Clubs Blocked From Europe

GM football fans. It’s Monday, Jan. 27 – the record women’s transfer, Welsh clubs blocked by the FA, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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RESULTS

Premier League: Manchester City 3 - 1 Chelsea. City have won more points from losing positions than any other side in the Premier League this season. Liverpool 4 - 1 Ipswich Town. Liverpool have picked up more points (26) and wins (8) at home in the Premier League this season than any other side. Fulham 0 - 1 Manchester United. United are one of just four Premier League sides who are yet to lose a game in all competitions this season when going 1-0 up, alongside Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle. See the full list of Premier League Matchweek 23 results here.

More results…

• La Liga: Barcelona 7-1 Valencia | Vallecano 2-1 Girona | Sociedad 0-3 Getafe | Athletic Club 0-0 Leganes (League Table)

• Serie A: AC Milan 3-2 Parma | Udinese 1-2 Roma | Lecce 0-4 Inter | Lazio 1-2 Fiorentina (League Table)

• Scottish Premiership: Dundee Utd 1-3 Rangers (League Table)

• WSL: Chelsea 1-0 Arsenal | Palace 2-3 Spurs | Leicester 2-1 Liverpool | West Ham 2-0 Everton | Man Utd 3-0 Brighton (League Table)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Record Women’s Transfer

USWNT defender Naomi Girma officially becomes the most expensive transfer in women’s football history. She has completed her move from San Diego Wave to Chelsea for a record $1.1m fee.

Girma’s fee marks the fourth time the women’s transfer record has been broken in less than three years. The deal surpasses the previous record sum of €735,000 paid by Bay FC for Zambia forward Racheal Kundananji from Madrid CFF in February 2024. 

Widely considered the best defender in the world, Girma stands at 5ft 6in (1.68m). Her dominance at centre-back says something about the evolution of the women’s game–where attacking on the ground through technique or speed is preferred over long balls and crosses. The Athletic says there are only around 75 per cent as many aerial battles in the WSL compared to the Premier League.

Welsh Clubs Blocked

The FA has blocked EFL’s Welsh clubs’ plans to join a revamped Welsh League Cup next season. It means Wrexham, Swansea City, Cardiff City, and Newport County won’t be able to secure a spot in Europe’s third-most prestigious club competition, the UEFA Conference League, through the Welsh Cup

The four EFL clubs would have competed in a 16-team Welsh League Cup alongside the 12 Cymru Premier Clubs. The Welsh FA supported the plans as it felt the move would bring a £3m windfall into the club game and offer the winner a path into the qualifying rounds of a European club competition.

However, the English FA has rejected the request for the four clubs to feature in the Welsh League Cup. The governing body cited concerns regarding competition integrity, fixture congestion, and the impact on the standing of existing competitions.

United Stadium Approved

The UK government has backed Manchester United’s plans to regenerate the area around Old Trafford. The government forecasts the project would generate £7.3bn annually for the UK economy.

United will be responsible for financing any stadium rebuild or redevelopment, but public money may be used to help with infrastructure improvements around the “stadium district.” United are expected to decide whether to build a new stadium or redevelop Old Trafford by the end of the season. It’s unclear how the club, with a long-term debt of £525m, will finance the project.

United are leaning towards a new 100,000-seater stadium–dubbed the ‘Wembley of the North’–which could cost around £2.3bn. If United go ahead with a new build, the stadium would become the UK’s largest, surpassing Wembley Stadium’s 90,000.

See the current stadium capacity of each Premier League club here.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Kylian Mbappe scored his first hat-trick for Real Madrid as they went four points clear at the top of La Liga (Match Report) | Real Betis have signed Manchester United winger Antony on loan for the remainder of the season (More)

> PSG settled for a 1-1 draw at home to Stade de Reims, but stretch their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 10 points (More)

> Romelu Lukaku scored the winner as Napoli ended Juventus’ unbeaten start to the Serie A season (Match Report) | Daniele De Rossi has announced that he is now the new owner of Serie D side Ostia Mare, the youth team he played for (More)

> Barcelona Femeni claim their 4th straight Supercopa with a 5-0 win over Real Madrid (More) | Bethany England has now scored against every club to have played in the Women’s Super League (More)

Americas

> River Plate kicked off their Argentine Primera Divison campaign with a 1-1 draw at Platense (League Tables) | Boca Juniors have signed Argentina attacker Alan Velasco from FC Dallas for $10m plus $2m add-ons (More)

> James Rodriguez scored on his debut for Leon from the penalty spot, securing a 1-0 win over Bravos de Ciudad Juarez in the third round of the Clausura tournament (More)

Rest of the World

> Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 920th career goal in Al-Nassr’s 3-1 win over Al-Fateh; Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad are level on points at the top of the league with a game in hand (League Table)

> A stoppage-time winner scored by substitute Neyder Moreno sent Aukland FC to the top of the A-League table (More)

> The Beach Soccer Stars 2024 awards voting has opened; a shortlist of 120 men’s players and 50 women’s players has been compiled (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Are you satisfied with your club’s activity in the January transfer window?

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👏 Absolutely... (21%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 💤 Nope... (77%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (2%)

Your punditry takes:

• 💤 J.P: “As a Liverpool fan having your owners say they won’t be buying anyone in this window is ridiculous. We need some backup in defence and midfield to give players proper rest or else they may run out of steam towards the business end of the season and miss out on trophies and ultimately cash that’s come with it.”

• 💤 D.W: “Being a West Ham supporter I am not surprised that we have been inactive in the transfer window, again, we always are. David Sullivan has a knack of feeding false hope, "we've tried everything we could to get someone in!". Come the eleventh hour, there will no doubt be a last-minute signing, of a completely unknown, a cheap option, who is totally unsuitable to PL football.”

• 👏 C.B: “The reality of this transfer window is most teams are unwilling to let important players leave as it’s mid-season. While I wish my club could have made more moves I’m not upset as very few important players are going to be allowed to leave.”

EXTRA TIME

Opta’s latest Premier League predictions. 

Kayserispor player receives red for slapping his teammate...

… and the strangest yellow cards ever given.

Brentford’s new penalty distraction tactic.

What MLS would look like if it had relegation.

Kappa’s Racing Club home and away kits get high ratings...

… and a food blogger accidentally leaks Austin FC’s latest kit.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first Besiktas speech after beating Athletic Club. (via X)

Griezmann leaves Puma for a deal with Decathlon.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Who is the last player to have won the Ballon d'Or while at an Italian club?

Clue: Two syllables.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

EFL Championship

• Burnley vs Leeds (20:00)

La Liga

• Alaves vs Celta Vigo (20:00)

Serie A

• Venezia vs Verona (17:30)

• Genoa vs Monza (19:45)

Primeira Liga 

• AVS vs Gil Vincente (20:15)

*All time in UK. ET -5. CST -6. PST -8. MST -7. CET +1.

Answer

Kaka won the award in 2007 while playing for AC Milan.