The former Chelsea captain’s dive into the murky world of NFTs raises questions. Is it OK? And what is he doing there?As the transfer window enters its endgame there has been a familiar sub-plot over the last few days, another chapter in the ballad of Ousmane Dembélé.This is the strangest of sporting lives. Dembélé is only 24. He joined Barcelona for £96m as long ago as August 2017, one of several deals that were steroid-fed by the state of Qatar’s inflationary lust for Neymar. Continue reading...
After frustration and in some cases ridicule, players who have suffered from injury torment will be desperate to show what they have to offer as a new season gets under wayHarry Redknapp used to be tickled by the notion that top professionals would move clubs primarily for sentimental reasons. Many times he made the sort of quip that he delivered in 2012 when there were suggestions that Carlos Tevez might take a big pay cut to leave Manchester City for Redknapp’s Spurs. “He’s always wanted to play for Tottenham,” said Redknapp, deadpan as you like. “Ever since he was in Argentina he had a picture of Hoddle on the wall and Ricky [Villa] and Ossie [Ardiles]. I want to play...
Jack Wilshere will always have a devoted fan club but injuries have sabotaged his career and only Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s knee ligaments are keeping him in the World Cup pictureCan anyone remember those days when the common assumption about Gareth Southgate was that he was too gentlemanly, too afraid of upsetting people and, ultimately, too damn nice to succeed in an industry where all the people at the top occasionally have to use their elbows?That nonsense stopped being trotted out once Southgate made it a priority to phase out Wayne Rooney, the player around whom England’s national team had been shaped for the previous decade. Theo Walcott found out he had been jettisoned with a telephone call on the morning of...
The Arsenal playmaker’s career has been defined by interruption, false starts and category-confusion but the early signs are that he can blossom with a fresh start at Bournemouth, who face his parent club on SundayHere’s an interesting thing: just over eight years ago Arsenal thrashed Sheffield United 6-0 in the League Cup, famously fielding a team of gossamer-touch man-ducklings with an average age of 19, described by Arsène Wenger as the best crop of young players he’d ever had. Related: Arsenal plan to offer Jack Wilshere extended deal in new year Related: Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend And he was great that day, surging about with a flex of those stubby legs, a centaur let...