Luka Modric and the top table of celebrity Jacks
'Swansea has a strong identity, an incredible fanbase, and the ambition to compete at the highest level,' cooed Modric, stopping short of channeling his inner Robbie Keane and revealing that, growing up as a child in Zaton Obrovacki, he slept under a Cyril the Swan duvet and had posters of Andy Legg, Dave Penney and John Cornforth plastered over his bedroom. 'Playing at the highest level, I believe I can provide my experience to the club. My goal is to support the club's growth in a positive way and to help to build an exciting future.'
While many Swans fans are almost certainly of a mind that the most effective way their new co-owner could support their growth in a positive way would be to come and play for them when his Madrid contract expires in June, it seems unlikely the 2018 Ballon d'Or winner would be satisfied with a bit-part role behind Gonçalo Franco and Lewis O'Brien in the pecking order. And let's face it, without regular minutes, the 39-year-old would have little to no chance of unseating Lee Trundle from top spot in the Club Legend stakes.
The surprise news of Modric's decision to join American businessmen Andy Coleman, Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen in the boardroom of a club that posted a pre-tax loss of £15.2m in the latest financial year has prompted a number of questions. Specifically 'Why?' and 'How much?' For now, the answers remain unclear, so we are left to conclude that he must have fallen in love with the Swansea.com (née Liberty) Stadium on his only recorded visit to the club, as a Tottenham player on New Year's Eve 2011. And let's face it, who wouldn't, seeing as there's a Harvester just a stone's throw away in the adjacent Morfa Parc. 'Luka's investment in the club is an endorsement of the club's ambition and vision,' honked a Swans statement. 'He will play a key role in helping the club garner global attention and progress both on and off the pitch.' While he may lack the showbiz credentials of the owners of another Welsh club that has its own popular award-winning documentary series, Modric is still almost certain to receive a very warm welcome to Swansea.
Join Scott Murray from 8pm BST for hot Big Cup quarter-final coverage of Aston Villa 1-2 PSG (agg: 2-5), while Rob Smyth will be on deck for Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Barcelona (agg: 1-5).
'It's my style and mistakes can happen. Even the best make errors' – some impressive self-reflection from Deportivo Riestra keeper Ignacio Arce after he went walkabout and subsequently conceded their second goal during the 3-0 Primera División defeat to Instituto in Argentina.
Your lead piece about the Premier League's end-of-season whimper (yesterday's Football Daily) should not cause fans to lose heart. As Liverpool sleepwalk towards their 20th crown, simply cast your eyes down a little to the battle atop the Championship. Four games to go … Leeds and Burnley both on 88 points … Sheffield United 'wobbling' a-la Forest in third place as demonstrated by their defeat at bottom club Plymouth the other day … the playoffs to come … and lo!! The relegation battle is also not yet a fait accompli. Football lives!' – Allastair McGillivray.
Watching Vítor Pereira bringing the vibes to a Wolverhampton Wetherspoons (yesterday's Quote of the Day) brought a surge of warmth and some unexpected dust to my cynical and jaded eyes. Could he be the man to fill the Jürgen Klopp (early years)-shaped hole in British football culture? God knows the Premier League could do with someone to remind them of the humanity that forms the basis of its 'world leading' product' – Andrew Parker.
It's interesting to see that West Ham are just one place above the relegation zone (scroll down). Apropos of nothing, David Moyes's win ratio there was 46% (compared with Julen Lopetegui's 32% and Graham Potter's 23%). With every week that passes, I think back to this Big Website piece' – Noble Francis.
Re: yesterday's Football Daily letters. Let's stop messing around. I'd like to propose a 512-team men's World Cup: 211 nations, plus 211 'league' teams made up of players playing in the league of each nation (picking after the national squads have chosen theirs), plus 50 B squads from the top 50 nations picking third, then 50 under-21s picking last. Straight knockout, one country hosting, no seeding, two matches at any one time, played over a 16-hour day. If we're going to gorge ourselves and knacker out all the players, let's do it properly. It would be carnage. Come on Gianni, pull your finger out' – Tom Fleuriot.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today's prizeless letter o' the day winner is … Allastair McGillivray. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we have them, can be viewed here.
It's David Squires on a big week in Europe for the Premier League quintet.
It was quite the week for Birmingham City's players after a long, hard season in League One. Promoted on Tuesday and then crowned champions with six games to spare on Saturday after Wrexham failed to win at Wigan, Blues travelled to Wembley for a date with Peterborough United in the LDV Vans Trophy final, where they were duly beaten 2-0. You might have expected Tom Wagner, Birmingham's co-owner, to strike a conciliatory tone following his side's defeat, given they'd achieved their main objective of promotion not 24 hours earlier. Instead, the players, already knackered and dejected as they stood on the famous Wembley steps, had to endure a dressing down from their overlord of Lukas Jutkiewicz proportions, which Football Daily suggests might have been a performative act in front of minority owner Tom Brady and the circling Amazon Prime documentary cameras. When pressed this week about the content of the speech, for which Peterborough players had to wait before collecting their winners' medals, Wagner clarified: 'Figure out how to [effing] win. We've done a lot of it this season but we haven't been able to win the match that matters the most. We need to learn to win at a higher level and we need to find a way to prepare ourselves for an even higher level than that. There's a lot of work to be done.' Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday, this was not.
Former Wimbledon Crazy Gang member and Sunderland coach Carlton Fairweather has died at the age of 63.
Renowned wallflower Jason Tindall is ready to take charge of Newcastle for the remainder of the season as Eddie Howe recovers from pneumonia. 'I am here to step into the shoes,' he humbly trumpeted.
More hot assistant news: Arjan Veurink, assistant coach to Sarina Wiegman with England, will leave the Lionesses after July's European Championship to become the head coach of Netherlands.
Click here for Coventry City manager Frank Lampard wearing a face of thunder (in the stands due to a touchline ban) following his side's 1-1 draw at Hull City.
Somebody tell Manchester United that Napoli's Scott McTominay is good at football.
Bournemouth are remarkably still in the hunt for Europe, despite their 1-0 victory over Fulham being their first league win in seven. 'We needed this performance,' roared Andoni Iraola. 'This win comes in the perfect moment for us.'
And good news for Brian Sørensen's daughter: the Everton Women's manager admitted in November his little girl loves her school and 'has a scouse accent now so it's perfect'. Luckily, dad is getting a new contract.
Check out the latest edition of our sister newsletter (delivered every Tuesday and Thursday), via this extract on the state of French football. And if you're not already subscribed, then get over here and do so.
To February 1970, as the England squad get into the rock n' roll spirit, donning their trusty lounge suits to record Back Home, the World Cup song written for them by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. From left, the singers are: Bobby Moore, Jack Charlton, Alan Ball, Emlyn Hughes, Tommy Wright, Peter Bonetti, Francis Lee, Martin Peters, Brian Labone, Geoff Hurst and Jeff Astle.
Joaquín Caparrós has coached Sevilla more times than anyone, the first a quarter of a century ago. Now he's back for a fourth spell, as Sid Lowe reports.
Rich Laverty asks Domènec Guasch why he left his dream job at Barcelona Femení, the two-time Big Cup champions, to join the NWSL's Boston Legacy.
And St-Étienne may be staring relegation in the face, but that's not stopping them dreaming about Ligue 1 glory. Luke Entwistle has more.
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