Southampton appoint highly rated 32-year-old coach as manager
Still, 32, will arrive at St Mary's having guided Lens to an eighth-place finish in France's Ligue 1 this season.
'I'm extremely proud and excited to have joined Southampton – there is huge potential here and we have a great opportunity to do something special,' Still said.
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The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
The Premier League circus is back, but after a summer of splurges who'll be laughing when the curtain comes down in May?
IT'S opening night at football's multi-billion dollar circus and spending has gone through the big-top roof. So despite an almighty spree of his own, Arne Slot believes his Liverpool side will face tougher competition than ever if they are to retain their Premier League title. 8 Arne Slot admits he will do well to keep his hands on the Prem trophy Credit: Getty 8 Florian Wirtz has been brought to Anfield as part of a massive spree that may not be over yet Credit: Mark Pain / Premium Sports Images 8 Chelsea will be looking to challenge after spending nearly a quarter of a billion Credit: Getty 8 Could Viktor Gyokeres be the missing piece for Arsenal as they chase a long-awaited title? Credit: Getty Play Dream Team now! Play The Sun Dream Team ahead of the 2025/26 season Free to play Over £100,000 in total prize money Play in Mini Leagues against your mates Submit a team for Gameweek 1 to enter £5,000 prize draw Play via Dream Team's app or website today! England's biggest five clubs have already shelled out more than £1billion between them this summer, in a whopping total spend of £2.1billion — or £2.5bn including deal add-ons. And as the defending champions roll up to Anfield to face Bournemouth, kicking off another season for the greatest show on Earth, the Dutchman expects the title battle to be fiercer than ever. Liverpool's imminent signing of Giovanni Leoni would take their summer outlay to around £300m — with deals for Alexander Isak and Marc Guehi still possible. But world champs Chelsea have spent another quarter of a billion, followed by Manchester United (£200.5m), Arsenal (£181.8m) and Manchester City (£150.1m for a total of £324m in the calendar year). READ MORE FOOTBALL MOR THE MERRIER Utd line up £50m move for Sporting's Morten Hjulmand if Baleba bid fails And Slot said: 'The reason why it's so difficult lies mainly with the fact there are so many that can win the league over here. BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS 'To win it once is very special, if you can win it twice in five years like us — and City did even better — then that is unbelievable. 'And probably this year's going to be harder than any year before because every team brings in new players. Our main competitors definitely did as well. 'The challenge in the Premier League is always the teams. We start with Bournemouth — the most intense in the league in terms of running and also playing style — and after that it's Newcastle and Arsenal. 'That sums up this league and the challenges we have.' If winning the title is a serious achievement, retaining it is far tougher — only Pep Guardiola's City, Sir Alex Ferguson's United and Jose Mourinho's Chelsea have won back-to-back Premier League crowns. Meet the Premier League's newest wags after their star partners transfers including nurse, lawyer & make-up expert 8 Slot would be walking among giants if he wins a second title in two seasons. And while the signings of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez provide a major platform, he still wants Newcastle striker Isak as well as Guehi, the England defender who skippered Crystal Palace to beat the Reds in Sunday's Community Shield. Perennial runners-up Arsenal are in a major recruitment drive too — adding Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Martin Zubimendi, Christian Norgaard, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Cristhian Mosquera ahead of a critical campaign for Mikel Arteta. As ever, Chelsea have bought in bulk — with strikers Joao Pedro and Liam Delap joining wingers Jamie Gittens and Estevao Willian, left-back Jorrel Hato and midfielder Dario Essugo at a club powered by its own brand of chaos. Guardiola's City — four-in-a-row champions before last term — have made four big signings in Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki, Rayan Ait-Nouri and James Trafford, to add to their January quartet. With United's attacking overhaul bringing Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo in, never before have all of England's major clubs seen such change. Europa League winners Spurs have spent £100m-plus, with more to come — with even promoted Sunderland well over nine figures. The league is increasingly competitive. The Liverpool-City duopoly — when two near-perfect teams needed close to 100 points to take the crown — is over. No longer does one defeat spell disaster, yet fewer fixtures are a formality for any title-chasers. With Liverpool making so many changes, Slot faces a different pressure to when he inherited Jurgen Klopp's squad last summer. He said: 'I took over a team with only two weeks to prepare due to the Euros and Copa America. 'This year we've brought in very good, intelligent players who need to integrate. Bournemouth will bring a big challenge but everyone is looking forward to it.' Roll up, roll up — tonight's the night we begin to find out if they all have more money than sense. 8 Man United fans will be praying that Sesko hits the ground running Credit: Getty 8 Guardiola has spent around £150m in a bid to get the title back to the Etihad Credit: AFP
The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
Roma make €23 million offer for Jadon Sancho
ROMA HAVE made an offer worth in the region of £20 million (€23 million) for Manchester United outcast Jadon Sancho, the PA news agency understands. The 25-year-old has failed to live up to expectations since making his hotly anticipated £73m (€85m) switch from Borussia Dortmund to Old Trafford in 2021. Sancho has made just 83 appearances and scored 12 goals since making the move to United, who are hoping to get him off the books this summer. There have been recent whispers of a move to Serie A, and PA understands Roma have made a bid to sign the England international, whose contract runs until next summer with an option for a further year. Sancho last appeared for United in the Community Shield last season, when his penalty was saved in the shoot-out loss to his former club Manchester City. The winger had returned having ended the 2023-24 campaign on loan back at Dortmund after being frozen out for claiming on social media that he had been made a 'scapegoat'. Those comments in September 2023 were in response to then United manager Erik ten Hag saying he had not reached the 'level' required to be involved in their squad at Arsenal. Sancho returned for last year's pre-season at United but went on to join Chelsea on a season-long loan, only for the west London outfit to pay £5m (€5.8m) to get out of their deal to make the move permanent for £25m (€29m). The Manchester City youth graduate does not have a number at United and is one of a quintet of players that have did not train with Ruben Amorim's side during pre-season as they seek a move elsewhere. Homegrown forward Marcus Rashford was among them and last month sealed a season-long switch to Barcelona with the option to make the move permanent. United want £50m (€58m) for Chelsea target Alejandro Garnacho, while exits have also yet to be secured for Antony and Tyrell Malacia following loans at Real Betis and PSV, respectively. Advertisement Former Man United player Nemanja Matic. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo Meanwhile, former Serbian international Nemanja Matic has reached an 'amicable' agreement for the early termination of his contract with Lyon, the Ligue 1 club said Thursday. The 37-year-old former Manchester United, Chelsea, and Benfica midfielder's contract had been due to run until June 30, 2026. However, the club has opted to shed one of its highest-paid players as part of its effort to significantly reduce its payroll. Matic arrived in January 2024 from league rivals Rennes and played a key role in helping Lyon move from last at the 2023-2024 winter break to finish sixth, qualifying for the Europa League, and playing in the French Cup final, losing 2-1 to Paris Saint-Germain. He has made a total of 58 appearances for Lyon who open their campaign at Lens on Saturday. Matic earned 48 caps for Serbia between 2008 and 2020. Finally, Djed Spence has signed a new long-term contract at Tottenham, the PA news agency understands. Versatile full-back Spence only signed fresh terms last October until 2028, but has been rewarded for a fine breakthrough campaign at Spurs. Spence made 35 appearances in the 2024-25 campaign, after eventually being handed his full debut in December, two-and-a-half years after he first joined the club. After Spence was deemed a 'club signing' by former Tottenham boss Antonio Conte in 22, the former Nottingham Forest defender had mixed loans at Rennes, Leeds and Genoa. Spence might have left Spurs in the summer of 2024, but instead forced his way into the plans of Ange Postecoglou and played his part in their Europa League triumph. Postecoglou's replacement, Thomas Frank, has quickly placed his trust in Spence and turned to him for Wednesday's Super Cup loss to Paris St Germain. The latest development of the 24-year-old's resurgence is to earn improved terms at the north London club to ensure his long-term future remains at Tottenham.
The Irish Sun
3 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Arne Slot claims Liverpool are the ‘most honest team' in the Premier League and wishes his stars fell over more
Slot took a sly dig at the officials for the Community Shield too 'BIT WEIRD' Arne Slot claims Liverpool are the 'most honest team' in the Premier League and wishes his stars fell over more ARNE SLOT claims his Liverpool team are too 'honest' for their own good — and should embrace football's dark arts. The Anfield chief believes his champions are the fairest team in the Premier League and he sometimes 'blames' them for refusing to go down when fouled. 3 Arne Slot has said his team is too honest Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 3 Slot reckons Cody Gakpo could have made more of a shove in the back in the Community Shield Credit: Getty Slot says referees tell him players will not get free-kicks unless they fall over, as he referenced two incidents from Sunday's Community Shield defeat by Crystal Palace on penalties. One was key as Cody Gakpo was shoved in the back in the build-up to Ismaila Sarr's equaliser for 2-2. Dutchman Slot, whose side host Bournemouth in the Premier League opener on Friday night, said: 'If there is one team who, in my opinion, is by far the most honest team, it's us. 'I sometimes blame them that they never try to make a foul look a little bit more, like Cody against Palace, he got a push in his back but he was far too clean. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL MUS-CLING IN Shock Prem side considering HIJACKING Rasmus Hojlund's loan to AC Milan "Sometimes, like against Palace, if I talk to the officials about Florian Wirtz, they held him clearly but he was so fair that he didn't fall over. 'The referee said 'Yeah, if you didn't fall, I'm not going to give you a free-kick' which is a little bit weird. 'A fraction later a Palace player fell down in a moment which wasn't even a foul and the referee said 'Oh, you fell down, so it is probably a foul'. 'We had much more ball possession than Palace but we made 13 fouls and they made five fouls and that tells you something about who we are. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS 'We are a very fair team, I think that's clear but that's also a reason why we won the league, so why change if things went well?' Slot made the incorrect claim Ryan Gravenberch's suspension for tonight's season-opener was due to a yellow card for diving. SunSport's Martin Lipton gives his verdict from Wembley as Crystal Palace beat Liverpool on penalties in Community Shield While the midfielder was booked for going down in the final match of last term, he was then handed a straight red for a tactical foul. But Slot said: 'If there is one team in the league that never dives and never time-delays and those kinds of things — then it's us. 'And we have a suspension now for a player diving, that's what he got his first yellow card for.' Having chosen to bring up the issue, Slot then suggested he did not want his Reds to change their honest ways. The Kop boss said: 'For me the best games were the games against Paris Saint-Germain — that was so high intensity, both teams were there to play and not to pretend a foul was more, or to try to time-delay. 'I'm also proud of the fact of who we are and we won the league last season because of the team we were, so let us just stay who we are.'
