Adding to a capable team is not easy, while the club may not dare to shatter the wage structure for Vinícius JuniorAfter beating MK Dons 3-0 in a training-ground friendly last weekend, Arsenal truly begin their pre-season programme against Girona on Saturday evening. It marks a return to action for the Premier League champions, who will want to show their success last season was not a one-off.Retaining the English title is incredibly difficult if you are not Manchester City. No other club has done it since Manchester United won three in succession from 2007 to 2009. Chelsea have done it once, Liverpool have not managed it for more than 40 years, and it is the best part of a century since Arsenal retained the crown. Mikel Arteta faces a sizeable challenge. Continue reading...

La Liga leaders recover to beat Alavés 3-1 Munich set summit record with stoppage-time goals Barcelona recovered from an early setback to secure a 3-1 victory over Alavés, with first-half goals from Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo and a late second for the latter sealing the win at the Camp Nou. The win lifts the defending La Liga champions to the top of the table on 34 points, two ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who have a game in hand at Girona on Sunday. Continue reading...

Míchel’s side were in the Champions League last season but the wheels have come off and they sit bottom of La Liga They were the football team so good, so much fun, that Luis Enrique declared himself a fan, tuning in to watch them every week. But that was then and this is now, and now even their actual fans aren’t sure they want to watch any more. There were 11,048 people at Montilivi this Saturday, out of the city centre and to the south beyond the Free City of Braavos and Kings Landing. There were at the start anyway; by the time Girona FC, the last and briefest of the great disruptors, conceded the fourth goal of another miserable afternoon most of them had already gone. The few who stayed chanted for the board to resign, just about audible over the catchiest club anthem in La Liga being belted out of huge speakers hung from scaffolding stands. It was the fifth time in a row Girona’s supporters had seen their team lose here going back to May, a summer break, a new start, offering no break at all; instead, they were bottom of the table and had been battered again. Sevilla had come and scored two, Rayo Vallecano three, now Levante had four. They had gone to Villarreal and let in five. Girona, owned by Manchester City, the best of Spain’s other teams a year ago, Champions League anthem blaring out just a few months back, have a single point from when they drew 1-1 with Celta de Vigo, and that’s nothing special: Celta draw 1-1 with everyone, their last five games all finishing with same scoreline. Continue reading...

Wolves complete the signing of Girona defender Ladislav Krejci on an initial loan deal, which will become permanent once certain clauses are met.

Wolves are close to signing Girona defender Ladislav Krejci for £26m, with the player set to have a medical this week.

Forward has not yet been registered by financially troubled club in a summer when Real Madrid have spent €200m La Liga begins again in Girona on Friday evening, a five-day weekend to start it off, and for the first time the division’s biggest clubs, every side competing for the title, share a vital weapon: they all have Englishmen in their team. Trent Alexander-Arnold, just Trent now on his No 12 shirt, has joined Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid. Nine players have left Atlético Madrid, but Conor Gallagher isn’t one of them. Marcus Rashford has landed in Barcelona, 39 years after Gary Lineker. And Oviemuno Ejaria has just signed a two-year deal at Real Oviedo. Or, if you prefer your obvious jokes to have a slightly different bias, another team for the punchline, Tyrhys Dolan has joined Espanyol. Continue reading...