Brentford in talks with Schade

Brentford are in talks with forward Kevin Schade over a new contract on improved terms after his positive start to the season.

The 24-year-old Germany international has scored three goals in five Premier League matches and started both of Jurgen Klopp’s first two games as national team manager.

Schade is understood to be open to extending his stay, although talks remain at an early stage and are not expected to progress quickly.

The situation is complicated by the fact his current contract has less than two years left to run as it expires in 2028.

The attacker joined the Bees for a then club-record £22m from Freiburg after an initial loan move was made permanent in 2023.

Faes leaves Leicester for UAE club Shabab Al Ahli

Out-of-favour Belgium international defender Wout Faes has left Leicester City to join United Arab Emirates club Shabab Al Ahli.

The 28-year-old had reportedly been on the brink of joining West Ham on transfer deadline day in September, but the move collapsed.

While the summer transfer window in England and across Europe closed on Faes, the Foxes continued to search for a way to rid themselves of one of the club’s highest earners as they adjust to jarring financial realities of life in League One.

With the deadline for moves to the UAE Pro League still days away, interest from the Dubai-based club has allowed Faes to leave Leicester after four years, in which he made more than 130 appearances and played a part in three relegations.

Details of the deal and any payment made to Leicester for the transfer have not been disclosed by either club.

Faes, who has earned 28 caps for Belgium since 2021, made his one and only appearance for the Foxes this term in their League One draw at Barnsley just before the start of the international break earlier in September.

He had spent the second half of last season on loan at Monaco, but the French club did not take up the option to make the move permanent.

It meant he once again took his place among Leicester’s high-profile and high-earning squad which became the focus of a summer clearout after suffering back-to-back relegations from the Premier League and Championship.

Denmark international Jannik Vestergaard had his Leicester contract terminated by mutual consent in July, while Abdul Fatawu left for Ipswich Town, Hamza Choudhury joined Sheffield United and former England midfielder Harry Winks was sold to Italian side Cagliari.

Meanwhile, Victor Kristiansen was sent out on loan to Greek side Panathinaikos, and Stephy Mavididi and Oliver Skipp made similar moves to Watford and Charlton respectively.

Earlier in the summer, forwards Jordan Ayew and Patson Daka, as well as captain Ricardo Pereira were all released at the end of their contracts.

Is Premier League possession football on the way out?

In the early 2000s, Premier League defences tried to make the pitch as small as possible, giving their opposition less space to score in.

Coaches therefore encouraged their attackers to play quickly, taking advantage of open space that saw them face fewer defenders.

Logically, this made total sense.

It was Pep Guardiola’s influence that, in part, flipped this logic on its head over the last decade.

His Manchester City sides looked to force teams back into a compact defence, a challenge that in theory should be harder to break down.

The counter logic was that they were forcing opponents to give them a familiar challenge they were prepared for.

City’s defenders also had big spaces to cover, often standing at the halfway line.

But for Guardiola, those spaces were less worrying if the ball stayed near the opposition’s goal for as long as possible.

After all, if you have the ball, the opposition cannot score.

So why now are teams that dominate the ball dropping points?

Across this season’s opening 50 Premier League matches, teams recording at least 60% possession have won only 36.4% of those games, while in 2023-24, the figure was 53.5%.

Does this suggest possession football is on the way out? Well, the answer isn’t that simple.

Are teams winning because of their low possession, or having less possession because they have taken the lead early?

There could be some truth in both answers.

Let’s use Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea as a case study.

They won their opening games against Fulham and Brighton - 3-2 and 4-3 respectively - with the minority of possession, then drew 2-2 with Hull and lost 3-0 to Brentford despite having considerably more of the ball.

Against Brighton, Chelsea’s 25.6% possession and 146 successful passes were their lowest recorded figures in a Premier League match, with records beginning in 2003-04.

And yet, the Blues scored four goals.

For three of them, accelerating play from throw-ins and counter-attacks allowed their direct attackers to find space against fewer defenders.

This dynamic can partly be explained by Fabian Hurzeler’s Brighton wanting to dominate the ball - with only Manchester City averaging more possession than the Seagulls this season - which played into Chelsea’s hands.

Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto and Morgan Rogers boast skillsets suited to transition-heavy football, and the low possession against Brighton helped them play to their strengths.

By breaking quickly, Chelsea scored their third against Brighton in what became a two-against-two situation.

Counter-attacking comes with a stigma.

It is more accepted underdogs like newly promoted Hull will play this way. For bigger teams, there is an expectation to eventually control the game with the ball.

This makes a low-possession approach harder to sell long term, even if the players might look better conceding possession.

And that disconnect between players’ skillsets and tactics could help explain some dropped points.

Alongside Chelsea, Manchester United have also suffered in this way. Under Michael Carrick, they have averaged 1.5 points per game with more than 50% possession. With less, that rises to 2.6.

Clubs without the same expectation, like Brentford, Leeds and Hull, can concede possession and have built squads for that style.

With impressive box defenders, dangerous counter-attackers and set-piece specialists, their tactics can align with their players’ strengths, helping them compete against more less aligned opponents, irrespective of their wealth gap.

In recent seasons, there has been a rise in man-to-man pressure that has made building out from the back challenging.

Teams, as a result, have looked to play long over the press or past its first line into space for players to drive with the ball - think the likes of City’s Nico O’Reilly or Arsenal’s Declan Rice.

Both of these have been great solutions to the initial problem, but it does mean that teams full of physical athletes, focused on bringing down long passes or driving with the ball over distance, could be less suited to the intricate play required to unlock stubborn defences - a situation commonly faced by teams who have more of the ball.

To dominate in 2026 likely requires a squad that has enough solutions in small spaces as well as big ones.

In this example we see Liverpool look to press Manchester City high. City play the ball through the pressure into Nico O’Reilly behind Liverpool’s first line of pressure.

O’Reilly then uses his ball-carrying ability to take advantage of the big space ahead of him.

Opponents have used man-to-man defending closer to goal too, making it harder to find the unmarked player, a key attacking principle used in Guardiola’s positional play.

With players marked, attacks can then depend on winning one-against-one situations, requiring individual quality often in the form of dribbling.

Given the way teams have been built over the last few years, certain sides may lack this type of problem solver.

It is important to note possession is an average across a match, which can hide how the scoreline changes a team’s approach.

Chelsea scored within seven minutes in each of their opening four league games after which opponents pushed forward looking for a goal. The Blues dropped deeper, defending their lead and attacking the space left behind.

Across their opening five matches, Chelsea averaged 51.4% possession when level, 34.5% when ahead and 67.2% when behind - highlighting how much their possession has varied with the score.

Interestingly, protecting a lead created favourable opportunities for Chelsea’s attackers to play intuitively, carry the ball and attack space. When chasing a goal, they had more possession but appeared to lack solutions against compact defences.

Arsenal show the value of being able to do both parts well when needed.

Bukayo Saka and Max Dowman’s dribbling, combined with the passing of Martin Odegaard, Martin Zubimendi, Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis, provides repeatable solutions against packed defences.

Their set-piece threat can also give them the lead when clear chances are difficult to create despite dominating the ball.

For Max Dowman’s goal against Ipswich, Arsenal’s ability to keep the ball and unlock defences was on show.

Once ahead, Arsenal’s possession falls from 60.4% to 56.6% - a small drop but a signal of intent.

Gabriel, Ezri Konsa, Jurrien Timber and Rice then offer the defensive quality to control the game with less of the ball.

Manchester City protect leads differently. Their possession remains at 64.9% when ahead. This approach works partly because it is familiar to the squad Enzo Maresca inherited from Guardiola in the summer.

Rather than repeatedly defending their penalty area, they protect their advantage by keeping the ball and keeping opponents away from their goal given their technical quality.

From all of the successful examples, the same objective is being achieved: a game that suits your players and one that makes the opposing players uncomfortable.

“If you are brave, they have to play a game that is not [the opponent’s] preferred game,” current Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola told The Independent in 2025.

At the time, he was managing Bournemouth - a team notorious for winning with less of the ball against some of the league’s best.

It would be fair to argue fewer teams in the league now have the players or the solutions needed to break down teams given the evolution in defensive tactics, and advantages are more commonly found in attacking the big spaces.

Therefore bridging that gap, from thriving without the ball to dominating with it, will take time for those wanting to do so.

But at the top level, this is time not all coaches are afforded.

The four 'what next?' scenarios for Premier League after Man City ruling

If you were getting the impression that the saga over Manchester City’s 115 charges was almost over, think again.

Two years and 10 days since the hearing began, and 1,329 days after City were charged, we now know a verdict has been reached, with the club guilty of the majority of financial rule breaches.

That is not because the Premier League or Manchester City have told us - it is thanks to the Athletic finding out and breaking the story.

BBC Sport was later told the verdict was sent during the week to club executives, who had to sign a non-disclosure agreement to open the file.

A process can appear to be completely watertight, as this one certainly had been, but when the circle of trust is expanded, the chance of information getting out increases.

Despite this, public silence from the Premier League continues.

City did not address whether they had been found guilty in a statement making it clear - with an appeal expected - that the “process remains ongoing” from their point of view.

It all points to the suggestion that the long-awaited decision of the independent panel was not a case of this process nearing an end, but perhaps instead reaching the end of the beginning.

It appears the chaos and uncertainty is only going to increase now.

City fans, and the rest of football, are left to guess what the punishment might be. And when this all might reach a definitive conclusion.

The charges are so serious that some form of points deduction now appears inevitable, subject to the appeal by City, who have always insisted they have done nothing wrong.

When and how any punishment is applied will be crucial not just for City, but the Premier League as a whole.

And that’s before we get to the prospect of clubs suing City for compensation.

Enzo Maresca’s side go to Liverpool on 11 October when the Premier League resumes after the international break. They could go six points clear at the top. But is that now rendered meaningless?

Let’s look at possible scenarios - none of which are particularly appealing.

Deciding the punishment should be quicker than ascertaining guilt, but nothing is certain in this case.

As the charges have been denied, it will have to go to a sanction hearing convened by the independent panel.

BBC Sport has been told this hearing could still be months away, and the result may not be published until the appeal is completed.

At the hearing, everything will be on the table. Fines, points deductions and even demotion.

This differs from Chelsea’s case earlier this year, as the Stamford Bridge club self-reported and admitted guilt. That allowed them to negotiate with the Premier League and reach a sanctioning agreement.

It is possible that City could decide to hold their hands up and try to agree a deal - which would be better for the league - though that seems unlikely given the club’s consistently strong denials over many years.

The panel will have to comb through the hundreds of pages of evidence and determine the punishment.

Remember, Everton were docked six points, reduced from 10 on appeal, and then two points in separate cases for breaches of profit and sustainability rules (PSR). Nottingham Forest were deducted four points.

These were considered to be minor breaches, while City faced seven separate charges on PSR breaches in the Premier League alone, as well as a further five related to Uefa competitions.

This aspect alone suggests a large points penalty.

That is before you get into the inflated sponsorship revenue allegedly channelled through the companies’ accounts as a means of meeting financial fair play rules, payments to players and managers, and a failure to comply with investigations.

Take all this into account, and it places an asterisk against the Premier League between 2009 and 2018.

Chelsea and Manchester City, two of the competition’s most successful clubs, have been part of that. While Chelsea admitted effectively cheating, City have been found guilty. They got around the financial rules to put them in a position to be able to sign more expensive players than their finances should have permitted.

And if this season passes with no decision on the sanction while it is known City were guilty of the majority of counts, what does that mean for the integrity of the competition?

Could a penalty be backdated to this season when finally awarded? Unlikely.

So what if Manchester City win the league?

Coventry are third from bottom right now. What if they finish in that position, are relegated, but would have stayed up had City’s punishment come this season?

This inertia is terrible news for the Premier League as a competition.

There’s a strong argument that a sanctioning agreement is the cleanest way out of this.

But that may not be palatable to the league as they would have to negotiate with City, who would presumably want a lesser punishment.

The usual process when any points penalty is handed down is that it is applied immediately, subject to appeal.

It could be a points deduction so large that it is effectively a relegation.

Alternatively, if City’s membership of the Premier League was revoked, it is unclear how that might be applied mid-season.

It could also be that the punishment is a huge fine, although that would seem unlikely given points deductions to other clubs.

The question would be how soon we hear, and how long after the appeal is heard.

While there are timelines for the appeal process within the Premier League regulations, it is unclear whether they would directly apply here.

Ordinarily a club would have 14 days to appeal - though as the Premier League and City have not passed comment we do not know if that clock has started, or if it comes after the sanction.

Usually, the league asks for an expedited process from the independent arbitration company which handles disciplinary cases.

But, as ever in this case, the complexities indicate this is not straightforward.

There is the chance, though slim, that the punishment is only applied to the league table after the appeal.

That would surely lead to protests from impacted teams this season, who will demand it should, as usual, come into effect immediately.

For the integrity of the Premier League, so all clubs know what they are playing for, this would need to happen sooner rather than later.

Last season, a points deduction for West Bromwich Albion related to breaches of profit and sustainability regulations was not announced until 24 April.

While ultimately they stayed in the Championship, it plunged them back into a relegation fight when they thought they were safe. It also gave some hope to the teams in the relegation zone.

The Premier League does not want this to drag on until the penultimate month of the season, but nothing is guaranteed in this story.

In this scenario, let’s not forget City could also win their appeal, like they did over a two-year Champions League ban handed down by Uefa in July 2020.

However, unlike with Uefa, City would not be able to take this case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

While this would be celebrated at Etihad Stadium it would likely not be the end of the acrimony over the case.

Premier League clubs are seeking legal advice about compensation from Manchester City over the case.

One source, who held a senior executive position at two Premier League sides, said they expected clubs to submit individual compensation claims against Manchester City.

Another leading lawyer told the BBC that process could even be centralised by the league.

Premier League rules allow clubs to seek legal action against each other for compensation.

In June, Everton were told they must pay Burnley £35m after they broke PSR over a three-year period.

Burnley argued the breach impacted their chances of staying in the Premier League, and sought compensation for the losses associated with being relegated.

Everton are appealing, with sources previously saying they would “robustly and thoroughly” contest the ruling, but it provides an interesting backdrop to the Manchester City case.

There is uncertainty over a statute of limitations, which would set a cut-off point for claims.

Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur reportedly preserved their rights to claim compensation two years ago.

This is not just about Manchester United (twice) and Liverpool, who finished as runners-up to City in their title-winning seasons.

It is about those clubs who just missed out on the Champions League, or failed to make Europe, or even those who were relegated.

And it could even result in claims over the prize money for each Premier League place, or the potential commercial earnings lost by rival clubs.

Kieran Maguire, professor of football finance at the University of Liverpool, told BBC Sport it would be considered a “denial of an opportunity” by complainants.

Maguire explained that the “statute of limitations is not referenced” in the Premier League’s traditional handbook, though that could be subject to a legal challenge from City.

But what of the compensation? Just looking at Champions League qualifying could bring huge financial claims.

“The Champions League in those days was worth a minimum of £30m,” Maguire said. “I think by the time we got to 2018, it was probably worth £60m or £70m, and that’s in prize money.

“On top of that, you could claim for loss of gate receipts, loss of sponsor bonuses. This is highly unlikely, but it’s certainly being discussed.

“Players get bonuses for qualifying for the Champions League. Those bonuses, if you talk to people connected to the elite clubs, are normally in the region of 25%.

“An average salary in those days would probably, if you go back to 2012, be in the region of £80,000 or £90,000 a week. Twenty-five percent of that is four or five million pounds a year. That’s how the issues stack up.”

Points deductions, fines, and compensation claims.

This is an extremely messy situation for the Premier League, and it does not look like being resolved anytime soon.

Halifax sign ex-Burnley midfielder McDermott

Halifax Town have signed midfielder Tommy McDermott on a deal until the end of the season.

McDermott, 21, was a free agent after being released by Burnley in the summer.

He had spent last season on loan in League Two with Shrewsbury Town, for whom he played in 41 games and scored three times, while he had made two appearances in cup competitions for the Clarets in the previous campaign.