Martin

Metro

The Metro suggests Graham Potter "has played down speculation" of being the next England manager, but is "ready to return".

Image source, Metro

The Daily Express

The Express reports that Graham Potter "eyes a big return" when he spoke to the press yesterday after receiving an honorary doctorate from Leeds Beckett university.

Image source, Daily Express

Image source, Getty Images

One man who has been linked with the England job is former Brighton and Chelsea boss Graham Potter, who said on Thursday that he was "ready" to return to football.

Gareth Southgate resigned as manager on Tuesday, less than 48 hours after England lost 2-1 to Spain in the Euro 2024 final.

Potter, 49, is being tipped as a viable successor to Southgate, with other possible contenders including Newcastle's Eddie Howe and England Under-21 coach Lee Carsley.

Potter has not managed in football since he was sacked by Chelsea in April 2023.

The former Ostersund, Swansea and Brighton boss said he had spoken to a number of clubs but was waiting for the "right opportunity".

"Now I'm in that good place where I'm happy to be ready and looking forward to the next challenge," Potter told Sky Sports., external

Read the full story on what Potter has said on his future here.

With the FA posting an official job advert for England's men's head coach, no doubt some of you reading this will have been tempted to chance your arm by submitting an application.

What skills do you have for the role? What about your experience?

Send us your 'dummy' application via text, WhatsApp or X using the contact details above.

England

The Football Association's job advert for the next England manager breaks down the role into key areas, as you would expect in any job description:

The role:

• Lead and develop the England senior men's team to win a major tournament and be consistently ranked as one of the top teams in the world
• Provide inspiring leadership to a world class, multi-disciplinary technical team based at St. George's Park
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with clubs who employ English qualified players.

The successful candidate:

• Will hold a Uefa Pro License
• Will have significant experience of English football, with a strong track record delivering results in the Premier League and/or leading international competitions
• Will be an exceptional leader who understands and will enjoy the international football environment
• Will be experienced in successfully identifying, managing and developing English qualified players
• Will be highly resilient and comfortable in a very high-profile role with intense public scrutiny
• Will have a track record of creating a high performing, positive team culture and environment.
• Will have strong personal values and integrity and understand and embrace the role that the England men's senior team head coach has inspiring the nation.

Our values

• Aim high
• Achieve together
• Embrace difference.

England

The Football Association has placed an official job advert for England's new manager.

The advert, which closes on 2 August, states that the successful candidate must have a "Uefa Pro License", "significant experience of English football" and a "strong track record of delivering results in the Premier League and/or leading international competitions," among other requirements.

The advert can be found on the FA's website, external, but we are going to post the key elements of the job description next.

We will keep you updated if there is any more news regarding that development at Everton.

While we wait on that, coming up is an update on the Football Association's search for the next England manager...

Shamoon Hafez
BBC Sport football news reporter

The Friedkin Group was the fourth party to be granted exclusivity by Farhad Moshiri without completing a takeover, after 777 Partners, Maciek Kaminski and MSP Sports Capital.

BBC Sport understands the major stumbling block has been a situation involving previous prospective buyer 777, whose proposed takeover plan had been backed by funding from financial insurers A-Cap.

The 777 group loaned Everton £200m during their attempt to take over and the issue was not paying that off, but the legal action that 777 faces in the US.

Friedkin Group did not know how long this would last for, was unclear about who was in charge of the loan, and was wary of any potential risk, so it decided to walk away rather than wait for the issues to be resolved.

The Friedkin Group, which injected £200m into the club and paid off a £158m loan to MSP Sports Capital and two local businessmen, will "remain a lender to the club", they said in a joint statement on Friday.

It is understood the loan from the Friedkin Group is a 'stable' one which means the group is not looking to call it in immediately and club sources have said Everton as a business is "absolutely not in a precarious position".

There are two rounds in the women's Euro 2025 qualification, with teams needing to win both rounds to reach the finals in Switzerland next year.

Both rounds are played over two-legs.

Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are away from home in the first legs of their first-round ties:

• Serbia v Northern Ireland
• Hungary v Scotland
• Slovakia v Wales

These ties will be between 23 and 29 October.

The draw has also been carried out for the second round of the play-offs, for which all three home nations will play the first leg at home:

• Scotland v Montenegro or Finland
• Wales v Georgia or Republic of Ireland
• Northern Ireland v Albania or Norway

These ties will be played between 27 November and 3 December.

Winners of the seven ties in the second round of the play-offs will join hosts Switzerland and direct qualifiers Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.

The draw for the group stages of next year's finals will take place on 16 December (17:00 BST).

Image source, Getty Images

This is turning into a busy day for football news.

AC Milan have announced the signing of Spain captain Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid for a reported 30m euros (£25.28m).

The 31-year-old striker joins on a four-year deal, until 2028, with the option to extend for an additional year.

He ends a four-year stay at Atletico, which also included two years on loan at Juventus, fresh from helping Spain win the Euro 2024 title

Morata has scored 172 goals over 506 career appearances, also playing for Real Madrid and Chelsea.

His impressive list of club honours includes two Champions League titles, one Uefa Super Cup, one Fifa Club World Cup, two La Liga titles and two Serie A titles, as well as an array of cups in both Spain and Italy.

He has also scored 36 goals in 80 appearances for his country, for whom he also won the Uefa Nations League in 2023.

Patrick

Image source, Getty Images

The Euro 2025 play-off draw has been completed with Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales women all involved.

Selected ties in the first round of play-offs:

• Serbia v Northern Ireland
• Hungary v Scotland
• Slovakia v Wales

Those ties will be played between 23 and 29 October.

Kieran Maguire
Football finance expert on BBC Radio 5 Live

The view that will be taken by most of the investors and lenders - to date Everton is worth more as a going concern than a club that potentially goes into administration as they will lose any influence that they have over the operation of the club.

We will see perhaps some additional commitment from the lenders because they fear the alternative is they could lose out substantially if the club does go into administration, which is the worst-case scenario.

Steve, Galway

Southampton

Image source, Southampton FC

Southampton's Adam Armstrong has signed a new three-year contract to remain at the club until 2027.

The 27-year-old forward joined the Saints from Blackburn in 2021 after starting his career with Newcastle United.

His 37 goal contributions, which included 24 goals and 13 assists, was the highest tally of any player in England’s top four divisions last season.

The striker's Championship play-off final goal against Leeds United secured the Saints' promotion back to the Premier League.

Armstrong said he was "delighted" to have extended his contract as the Saints return to the "best league in the world".

Kieran Maguire
Football finance expert on BBC Radio 5 Live

The main concern will be on an operational level, making sure that the commitments to the new stadium are met - there is substantial amounts still outstanding.

The contractors will be monitoring the position very carefully. The potential owners who were the Friedkin Group have put in around £200m themselves because they effectively paid off some of the existing debt.

So, what they want to do with regards to their investment to date we will have to monitor. It is a setback, but Everton's still an attractive proposition if the right price can be agreed for the club.

Barry, Bournemouth

Image source, Getty Images

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will soon find out which country they will be playing in the qualifying play-off for Euro 2025, which is about to take place in Nyon, Switzerland (12:00 BST).

Current holders England have already qualified for next year's finals in Switzerland after their draw with Sweden on Tuesday evening.

For the first time, the qualifiers and Women's Nations League have been merged, which means winning their respective groups secured the Scots and Welsh promotion back up to the top tier after one campaign in League B.

But it also means they and Northern Ireland are among the seeded teams in Friday's draw for the first of two play-off stages they must traverse in order to reach next year's finals in Switzerland.

We will bring you results of the play-off draw shortly.

Duncan