Chelsea

You have been sending us your reaction to Chelsea selling Conor Gallagher to Atletico Madrid, after the England international said his 18-year stay at the club made his "dreams come true".

Here are some of your thoughts:

Harvey: Our owners are sadly clueless. Before them, we were extremely well run and we were champions. Now we have wasted over £1bn with no clear plan or structure. The player numbers are out of control and we have a manager who has knelt at the feet of Pep Guardiola. Selling Conor Gallagher is like selling Frank Lampard - and that obviously didn't happen! Go home Todd.

Tom: It is just awful. Last season it was Mount, now it is Gallagher and Chalobah is likely to follow! We are just numbers on a spreadsheet that needs balancing for Todd Boehly - and I'm not sure he is even good at that! I know football is a business, but it is also about keeping the players that understand what it means to represent the club.

Peter: He had to be sold so the deal could be done for Joao Felix. He refused a new contract. The only way we could get a fee for him was to buy Joao Felix from Atletico, therefore making it possible for them to buy Gallagher from us. Conor always gave 100% but he lacked a finish or often lost the ball along the way. I wish him the best of luck for the future.

Rod: Chelsea should hang their heads in shame. Another loyal and homegrown player sold. I have been a Chelsea supporter for 66 years, but I'm beginning to question their policies because it seems to me that the club is going backwards.

Fossie: Another good academy product lost. When are these owners going to understand that you cannot buy success? The spine of any team must come from those who are the heart and soul of the club - the academy players. These owners are wasting money on heartless players who owe the club nothing but still pick up a wage. Something has got to change.

Bernie: I'm glad to see the back of him. He keeps saying that playing for Chelsea was "a dream come true" yet, after multiple contract offers and being made captain (albeit a stand-in), he decides to leave. The constant rumours of him moving on can now, thankfully, end.

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How about some football trivia while we wait for some new Emi Martinez news?

We started today talking about the men's and women's PFA Player of the Year. Without Googling*, can you name a footballer who has been named PFA Player of the Year on more than one occasion?

There should be nine in total (seven men, two women).

Get in touch using the usual methods.

*other search engines are available.

Emiliano Martinez's existing contract was until 2027 so that new deal will take him through to the age of 36.

That's some statement from Aston Villa.

Martinez has made 160 appearances for the club since making a £17m move from Arsenal in 2020 and has helped them qualify for this season's Champions League.

Image source, PA Media

Aston Villa fans, do get in touch.

I assume Emiliano Martinez extending his deal is really good news. The world's number one and all that.

Image source, Getty Images

You know what they say about goalkeeper news. Like buses...

Aston Villa

Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has signed a new contract with Aston Villa.

The 31-year-old, who is also a World Cup winner, has committed himself to the club until 2029.

Manuel Neuer, of course, won the World Cup with Germany in 2014.

Kept a clean sheet in the final.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has announced his retirement from international football.

The 38-year-old started every game in goal for Germany at this summer's euros.

The 2014 World Cup winner captains Bayern Munich and has made 124 appearances for his national team.

Image source, Getty Images

Since 2016 the EFL Trophy has allowed Category One academies of Premier League and Championship clubs to compete.

Those teams are required to field six players in their starting eleven under the age of 21.

Image source, Getty Images

Beto scored twice last night for Everton's under-21s against Tranmere Rovers in the EFL Trophy Group Stage.

The 26-year-old joined Everton from Udinese just under a year ago for a fee reportedly worth up to £30m.

He featured for the young toffees alongside Jesper Lindstrom and Joao Virginia to get more playing time under his belt.

The League Two side led until the 86th minute when the Portuguese forward scored a double inside six minutes. Martin Sherif scored the third shortly after.

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester United's under-21s scored three in eight minutes to produce a dramatic comeback in their EFL Trophy game last night against Barnsley.

Ethan Ennis sparked the comeback before Jack Fletcher, the son of former-United midfielder Darren bagged two, including a 35-yard volley to give United the win.

The League One side led until the 81st minute after 18-year-old Vigal Yoganathan netted twice, past former-England goalkeeper Tom Heaton.

We'll be bringing our coverage to a close pretty soon, but I do just want to share some news from last night's EFL Trophy matches before we go...

Chelsea

Just on Joao Felix, who has joined Chelsea for £45m, last season the 24-year-old played for his club 44 times across all competitions.

He also featured twice for Portugal at this summer's Euros.

The attacker made 20 appearances during his 2022/23 half-season loan spell at Chelsea, scoring four goals.

Image source, Getty Images

Prince Gyimah: How is Walker in the PFA team of the year ahead of Ben White? Either he's there because he's a household name or that City won the league. Even Pedro Porro was better. Walker/White PL Stats: App 32:37, Goals 0:4, Asst 4:4, Blks: 6:22, Clearances 35:67 and many more.

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca ended his news conference by saying he told winger Raheem Sterling before Sunday's game against Manchester City that he is not part of his plans.

"I spoke with Raheem one v one, the day before City, and I explained to him exactly the situation," he said.

"I didn't see Raheem after the game. He's training apart [from the first-team squad] but in case I sit with Raheem I will tell him exactly the same things that I already told him.

"I don't have anything new to tell him, because I was quite clear."

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on winning and getting results: "We try to win every game we play. Against Man City, I don't think the intention was to win the game, but we tried to win that game. We were quite close in terms of scoring many different times and tomorrow is a game, that we will try to win, and hopefully we can win."

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on Reece James: "He's still injured. His name is on the list but he can't play tomorrow."

On captains: "Reece is the captain, then we have three, four more captains like Enzo [Fernandez], I'm thinking of nominating one or two new captains, to give them more responsibilities, not just because they are 21 or 22 years old. One of them could be Levi [Colwill], I love Levi but i think in terms of personality, if he can give one step forward in these kind of things, He can become a complete player with all the aspects. But it's not just Levi, I'm thinking of one or two more."

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on the players training alone: "It's not a comfortable situation. When I was a player it happened to me. I think it is good to know that if you want to stay, you will struggle to get minutes. So probably now it's not the best situation, but in a few days or weeks it can be a better situation because you move and you join a club where you will get more minutes."

Image source, Reuters

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on Conor Gallagher: "It's not only for Chelsea, many clubs are selling players from their academies. That is very sad because we all love them, we all love that. Now the rules are a bit different and you have to sell your academy players. We have to at least respect the rules."

Chelsea

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca on the squad he wants: "The first 11 we want, it's the squad we want. The first 11 we had against Manchester City is not always going to be the same 11 all season. But, the squad is the squad that I want in this moment. I am not working with 42 players. I'm working in this moment with 21 players. The other 15 or 20, they are training apart. It's not a mess, from how it looks outside."