hard off the field.

“He’s getting thicker, that will happen with quality training, making sure he gets his nutrition and all this kind of stuff,” Baxter added.

“He’s such a diligent guy he is going to maximise his strength and his growth, but he is going to get bigger for quite some time, I would say with Kane.

“That obviously is helping him ride the contact, he’s explosive and very quick.

“Kane’s had a really, really good start to the season, we’ve got to just keep working on these little individual bits and pieces – sometimes in his determination to fly around, a little bit of accuracy trips, but that’s the way you want it.

“You want these lads enthusiastic to run around and get in the game and I think there’s a lot more still to come from Kane.”

News of Arteta’s new deal at Arsenal won’t come as a shock.

The fact his previous deal expired at the end of the season did put a slightly greater emphasis on the speed of discussions than normal.

But Arteta has been transparent about his desire to stay at the club beyond the end of this campaign.

Dynasty building is what has driven Arteta’s decision. Winning Arsenal‘s first Premier League title in 20 years last season is viewed as just the start.

Coming within a penalty kick of winning their first Champions League trophy came as a gut-wrenching blow – but also a huge motivation.

“We share a special bond with Mikel. We are so proud of everything we have achieved since he returned to the club in 2019,” co-chairmen Stan and Josh Kroenke said.

“He has a deep understanding of Arsenal‘s values and carries them in his heart. He knows what this club means to everyone connected to it and is committed to building on everything we have achieved together.”

With that in mind, there was never a sense Arteta was preparing to walk away from the team he has built to become one of the best in European football.

So with a deal for their manager to stay now agreed, the foundation of Arsenal‘s recent revitalisation into a footballing force remains in place.

Does more history beckon? Arteta is committed to finding out.

There was a sense of inevitability that England captain Kane would be the star turn in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over the Czech Republic as he celebrated equalling Peter Shilton’s record of 125 England caps.

Kane, still irreplaceable at 33, added to his goals tally as England’s all-time record scorer, his total of 91 now 38 ahead of Wayne Rooney, who is in second place in the listings with 53 goals in 120 games.

And, with Kane still looking in his prime and fully fit, it now seems only a matter of time before he makes history as the first player to score 100 goals for England.

This alone will have delighted Tuchel, but even more satisfying for the German is that he now presides over an attacking quartet that can pose a threat to any side in world football.

Kane is the peerless spearhead, but Anthony Gordon – on target in the three Nations League games against Spain, the Czech Republic and Croatia before being rested here at Wembley – has moved his game on to another level since joining Barcelona from Newcastle.

Gordon is a creator with burning pace, while on the right flank Bukayo Saka has looked rejuvenated after a World Cup during which he was hampered by an Achilles injury, as he proved with two goals in Croatia.

And, just behind them all, with everything he does stamped with world class, is Jude Bellingham, England’s player of the year and the golden future of his country at only 23.

This may be bad news for Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, whose withdrawal from England’s squad has allowed others to cement their place in front of him, with Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White proving his commitment by cutting short a family holiday to join the squad after being excluded initially.

England’s front four looks a natural fit, augmented by Chelsea’s Morgan Rogers, while Liverpool’s 18-year-old Rio Ngumoha will be an international contender for years to come.

If Tuchel can keep his fab four fit and firing, England will be a danger to any opponents.