Per Mertesacker: Arsenal academy boss on his 11-year friendship with Mikel Arteta, producing the next Bukayo Saka and new docuseries Inside Hale End September 6, 2022 It was one of their worst ever defeats, but the recent histories of Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker and the club’s Hale End academy would look very different had Arsene Wenger’s team not lost 8-2 at Manchester United in August 2011. That setback prompted a transfer deadline-day trolley dash for five new signings, the most [...]
Manchester City v Southampton: Ralph Hasenhuttl faces real challenge to turn around sinning Saints October 31, 2019 When Ralph Hasenhuttl joined Southampton as their new manager on 5 December last year his first task was to fight fires. Saints were 18th in the Premier League and floundering, having become a listless identikit team under his predecessor Mark Hughes. They needed to be motivated, coached and saved from relegation. The Austrian achieved those [...]
Heathrow meltdown: Thousands of passengers including Louis Theroux unable to enter UK September 24, 2021 Documentary maker Louis Theroux was among thousands of passengers unable to enter the country as a result of e-gate failures at Heathrow airport. In a statement posted on Twitter, Heathrow said it was “aware of a systems failure impacting the e-gates, which are staffed & operated by Border Force.” “This issue is impacting a number [...]
Student property developer Unite Group sells eight buildings for £133m March 30, 2021 Student accommodation developer Unite Group has sold eight buildings for £133m, it announced this afternoon. It has sold the blocks with 2,284 student beds in Coventry, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Exeter and Manchester to Aventicum Real Estate. The deal is part of Unite’s disposal programme to cash in assets worth £200m to £300m. Unite has completed the [...]
Levelling up: Khan says ‘deprived’ London areas need funding as much as the North February 2, 2022 Sadiq Khan has said London’s poorest boroughs are “some of the most deprived” in the UK and need funding just as much as the North in response to the government’s newly unveiled levelling up white paper. The mayor of London said he welcomed the new policy plan to help left behind areas in the North [...]
Tottenham Hotspur’s £15.5m offer for Bologna defender Takehiro Tomiyasu rejected July 5, 2021 Tottenham Hotspur’s £15.5m offer for Bologna defender Takehiro Tomiyasu has been rejected. The Italian club had valued the player at £17.2m. Apart from Bologna, Tomiyasu is a key player in the Japanese squad with 23 caps and a goal for his country. Tottenham is looking for fresh players as current right back Serge Aurier has [...]
Premier League summer spending falls to 2015 levels as clubs seek value in football’s post-Covid transfer market September 1, 2021 Premier League clubs cut their summer transfer spending to the lowest level since 2015 in response to the pandemic. Gross spending by England’s top-flight teams in the summer window, which closed last night, fell 11 per cent to £1.1bn, according to analysis by Deloitte. Net spending was down 38 per cent to £560m, and both [...]
Fashion retailers Boohoo and ASOS suspend sales to Russia in solidarity with Ukraine as M&S suspends shipments March 3, 2022 Fast fashion retailer Boohoo has become the latest firm to announce it has suspended sales of clothes to Russia. The Manchester-based e-commerce business joins brands such as Asos and Next, as well as designer names such as Burberry, in making a stand. In a update published on the London Stock Exchange, Boohoo said it was [...]
Sheffield United 3-3 Manchester United: Youthful exuberance and tactical naivety cancel each other out for Solskjaer November 24, 2019 At the end of a Premier League weekend which was defined by damaging results for under-pressure managers, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer went through the wringer in an unpredictable, see-sawing classic at Bramall Lane today. The Manchester United manager veered from joining the pending P45 crew of Marco Silva, Unai Emery and Manuel Pellegrini at 2-0 down, [...]
Best of 2021: Sprinter Darren Campbell’s brush with death December 24, 2021 In this interview from January 2021, former Olympic champion sprinter Darren Campbell recounts fearing for his life after a sudden and serious illness, his rise from poverty to athletics stardom and why he decided it was time to write a book. Darren Campbell was in no hurry to write a book until May 2018. A [...]