The tiny town aiming to defy odds in Bundesliga debut

Elversberg became the smallest town to be promoted to the Bundesliga last season

In south-west Germany, close to the border of France, lies the small town of Elversberg.

It has no railway station and a population of just 13,000, but on Saturday it enjoyed a moment of history as its football team played in the Bundesliga for the first time.

Their debut performance was one that will live long in the memory as the side who just a few years ago was playing in the country’s regional leagues defeated Bayer Leverkusen - champions two years ago - 3-2.

Their coach Vincent Wagner had described staying up this season as challenge “like a journey to Mars”, but Elversberg are well-versed in defying the odds, and will aim to do so again this season.

“It might sound like the rise has been a rush but at every stage the floor was solid before the next one was built,” Elversberg’s technical director Josef Welzmuller said.

“We did it step by step and it didn’t feel like a fairytale for the people here because they are so strong in their decision-making and very clear in how they want to play and we want to act as a club.

“This is the whole magic to be honest, and a lot of very, very hard work.”

Nick Woltemade (right), who joined Newcastle for £69m last summer, first caught the eye during a loan spell at Elversberg

With three promotions in the past five years, Elversberg have swiftly climbed from the fourth tier of German football to the top flight.

It is not unusual in football for a small team to enjoy a rapid rise - Wrexham have famously done just that having gone from non-league football to the Championship.

But while they have been helped by having wealthy owners, Elversberg have never had similar financial clout - and as a result have had to do things a little differently.

A key figure in Elversberg being able to rise as quickly as they have was Ole Book.

A former footballer in Germany’s lower leagues, Book joined Elversberg in 2017 as a scout, and within a year was promoted to sporting director.

Book had an eye for spotting talented youngsters and giving them the platform to showcase their emerging talent by becoming key players in the Elversberg team.

One of those players was Nick Woltemade, who was brought in on loan from Werder Bremen II in 2022 and went on to score 10 goals that season. Woltemade then joined Stuttgart before his £69m club record move to Newcastle last year.

Book’s impressive work at Elversberg ultimately caught the eye of Borussia Dortmund, who appointed him as sporting director in April, with the club specifically highlighting his ability to find and develop young players, “creating value for the squad”.

Despite his departure, Elversberg have not changed their philosophy for the coming campaign, with talented youth being the main focus of their recruitment.

“We won’t do anything different,” Welzmuller added.

“The identity stays the same and it is built on three core pillars. The first is to be brave, the second is to be intense and the third is to be clever.

“You will see when you watch us we want high-intensity players, and that will stay the same forever.”

Elversberg’s stadium is being developed to increase its capacity to 15,000 - 2,000 more than the population of the town

A difficult season lies ahead, but the fans and residents of the town are excited by the challenge, and the club are represented everywhere when you walk through the streets.

“What happened in the last few years was exceptional for the town,” Welzmuller said.

“When you walk or drive through the town at the moment you see Elversberg flags all around and you see people walking around with the team’s merchandise like a hat or jersey, which makes us all feel very proud.

“I feel like the club is part of the life of the people here.”

Elversberg have immediately shown they are not here to make up the numbers with a dominant win against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, and Wagner hinted before the match that they were ready to defy the odds.

“For us, the Bundesliga feels so far away at times. And yet, if you set aside the infrastructure and the money and just focus on playing football, we can - funnily enough - somehow already keep up with the pace,” he said.

“We’ve had a long and intensive pre-season, strengthened the team as much as we could, and managed to keep most of the players we wanted to keep.

“The team is ready for the Bundesliga.”

Three-week international break a concern - Mourinho

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has raised concerns about the impact of September’s three-week international break, highlighting the amount of time his players will be away from their club.

“The international break does concern me,” Mourinho said. “It’s a lot of time.”

Speaking before Sunday’s home La Liga match against Malaga (16:00 BST), Mourinho said he was mostly troubled by players linking up with their nations who then do not get game time.

“Players who will join their national teams to play don’t worry me as much. It’s the ones who join the national teams and are not really involved that concern me,” he said.

“We’ll see how we can go about this and work with the rest of the players. But not having players at my disposal for three weeks is a difficult situation.”

The first international break of the 2026-27 men’s football season next month will last a week longer than usual, with the traditional October break now scrapped.

In recent years, Fifa has used five primary international breaks during the season, in March, June, September, October and November.

But instead of separate breaks in September and October, there will now be a three-week gap for international fixtures across late September and early October, when countries will play four international matches instead of two. The existing international breaks in November, March and June will remain.

A number of reasons are behind the change, including the 2026 World Cup final being played on 19 July, the latest date for a summer World Cup since 1966. Player welfare and travel considerations were also taken into account when the changes were made.

“I totally respect the players’ decisions and I don’t want to dramatise too much, but very often they pick up injuries during those breaks and right after returning from an international break,” Mourinho explained.

“So it does worry me, but this is the way these things are and we can’t do much about it.”

The Portuguese has already spoken at length about the World Cup players in his Real Madrid squad, including Jude Bellingham, Marc Cucurella and Kylian Mbappe, who have had a demanding summer.

He said the club are working to manage their workload to reduce the risk of injury.

In his pre-match media conference, Mourinho was also full of praise for Bellingham, highlighting his importance to the team beyond his attacking contributions.

“He is a unique kind of player, extremely important for the team,” said Mourinho.

“His mental strength, tactical ability, the way he recovers the ball, the way he pressures, the way he plays up front.”

“We like talking about Kylian, Vini [Vinicius Jr] and Jude, but I’m really happy with all the players.”

“We have great, great players here.”

Mourinho also gave his perspective on the Ballon d’Or debate, arguing that winning the Champions League or World Cup should not automatically make a player the favourite for the individual award.

“It’s a very beautiful thing individually and that enters into the individual history of a certain player,” Mourinho said.

“I think it’s normal that there are a dozen players of a very high level, of which we have three or four. It is normal that it exists as an ambition.”

Mourinho suggested the prize should be ultimately measured by a player’s lasting impact on the game.

“For me, the Ballon d’Or has to be one of those players that when he finishes playing, we miss for eternity,” Mourinho said.

“I miss Maradona, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano, Messi, Zizou, Lothar Matthaus - I miss these people.”

“You can’t give the Ballon d’Or to a player because he won the Champions League or because he won the World Cup. It doesn’t have to be from Paris St-Germain or the Spanish national team.”

A magician and a maverick - this could be Cherki's moment for Man City

Rayan Cherki refuses to hide his emotions, an open book for all to see and hear in times of joy and disappointment.

Moments after Manchester City had put down their first heavyweight marker of the post-Pep Guardiola era by brushing aside Crystal Palace, he was asked live on TV how much he enjoyed the game. Rather than providing the usual textbook answer, he instead gave a colourfully uncomplimentary – and unprintable - description of his own first-half performance.

Erling Haaland, standing alongside Cherki as he waited to hand over the player-of-the-match award, could only laugh at the France attacker’s sweary honesty.

Indeed, the 23-year-old also refuses to hide his talent, making a nonsense of his self-criticism by unveiling a Selhurst Park masterclass with two brilliant second-half goals in the 4-1 victory.

Cherki made his impact under Guardiola last season, although there was always a feeling the mercurial signing from Lyon for a bargain £30m could produce more. He made 33 Premier League appearances - but 14 of those were as a substitute.

And there is a sense that he already has something to prove under new boss Enzo Maresca amid City’s vast attacking resources, coming off the bench to assist the two late goals that gave them victory against Bournemouth on the opening weekend.

Cherki was seen in animated conversation with Maresca after the final whistle, but his reward was a start at Selhurst Park and he delivered the sort of irresistible performance he, as well as City, needed.

He had a disappointing World Cup with France, reduced to a bit-part player, only starting against England in the third-fourth place play-off, being replaced at half-time with his side 4-0 down.

There were also videos that emerged with Cherki showing apparent displeasure at coach Didier Deschamps.

Cherki has a reputation for unpredictability, with Maresca saying after his contribution against Bournemouth that “if he is not happy he wants to show it”.

But, though he has proved hard to please in the past at Leicester City and Chelsea, Maresca was satisfied with Cherki here.

“He’s happy and I’m happy,” said Maresca. “It was not just his performance with the two goals, but his work off the ball.

“He pressed and gave us a complete performance on the ball and off the ball.

“Rayan is Rayan. We know him. He loves football and it makes it so much easier to work with him.

“The quality he has in this moment helps the team, not just with assists but goals.”

It was not just Cherki’s wizardry with the ball that impressed Maresca, but his work off it.

“His performance off the ball was unbelievable,” he added to BBC Match of the Day. “Everyone knows his quality but when he works hard off the ball, he was in charge of Adam Wharton. He controlled him. He was very good.”

Praise indeed as the outstanding Wharton is one of the players City have cast their eyes over as they try to strengthen Maresca’s squad before the close of the transfer window.

For all the team work that brought such praise from Maresca, it was the two moments of individual genius that will be remembered after a win and performance that suggested talk that City will inevitably go into decline after the departure of Guardiola has been greatly exaggerated.

He also produced those defining moments at crucial times, the first coming nine minutes into the second half with City leading 1-0 and Palace hoping to mount a recovery.

Cherki took Phil Foden’s pass on the edge of the area, embarking on a slalom run surrounded by four Palace defenders, leaving them helpless before poking a left-foot finish past keeper Dean Henderson.

He celebrated with a touch of arrogance that is so often the preserve of the special ones, staring down the Palace fans on the Holmesdale Road end.

And after Palace pulled one back, it was Cherki who once again restored that two-goal advantage with a rising right-foot shot from 20 yards past Henderson.

Former England midfielder Jamie Redknapp told Sky Sports: “After Rayan Cherki painted a masterpiece, City started to play and got a real hold of it.

“Cherki felt like the difference because his goals came at an important time. He is a genius. The things he can do with a football are absolute genius.

“There aren’t many Premier League players I’ve seen that can do this on the first goal.

“Eden Hazard possibly, he was that kind of player. Georgi Kinkladze, there’ll be Manchester City fans from a previous generation who’ll remember him, who could get past people in a telephone box. This was very similar.

“Once Cherki is in the box, they are so scared to touch him. It’s absolute genius. He’s an absolute bargain at £30m and gives you a new dimension. He gives you that ‘X-factor’. He does things differently.”

Cherki’s goal celebrations summed up his confidence and attitude, with Redknapp saying: “There was a bit of Cantona about him. He’s a beautiful player. With someone like Cherki you’ve got to let him do his thing.”

There may be ups and downs between the maverick Cherki and the demanding Maresca, but the France star with stardust in his boots showed he will not be pushed to the back of the queue among City’s array of attacking talent – with perhaps more to come before the deadline.

And that is good news for Maresca as he tried to build on the foundations left behind by Guardiola.

How to follow Transfer Deadline Day on the BBC

This summer transfer window has come close to seeing the biggest spending by clubs ever - could it break the record by Tuesday night?

It’s been a summer of big spending in the transfer window - but it’s about to be slammed shut.

Premier League and EFL clubs have until 23:00 BST on Tuesday to finalise any deals, before a long wait until the window opens again in January.

This is how you can watch, listen and read up on all the last-minute action across the BBC all day.

The BBC Sport website and app will keep you updated all day on the latest moves and deals.

There will be a dedicated Transfer Deadline Day live page running from 07:00 BST until the early hours after the window shuts, with news from across the Premier League as well as the biggest updates from the EFL.

You can also access the separate EFL live page with news from across the Championship, League One and League Two.

As well as the latest deals, the Transfer Deadline Day live page will have analysis and reaction from our club reporters and experts across text, video and live streams.

BBC Radio 5 Live will bring you updates on the biggest deals during Around-the-Grounds coverage of Tuesday’s EFL fixtures from 20:00 BST, with Aaron Paul.

You can also follow Transfer Deadline Day live on your local BBC Radio station. To find coverage on BBC Sounds, just scroll through the live radio dial or search for your local BBC Radio station.

Going to be on the move or busy at home? Listen on the BBC Sounds app or ask your smart speaker to ‘play 5 Live’ or ‘play Radio Leeds’, for example.

Most local stations covering deadline day will also be visualising their coverage on the BBC Sport app.

BBC Radio Leicester, Radio Nottingham, Radio Humberside, Radio Lincolnshire and Radio Wiltshire will be covering the action on BBC Sounds only.

You can stay updated with everything going on with your team during Transfer Deadline Day by following the club feed on the BBC Sport website and app, as well as BBC Sounds.

So whether you’re a Wrexham fan or a Newcastle supporter, and everything inbetween, check out their page on the BBC Sport website and app, and on BBC Sounds. You can find the full list of clubs here for text updates and can search for your team on BBC Sounds - make sure to hit subscribe on the feed so you can get new episodes as they drop.

Tranmere get Norwich forward Jones on loan

Dylan Jones scored his first professional goal for Tranmere at Cambridge in January

Tranmere Rovers have signed forward Dylan Jones on a season-long loan from Norwich City.

Jones, 21, is returning to Prenton Park having spent the second half of last season on loan with Tranmere.

He played four times and scored his first professional goal before injury curtailed his move.

“I loved my time here last season, but it ended too soon, and I feel like I’ve got some unfinished business at Tranmere,” he told the club’s website.