Arsenal trio among six on player of the year shortlist

Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Gabriel and David Raya have been nominated for the Professional Footballers’ Association men’s player of the year award alongside Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City duo Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki.

Earlier this month, Fernandes, 31, won the Football Writers’ Association’s men’s footballer of the year award.

That award is often an indicator of who is the frontrunner to be named the PFA player of the year.

The Portugal midfielder registered a record 21 Premier League assists to help United finish third.

Midfielder Rice, defender Gabriel and goalkeeper Raya were all key players for Arsenal, who won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years.

Striker Haaland bagged 27 goals to win the league’s golden boot, while Cherki enjoyed a successful first season in the Premier League.

Former Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah won the award last year after scoring 29 times to help the Reds win the Premier League.

The winners will be honoured on Tuesday, 25 August at the 53rd annual PFA Awards Ceremony in Manchester.

Cherki has also been nominated for the PFA young player of the year, alongside City team-mate and England international Nico O’Reilly, who was named as the Premier League’s young player of the season last week.

Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, another England international, is also among the nominees after playing a key role in Michael Carrick’s side.

Bournemouth forward Eli Junior Kroupi is another on the shortlist after he scored 13 goals in 33 matches in his debut Premier League campaign.

Max Dowman and Rio Ngumoha, who have represented England at under-19 level, complete the list of nominees thanks to their performances for Arsenal and Liverpool respectively.

O'Neill set to stay on as Celtic manager

Martin O’Neill guided Celtic to a league and cup double last season

Martin O’Neill is set to continue as Celtic manager after two interim spells last season culminated in a Premiership and Scottish Cup double.

The 74-year-old has now agreed to stay at Parkhead on a one-year deal - with the option for a further year - after holding talks with the club’s major shareholder Dermot Desmond earlier this week.

Celtic have yet to officially confirm the appointment.

Twenty years on from ending a five-year tenure as Celtic manager, O’Neill returned in late October on a temporary basis after Brendan Rodgers’ departure, overseeing eight games.

He made way for Wilfried Nancy but the Frenchman left after six defeats and only two wins from eight matches. O’Neill was back as Celtic boss in early January, appointed for the rest of the season.

The league title race went to the final day of the campaign, with Celtic beating long-time leaders Hearts 3-1 to finish top. Then, at Hampden two weeks ago, O’Neill won his ninth trophy as Celtic manager with a 3-1 win over Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Cup final.

Across his two spells in the 2025-26 season, O’Neill managed 35 games in all competitions, winning 27 and drawing four. His points average of 2.56 points per game in the league matched his corresponding figure from 2000-05.

Robbie Keane, a one-time Celtic player, had been linked with the Celtic manager’s job and has reportedly left Ferencvaros. Danish coach Jens Berthel Askou was also mentioned in connection with the Scottish champions before leaving Motherwell for Toulouse.

As Premiership winners, Celtic will enter the Champions League in the play-off round, the stage they lost at last term.

That resulted in a Europa League berth in the league phase, with O’Neill managing four of those games and the knockout defeat by Stuttgart.

Former Leicester, Aston Villa and Republic of Ireland boss O’Neill had also managed Celtic in their November League Cup semi-final win against Rangers at Hampden, with Nancy in charge at the national stadium for the 3-1 final defeat by St Mirren the following month.

Rangers were also knocked out of the Scottish Cup by O’Neill’s Celtic at the quarter-final stage in March.

Perez promises biggest deal in Real Madrid's history

Florentino Perez has promised to make a club-record offer for an unnamed “great player” if re-elected as Real Madrid president on Sunday.

He said he would offer “about 150 million euros” (£130m) for an attacking player - but said it was not Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, Michel Olise or Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku.

Perez, 79, also ruled out signing Erling Haaland - as was promised by election challenger Enrique Riquelme earlier this week.

Haaland’s club Manchester City have since stated there is “no chance” of such a transfer and are threatening legal action against Riquelme.

Real Madrid is owned entirely by members who decide its president. Each pay an annual fee of around £130 and nearly 100,000 of them will vote on Sunday.

Following his first election in 2000, Perez pursued a ‘Galacticos’ policy of signing expensive world-class players including Luis Figo, David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane.

Real Madrid won two La Liga titles and a Champions League before Perez resigned in 2006 amid disappointing results.

In 2009, he successfully stood for the presidency again unopposed and has done so a further four times in his 17-year second term.

Trailing La Liga champions Barcelona by eight points, Real Madrid ended the 2025-26 season with no major trophies for the second season in a row.

As the season drew to a close, Perez called a news conference in which he railed against the club’s enemies and urged those unhappy with his leadership to run against him for president.

Renewable energy magnate Riquelme stepped forward, leaving Perez to compete with another candidate to retain his role for the first time in 20 years.

On Wednesday, Perez promised voters he would initiate a Galacticos-style transfer bid days after he hopes to be re-elected.

“I have some news for you,” he told Spanish TV show Horizonte.

“On Tuesday or so, I’m going to make an offer to a major Champions League club for a great player. It would be the largest transfer fee Real Madrid has ever paid in its history.”

Perez was asked the identity of his target and the scale of the fee.

“Olise is a great player but it’s not Olise,” Perez said. “It’s not Doku either.

“We’re going to make a significant offer, at least around 150m.

“He needs to be a player from midfield who can go forward. And it’s not Haaland.

“The player is not from the Premier League. And the first thing we’ll do is talk to the club.

“It’s a signing meant to generate excitement because that’s what it’s all about, generating excitement.”

He also reminded voters his re-election would activate already-agreed deals for manager Jose Mourinho, Inter Milan defender Denzel Dumfries and Ibrahima Konate, whose contract at Liverpool won’t be renewed.

Tottenham sign Robertson after Liverpool exit

Andy Robertson is set to captain Scotland during their first World Cup campaign since 1998

Tottenham have signed Scotland captain Andy Robertson on a free transfer following his departure from Liverpool.

The 32-year-old left-back, who had already announced he would leave the Reds when his contract expired this summer, will become a Spurs player on 1 July.

Tottenham, then managed by Thomas Frank, targeted Robertson during the January transfer window.

A deal was agreed between the two clubs, only for Liverpool to pull out when they were unable to recall Kostas Tsimikas from his loan at Roma.

Spurs secured Premier League survival on the final day of the season by beating Everton under new manager Roberto de Zerbi.

“Andy is someone I’ve admired for a number of years and he will bring outstanding technical qualities, experience, leadership and mentality to our team,” said De Zerbi.

“He is a proven winner at the highest level over a long period and is someone who can be a big player for us, both on and off the pitch.”

After joining Liverpool from Hull City in 2017, Robertson played 378 times for the club and won two Premier League titles and the Champions League.

He also won the League Cup twice as well as the FA Cup, and will add to his 92 caps for Scotland when he leads his country at this summer’s World Cup.

Tottenham’s sporting director Johan Lange said: “His quality, character and leadership have been evident throughout a career in which he has regularly competed for - and won - major honours.

“Andy’s professionalism and commitment will also be invaluable to the development of our squad, and he shares our ambition and determination to bring success back to the club.”

Brighton expect second Spurs bid for Van Hecke

No outfield player in the Brighton squad played more Premier League minutes last season than Jan Paul van Hecke’s 3,211

Brighton are expecting Tottenham to return with another bid for defender Jan Paul van Hecke after rejecting their initial offer.

Van Hecke, who is part of the Netherlands’ World Cup squad, has a year left on his contract and new Spurs boss Roberto de Zerbi is keen to be reunited with the 25-year-old after working with him at Brighton.

Brighton signed Van Hecke from Eredivisie outfit NAC Breda in 2020 for a relatively modest sum.

He is reported to be valued now by Brighton at £70m.

After loan spells at Heerenveen and Blackburn Rovers, the centre-back has gone on to make 131 appearances for Brighton, including 36 starts in the Premier League last term.

Chief executive Paul Barber was placed in charge of outgoing transfers by Brighton in the wake of the unexpected exit of sporting director Jason Ayto, which was confirmed on Wednesday.

Brighton are known for their hard-line bargaining stance having received fees in excess of £50m for Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella and Joao Pedro in recent years, and also their forward planning.

Given Van Hecke’s contract situation, it is likely Barber and owner Tony Bloom have a contingency in mind if a deal is eventually agreed.