De Zerbi defends treatment of Richarlison
Roberto De Zerbi insisted he had no choice but to leave Richarlison out of Tottenham’s Premier League squad after the Brazilian declined the offer of a contract extension and repeatedly insisted he wanted to leave the club.
Richarlison was Spurs’ leading scorer in the Premier League last season but did not feature in last weekend’s defeat to Newcastle amid discussions of a return to his former club Everton. He eventually rejected that move but, with Tottenham bringing in Omar Marmoush from Manchester City, there was no space for the 29-year-old in De Zerbi’s 25-man list of players he plans to use in the league this campaign.
“At the beginning of pre-season I spoke to Richarlison and asked him if he wanted to extend his contract because I was happy to keep him with us,” said De Zerbi. “He didn’t want to. Richarlison is a good player, yes. He was important last season, yes, very important. He’s a good guy, yes. But in the end I had to stop myself putting pressure on the players if the players show me they want to leave. I’m sorry for him, but we have to go to another page and work with Dominic Solanke and Omar Marmoush.”
Richarlison has spent the week training separately from the first team, but De Zerbi denied cutting the Brazilian adrift, insisting: “He decided everything. Not me, not the club.”
Spurs will have deadline-day arrival Mykhailo Mudryk available for Saturday’s trip to Nottingham Forest, with De Zerbi suggesting the Ukrainian is ready to play up to 30 minutes after signing on loan from Chelsea.
Mudryk has not played a competitive match since November 2024, having served a doping suspension. But De Zerbi, who worked with Mudryk at Shakhtar Donetsk, previously said the winger “has the potential to win the Ballon d’Or.”
“He’s 25, he’s in the right moment of his career in a top club. I think it’s the right moment for him to show what he can do,” said the Italian. “Mudryk loves football. He lives for football. I have never seen many players like him as a mentality, as a belief, in the work during the week in training. He works double than other teammates.”
De Zerbi confirmed fellow new arrival Sávio is available again this weekend, but James Maddison is likely to miss out as he recovers from a shoulder fracture. Spurs are yet to score in successive Premier League defeats to Brentford and Newcastle this season. Ben Bloom
Alonso says sky is limit for James in midfield
Xabi Alonso believes Reece James can become one of the best midfielders in the world. James has established a reputation as one of the game’s leading right-backs but has frequently covered in midfield, and Alonso – one of the finest midfielders of his generation – intends to continue using him centrally.
James started Chelsea’s first two matches, victories against Fulham in the Premier League and League One Luton in the Carabao Cup, and came on in the win against Brighton in central midfield.
Alonso, asked whether James could become one of the world’s best midfielders, said: “I would say so. He’s very comfortable, very confident playing in that position. He has the intelligence to play there. He has the intelligence to connect with teammates around him in the middle to know what’s the best thing before and after you get the ball. And he has this awareness. I remember seeing him play very well in the middle. So yes, we are using him. He will have a lot of minutes in there as a first midfielder.”
Alonso prefers to play two central midfielders, whether he fields a back four with a double pivot in front, or a back three with a pair between wing-backs. The loss of Enzo Fernández to Manchester City for £125m on deadline day and the late collapse of a deal for Monaco’s Lamine Camara left the Chelsea manager a player short in midfield, even if Alonso insisted before Sunday’s game at Arsenal that he was satisfied with the transfer business and balance of his squad.
He believes James’s leadership traits are most effective in a more advanced position: “He has the capacity to help the teammates around him, so that is very important as well, because he has this presence, this respect from the teammates. When he tells them something, they listen and they follow him. His impact in terms of emotionally, in terms of captain, leadership in the middle, he’s closer to everything and he can play an important role there.”
James has been held back by a series of long-term injuries, including a knee problem earlier in his career and repeated hamstring issues that required surgery in 2023. Not competing in Europe will help Chelsea manage his workload.
“We need to manage the loads, manage the minutes, with some players there are special cases,” Alonso said. “We need to be aware of that. After that we try to do as much as possible but can’t control all the variables.” Sam Cunningham
Maresca: Don’t judge Fernández on price tag
Enzo Maresca has insisted Enzo Fernández should not be judged by the British record-equalling £125m fee Manchester City paid Chelsea for the midfielder. “Don’t judge players based on how much the club pays for them,” said Maresca. “Not just for Chelsea, for City, for all the clubs – Arsenal, Tottenham …don’t judge a player based on that, because it is not correct. He is a fantastic player.”
The manager was asked if the combative midfielder will add a level of streetwiseness to City. “I don’t know if it’s streetwise but he knows how to win,” Maresca said. “When you want to compete or win, it’s much more important to have players that already know how to do that than players who never have done it in the past. Enzo is not the only one. This squad has many players who know how to win titles and compete, and this is what we were looking for.
“I can promise you that in the last four or five days, four or five players from the squad were asking if he is coming or not because they want him to be with us. It’s very important that he is with us and we are 100% happy with that.”
Although Fernández captained Chelsea under Maresca, Rúben Dias will wear the armband at City. The Argentinian is also not part of the squad’s leadership group. “The four captains are Ruben, Erling [Haaland], Marc [Guéhi] and Gianluigi [Donnarumma],” confirmed Maresca. ‘I was also thinking about Phil [Foden] because Phil is one of the guys from the house [a local]. He’s not in that group, but for me he’s also one of the captains, one of the players that belong to that group.”
On signing, Fernández said: “I always dreamed of being at a club as big as City,” the implication being that Chelsea are a small club. Maresca was asked if he found this amusing. “He was already in a big club like Chelsea and is happy to be with us now,” said the 46-year-old. “Chelsea are a big club and City are a big club.
Of Fernandez’s best position, Maresca said: “I see Enzo as a six, a little bit more deep, or a little higher arriving in the box. It depends a little on what we need during the game and we’re going to use him in different positions.” Jamie Jackson
Emery omits £25m signing Harwood-Bellis from Europe
Unai Emery conceded omitting Taylor Harwood-Bellis from Aston Villa’s Champions League squad, two days after the defender joined in a £25m deal from Southampton, prompted a “difficult” conversation. Harwood-Bellis and the 17-year-old Brian Madjo were surprisingly left out of Villa’s 23-man squad.
Emery spoke to Harwood-Bellis on Thursday to advise the 24-year-old, who has one England cap, that he would not be eligible to play in European competition. Madjo is not expected to play until October owing to a foot injury sustained after scoring in the Super Cup last month, but in that scenario would be injured only for Tuesday’s Champions League opener at Club Brugge.
Harwood-Bellis, a deadline-day arrival, was the last of Villa’s 10 summer signings after being identified as a replacement for Ezri Konsa, who joined Arsenal in a £51m deal. It is understood there is no financial reason for the omissions, though Villa’s fight to meet Uefa’s squad-cost rules is ongoing. Emery said he hoped Harwood-Bellis would play in the Champions League later in the season, potentially in February if they advance to the knockout stages, but for now the midfielders Lamare Bogarde and Boubacar Kamara can deputise in at centre-back.
“It was difficult,” Emery said of his decision to exclude Harwood-Bellis. “It is hard for him, it is hard for me to tell him my decision, but I did it yesterday. I spoke with Taylor and explained to him why. Of course, it was hard, but he understood it. For other players like Madjo and [Modou Kéba] Cissé, there are different circumstances, Cissé and Madjo are injured. Of course, hopefully Madjo will be available after the break and the next challenge is for him to get inside [the squad] in January.”
In February 2025, Emery left Donyell Malen out of his Champions League squad, weeks after the Dutchman joined from Borussia Dortmund, for whom he played in the 2024 final against Real Madrid. In the same window the defender Andrés García, who joined from Levante and is on loan at Getafe, was also omitted.
“Taylor arrived as the last one, and we can get the balance [in defence] with Lamare Bogarde, and we can even play Kamara,” Emery said. “We tried to analyse it deeply. Taylor will be here for a long time, and hopefully, we will have the opportunity to play in Europe with us, after January maybe, and the next few years. Madjo is 17 years old and is so, so young. He will have, for sure, more opportunities to play with us this year and the next years in Europe.” Ben Fisher
No ‘instant fix’ at United, admits Carrick
Michael Carrick has admitted one transfer window cannot provide an “instant fix” for Manchester United but said he was “largely happy” with the club’s business, despite being outspent by promoted Hull, Ipswich and Coventry. United spent £155m on central midfielders but failed to sign a left-back, leaving Luke Shaw as the only senior player in that position.
United go to Everton on Sunday seeking their first away point, having lost at Hull. There were no signings in the final week of the window, despite a number of inquiries for left-backs. Everton asked about loaning Joshua Zirkzee on deadline day but United deemed it too late to source a replacement striker.
“What squad’s ever the perfect squad?” Carrick said. “You’ve always got to find ways of adapting. When you’re building and trying to push, going through a period where we’re trying to get to the top, that’s the ultimate goal. You’ve got to make steps. It’s not going to be one hit where everything is [fixed] and I’m not just talking about players, individuals … I’m talking about the whole thing of improving as a group, improving as a squad. It’s not just an instant fix and you finish top of the league and you stay there.”
Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba arrived to bolster the midfield, and Karl Darlow was brought in on a free as a backup goalkeeper. United start their Champions League campaign on Thursday and there are questions over strength in depth.
“We went into the window wanting to come out stronger,” Carrick said. “From the group we had last season, we’ve added to that, we’ve done a lot of good work. The situation is what it is in terms of finances and what we can do. The players we brought in I’m delighted with; the quality and level we’ve got I’m really happy with. These other things you can do or could have done, that’s part of evolving the group and trying to push all the time. We had certain things we needed to fill and largely I think we’re in a good group. We’ve a good dynamic in the squad. We’ve got players that are flexible in the team and can play in different positions. Largely pretty happy.” Will Unwin
