Sky Sports

Speaking on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher made it clear how he feels about Chelsea's recruitment over the last year or so, with Joao Felix set to become their latest signing.

"Chelsea have just got to stop buying players - and players have got to stop signing for Chelsea," he said.

“If I was a player, I don’t know why I’d look at that project and sign. The only reason you’d sign is because your agent says ‘you’re getting a seven-year deal on big money – that’s guaranteed money’.

“Do you know what I'd say? Back yourself as a player. Sign a four-year deal at a proper club and back yourself to do well and then when you’re due for a renewal, your money goes up anyway."

Asked if the new players have signed to be part of the Chelsea project, Carragher replied: “Part of what? There isn't anything there. It’s not a young and exciting team.

“You’ve bought Joao Felix, right? Tell me where he's going to play? They signed [Pedro] Neto a week ago – where’s he going to play when you’ve already got Cole Palmer?

“Where do you play Enzo Fernandez, a £100m player? Where do you play [Christopher] Nkunku?"

Image source, Reuters

BBC Sounds

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The i's chief football writer, Daniel Storey, has been discussing Chelsea's expected move to sign forward Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid.

Storey says that with the players Chelsea have already at their disposal, including Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson and teenage signing Marc Guiu, adding Joao Felix to the mix makes no sense.

"I can understand a club buys big, spends big, buys in volume of players in the age bracket of 18 to 21," Storey said on The Monday Night Club. "Brighton have done that over the last two or three years because they are working towards a model that means you develop those players and then sell them high.

"If you sign Joao Felix, for example, on a six-year contract, you don’t get to sell him high. Joao Felix has already done the big moves, he’s already done Chelsea, so you aren’t getting a surprise. You might get someone who develops over time, but then they’ve already signed Marc Guiu, who is an 18-year-old striker, so that does fit that model.

"If you think okay, we’re going to have Nicolas Jackson as our first-choice striker, Nkunku will play there if Jackson’s not fit and we will develop Guiu over the course of this season in Europe and the league with a small number of minutes and hopefully, in two years’ time, we’ve got a player worth far more than what we bought him for, they only bought him for £5m. That to me makes sense.

"Buying Joao Felix into that mix doesn’t make sense, because it clogs up those minutes of other players, it makes those players more frustrated and it makes them believe more that they are going to be less involved which is, from a mental point of view is very hard to deal with.

"If I’m someone like Marc Guiu whose come to a new club and thought ‘right, I’m in the Premier League now, I’m out to impress, I’ve come on on the first day against Manchester City, brilliant’. The next day, I see my club have bought Joao Felix, what do I think of my move two months in?"

You can listen back to the latest episode of The Monday Night Club in full here.

Anon

Neil Johnston
BBC Sport

It's more than three weeks since the horrific knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport which claimed the lives of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine.

The attack happened close to Southport Football Club, who opened the doors to their Big Help Stadium ground to provide a safe and supportive space for those affected by the horror.

In the days that followed, Southport FC supporters helped clean up after violence broke out, raised thousands of pounds for Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool - where some of the survivors were treated - while manager Jim Bentley and his players visited the police cordon on Hart Street to lay flowers.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper visited the football club, while there was a moving tribute to Bebe, Elsie and Alice before a home friendly with FC United of Manchester, as Southport fan and Salvation Army member Brian Johnson addressed the crowd and said: "Fly high three beautiful butterflies."

Read the full story how non-league Southport FC stepped up to help a community overcome with grief.

Image source, Southport FC

Image source, Southport FC

Image source, Southport FC

BBC Sounds

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Former Chelsea and Celtic striker Chris Sutton has been discussing the movement of Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, as well as his goal record.

Sutton says that Haaland's intelligence and how moves himself in the penalty area is a big reason behind why he has scored 91 goals in 100 games for Manchester City.

"There is a logic to it because you can be dangerous because you’re a potent kind of omni-powered presence in the penalty area always looking for the ball," Storey said on The Monday Night Club. "But you can also be a latent threat which is more of what Haaland is most of the time.

"I just think he is so highly intelligent. There has to be a patience with the position he plays, but there’s also an intelligence in terms of he doesn’t want to drop deeper where Bernardo Silva or Kevin De Bruyne is and clogging up spaces, it’s about occupying the centre halves and his movement for such a big guy in the box and how nimble he is, his finish was brilliant.

"We saw everything in terms of his touches, his power, his strength. More than anything, his awareness of where the goalkeeper was in that moment, that’s why his numbers are so, so phenomenal.

"That break and that meditation in the summer, blimey, what’s he going to do this season."

You can listen back to the latest episode of The Monday Night Club in full here.

BBC Sounds

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The i's chief football writer, Daniel Storey, has been discussing Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and his involvement in matches

Storey thinks that while Haaland can be more of a threat in terms of getting involved in play, he can also continue to be a threat by carrying on finding spaces as he so often does.

"There is a logic to it because you can be dangerous because you’re a potent kind of omni-powered presence in the penalty area always looking for the ball," Storey said on The Monday Night Club. "But you can also be a latent threat which is more of what Haaland is most of the time.

"There is a logic to it because you can be dangerous because you’re a potent kind of omni-powered presence in the penalty area always looking for the ball, but you can also be a latent threat which is more of what Haaland is most of the time. The movement is superb.

"It was mentioned on 5 Live commentary by John Murray, how often does he find space in the box? He’s huge. Everybody knows where he is because he’s massive and he looks a bit lumbering and he’s a bit goofy, but his movement is so good because he finds spaces in the box and he isn’t always involved.

"The moment a defender thiks Erling hasn’t touched the ball for two or three minutes, I’ll switch off for half a second, everyone around is good enough to realise and he is good enough to realise, so he finds the space and scores the goal. He does it time again and time again."

You can listen back to the latest episode of The Monday Night Club in full here.

BBC Sounds

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Former Manchester City and England midfielder Izzy Christiansen has been discussing Erling Haaland after scoring the opener in City's 2-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday.

After scoring his 91st City goal in his 100th appearance for the club, Christiansen is expecting another big season from the Norwegian, helped by not playing at Euro 2024.

"He’s obviously benefitted from having a summer off if you like," said Christiansen on The Monday Night Club.

"I saw some photos of him sitting in a river on a stone doing some meditation, so he was clearly coming into the season very calm and relaxed and physically, he clearly had a break. He probably had a fantastic pre-season had a fantastic pre-season under his belt at City and he’ll be a well-oiled machine like he always is.

"We’re day one into the season we’re already talking about how good they are and it’s probably going to be a theme throughout this season that we’re going to be speaking about how good Manchester City. The one good thing about Manchester City is how the staff are, how they prepare the players to play, it’s unbelievable. Haaland just has that sort of sense of freedom.

"The comments from Guardiola always leave that room for improvement for what he says about Haaland and other players as well. But, he’s going to have another season where he scores god knows how many goals. He’s going to be a joy watch again isn’t he?"

You can listen back to the latest episode of The Monday Night Club in full here.

John T, Royal Tunbridge Wells

Neil Johnston
BBC Sport

Southport FC's non-league opponents have also rallied to help the club and the town in the wake of the horrific events on 29 July.

When FC United of Manchester (FCUM) visited for a friendly five days after the attack, FCUM players placed flowers at the police cordon, while junior members donated teddy bears to the dance studio where the attack happened "as a gesture of comfort and support".

Alfreton Town fans raised money for a wreath "in support and friendship with the people of Southport" when they visited for a National League North game on 10 August.

Meanwhile, Spennymoor Town - who host Southport tonight (19:45 BST) - are donating £2 from each ticket sold to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, where some of the survivors of the attack were treated.

Brighton & Hove Albion

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Brighton's forwards options are full of variety and depth after the signing of Yankuba Minteh, Brajan Gruda and Georginio Rutter but let's take a look at who they will be joining.

Ex-Arsenal and Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck recorded seven goals in 37 appearances in all competitions last season and was on the score sheet again in Saturday's 3-0 win over Everton

Another player who was involved on Saturday was Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma, who scored three goals last season but has already opened this season's account against the Toffees.

22-year-old Simon Adingra came off the bench to score the third goal.

Joao Pedro was a prominent part of Brighton's attacking options last season too - scoring 20 goals in all competitions.

Ecuador international Jeremy Sarmiento is another attacking option for the Seagulls, as well as Republic of Ireland striker Evan Ferguson who is recovering from an ankle injury.

Julio Enciso is set to return after sustaining a minor injury with Paraguay at the Olympics football tournament in France.

It is undetermined when Solly March will be back in action after suffering a knee injury in October.

Fair to say that new manager Hürzeler has quite a few selection dilemmas up front!

Brighton & Hove Albion

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Club-record signing Georginio Rutter from Leeds is the latest in a busy summer for Brighton.

Last week, German U21 international Brajan Gruda signed from Bundesliga side Mainz for £25m on a four year deal.

They also spent spent £30m on Gambian winger Yankuba Minteh from Newcastle after the 19-year-old enjoyed a successful loan spell with Dutch club Feyenoord last season.

A reported £25million was spent on Netherlands midfielder Mats Wieffer, who also joined from Feyenoord, while £7.6m was spent on 18-year-old midfielder Malick Yalcouye from IFK Gothenburg.

And it may not be over for the Seagulls with 10 days remaining of the window.

Brighton & Hove Albion

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Brighton technical director David Weir said Georginio Rutter is a player the club have been "looking at for a while".

The 22-year-old came through the Stade Rennais youth academy before making his debut in September 2020 against Saint-Etienne.

He left for TSG Hoffenheim in February 2021 where he would make 64 appearances, scoring 11 goals over two years before Leeds United made him their record signing in January 2023.

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler said: "Georginio is a player who has the capabilities to get fans off their seats and really showed what he can do in English football with Leeds last season - but I have known about him since he played in Germany for Hoffenheim."

Leeds said they made "every effort" to keep Rutter despite the Seagulls activating his release clause.

Brighton host Manchester United in their next Premier League game on Saturday after beating Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park in their season opener.

Image source, Getty Images

Brighton completed the signing of French forward Georginio Rutter for a club record fee of £40m from Leeds last night.

The 22-year-old joins the Seagulls on a five-year contract.

Rutter scored eight goals in 66 appearances for Leeds after joining from Hoffenheim in January 2023, when the West Yorkshire club broke their own transfer record with a deal worth up to £36m.

Shamoon Hafez
BBC Sport football news reporter

Everton are in talks to re-sign goalkeeper Asmir Begovic on a free transfer.

The 37-year-old is available after leaving Championship side Queens Park Rangers at the end of last season.

Begovic, who has earned 63 caps for Bosnia-Herzegovina, made 10 appearances for the Toffees between 2021 and 2023.

His signing would add experience in the goalkeeping pool alongside Jordan Pickford and Joao Virginia following the departure of Andy Lonergan during the summer.

Meanwhile, it is understood any further incomings during the remaining days of the transfer window are likely to be loan deals if they are financially feasible.

One possible outgoing to keep an eye on is Dominic Calvert-Lewin, with the striker entering the final 12 months of his contract and yet to agree a new deal that has been on the table.

Jack, Winsford

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Among the players on the list to have scored in the Premier League at an older age than Jamie Vardy is former goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.

Schmeichel, whose son Kasper was a teammate of Vardy's at Leicester City, scored at the age of 37 years and 336 days old for Aston Villa against Everton in October 2001, making him the 11th oldest player in Premier League history to score a goal.

Vardy will overtake Schmeichel this season if he scores after Friday 13 December.

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Currently holding the record for being the oldest goalscorer in Premier League history is Teddy Sheringham, who scored for West Ham United against Portsmouth aged 40 years and 268 days old.

The next oldest was Dean Windass, scoring for Hull City against Portsmouth at the age of 39 years and 235 days.

Dan

Image source, Getty Images

Jamie Vardy's equaliser in the second half of Leicester City's draw with Tottenham Hotspur made him the 16th oldest player to score in the Premier League, aged 37 years and 221 days old.

Should Vardy continue to score goals throughout this season, he will only go further up that list.

On the final day of the season, when Leicester head to Bournemouth, a goal for Vardy that day would see him score in the Premier League at the age of 38 years and 134 days old.

A goal in that Bournemouth match would make him the eighth oldest goalscorer in Premier League history, overtaking Tugay who netted at the age of 38 years and 98 days old.

We have already covered a number of different stories and if you missed them earlier here is a round up:

• Leicester's Jamie Vardy inspires draw against Spurs
• Chelsea have agreed Felix fees in principle
• Wolves make a loan bid for Aaron Ramsdale
• Chelsea beat Gotham 3-1 in pre-season friendly

You have also been sending in your thoughts on the Premier League after the first round, keep them coming in, and let us know where you think Ilkay Gundogan will end up.

Now let's take a look at some Vardy stats.