Club takeover messages leaked

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering Newcastle’s takeover leaked WhatsApp messages, Uefa’s financial fair play ruling and much more. Enjoy Route One? Share us with a friend on WhatsApp with this link.

PREMIER LEAGUE MW8 STATS

Liverpool 2 – 1 Chelsea. Liverpool have won 10 of their 11 games across all competitions this season, their most victories after that many matches in a campaign since 1990-91, under Kenny Dalglish. Wolves 1 – 2 Manchester City. Manchester City are unbeaten in 31 Premier League matches, their longest-ever unbeaten league run. Bournemouth 2 – 0 Arsenal. Arsenal suffered just their second Premier League defeat of 2024, and their first away loss this calendar year. Premier League MW8 results here.

Plus…

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• Lionel Messi scores three as Inter Miami break MLS points record (Highlights)

• Kylian Mbappe’s lawyer says the player has been ‘set up’ amid controversy (More)

• Harry Kane nets his third hattrick of the season (Highlights)

NEWCASTLE LEAKED WHATSAPPS

Premier League’s guarantees over Newcastle takeover in question, leaked WhatsApps reveal

Leaked WhatsApp messages suggest Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, personally controlled the takeover of Newcastle United by the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Though initially blocked, the deal went ahead after the Premier League was given “legally binding assurances” that the PIF was separate from the Saudi state. The messages raise questions over guarantees made to the Premier League to secure the deal.

In one WhatsApp message, Amanda Staveley, who orchestrated the takeover, allegedly said that she was “trying to… convince the Crown Prince” to not pull out of the deal. Staveley hasn’t yet confirmed or denied that the messages are real.

Since September, Staveley has been in talks about purchasing 12.5 per cent in Tottenham. Some sources believe the deal is imminent. As well as her role in the takeover of Newcastle, the 51-year-old was involved in Mansour’s purchase of Manchester City in 2008.

POLL

HEAD START

📹️ PGMOL says Stones’ last-minute winner was disallowed before VAR review. To clear up some confusion, John Stones’ goal was disallowed on-field as the referee believed Bernardo Silva was blocking the goalkeeper’s line of vision. VAR Stuart Attwell disagreed with the decision. After reviewing the monitor, the referee overturned the on-field decision and awarded the goal. Offside interfering with play rules here.

😬 Eddie Howe was not contacted about England job. Eddie Howe – and Carlo Ancelotti – confirmed that they were not contacted by the FA ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s appointment. Pep Guardiola refused to say whether he had conversations about the role. With FA CEO Mark Bullingham claiming to have interviewed 10 managers, of which some were English, it calls into question the robustness of the search. Howe is one of only four English head coaches in the Premier League.

❌ Juventus not interested in keeping Pogba. Juventus club director Cristiano Giuntoli has said that the Serie A side are complete without Paul Pogba. While the French midfielder is open to restarting his career elsewhere after his doping ban, he did admit that he’d be open to staying at Juventus. "Our position is clear. Pogba has been a great player, he has been out for a long time and last year we were forced to invest in other players," Giuntoli told DAZN ahead of the club's home match against Lazio.

UEFA FFP CRACKDOWN

Uefa to crack down on financial fair play after Barcelona lose ruling

Uefa has won a major financial fair play (FFP) ruling against Barcelona, which will impact spending controls in European football. Meanwhile, the Catalan side will likely fail to meet FFP requirements for the 2023-24 season (Uefa’s FFP rules explained).

This comes after the La Liga leaders sold 25 per cent of their future broadcasting income for the next 25 years. It totalled around €667.5mn. Barcelona tried to put €267mn of this towards their FFP reporting but Uefa said it wasn’t “relevant income”. With the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) ruling in favour of Uefa, Barcelona can no longer use “non-tangible” assets for FFP purposes.

Many clubs have sold significant future revenue streams to comply with FFP and this ruling means Uefa can question this income. Chelsea’s ‘sale’ of two hotels to itself is expected to come under scrutiny by Uefa. Real Madrid has also sold future income from their new Bernabeu stadium, although their reliance isn’t as great as their bitter rivals.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

Top Five European Leagues

> Luka Modric surpasses Puskas to become Real Madrid’s oldest-ever player at 39 years and 40 days (More)

> French football league (FLP) is investigating homophobic chants by sections of Paris Saint-Germain fans at Saturday’s game against Strasbourg (More)

Rest of the World

> Neymar, 32, will join Al-Hilal’s squad for their Asian Champions League trip to Al-Ain after recovering from a serious knee injury (More)

> D.C United’s Christian Benteke is the 2024 MLS Golden Boot winner with 23 goals (More); Messi has scored 740 non-penalty goals, the most in football history (More)

Women’s Football

> Manchester City moved top of the Women’s Super League after beating Aston Villa 2 – 1 (More)

> England’s Lauren James has withdrawn from the England squad ahead of the upcoming friendlies against Germany and South Africa due to a calf injury (More)

ROUTER’S VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: Do you think it should be mandatory for national team managers to sing the national anthem?

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🎤 Absolutely, it's part of the job... (21.1%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅 Nope, it shouldn't matter... (77%)

⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!)... (1.1%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🙅 A.R: “The manager is appointed for his coaching skills not his singing abilities.”

• 🙅 D: “Shouldn’t matter, but having said that, if they take the job seriously it would behove them to understand the culture of the country in which their team is based.”

• 🎤 M.N: “If you take the money, sing the song. You don't have to believe in it.”

EXTRA TIME

Napoli fans try to pronounce Scott McTominay’s name. / via X

Red cards didn’t stop Wenger’s Arsenal.

Edin Terzic’s masterclass tactics explained for Champions League semi-final win. 

Christian Pulisic takes an interview in Italian.

When knee slides go wrong. / via X

Mohammed Kudus’ brawls with Spurs players led to a red card.

20 of the best talents at Premier League clubs. / w bios

Sir Alex Ferguson discusses Aberdeen success and United dominance.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Name the player based on their career pathway – loans aren’t included.

• Arsenal.

• West Ham.

• AFC Bournemouth.

• Aarhus Gymnastikforening.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Premier League

• Nottingham Forest vs Crystal Palace (20:00)

La Liga

• Valencia vs Las Palmas (20:00)

*All times in UK. EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Jack Wilshere. The 32-year-old is currently Arsenal U18s coach but is poised to join Norwich as first-team coach.