Premier League

Arsenal are reportedly set to land Riccardo Calafiori after reaching an agreement with Bologna on a transfer fee that will send the defender to north London.

Per soccer insider Fabrizio Romano, the two clubs agreed to the $49 million transfer fee that includes $5.4 million in add-ons and a sell-on clause.

The final step in the process will be getting Basel and Bologna to agree to the 50 percent sell-on payment terms before Calafiori can officially join Arsenal.

The Athletic's David Ornstein previously reported Arsenal were "accelerating" its efforts to sign Calafiori, with the goal of getting a deal done as soon as possible.

Calafiori joined Basel on a permanent transfer in August 2022 after he spent the previous four years in Serie A with Roma. The 22-year-old signed with Bologna last August.

Per Samuel Meade of The Mirror, Bologna was threatening to call off the deal with Arsenal because it wanted Basel to accept less than the 50 percent fee it was owed as part of the original agreement for Calafiori.

Calafiori can play either center-back or left-back for the Gunners. Mikel Arteta has prioritized positional flexibility as he has built up his squad, influenced in part by his time at Manchester City, which has had success using four center-backs in defense.

The addition of Calafiori would also give Arteta another potential starting option at left-back alongside Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jurriën Timber. Timber is still working his way back after tore his ACL last August and was only able to return to action in the final Premier League match of the season against Everton.

Calafiori would also be a rotation option at center-back, where Gabriel and William Saliba have combined to form one of the Premier League's top defensive partnerships.

Calafiori appeared in 30 matches for Bologna during the 2023-24 Serie A season. He finished with two goals and five assists, helping the club qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 1964.

Arsenal finished second to Man City in the 2023-24 Premier League standings. The Gunners reached the round of 16 in the Champions League before losing to Bayern Munich 3-2 on aggregate.

Arteta's club will open the 2024-25 Premier League season on Aug. 17 against Wolves. Depending on how quickly the remaining hurdles get cleared, Calafiori could potentially be on the pitch in a Gunners jersey for that match.

Chelsea Football Club released a statement Wednesday that condemned racist behavior from Enzo Fernández and his Argentina teammates following the national team's victory over Colombia in Sunday's Copa América final.

"Chelsea Football Club finds all forms of discriminatory behaviour completely unacceptable," the statement read. "We are proud to be a diverse, inclusive club where people from all cultures, communities and identities feel welcome.

"We acknowledge and appreciate our player's public apology and will use this as an opportunity to educate. The Club has instigated an internal disciplinary procedure."

In addition to playing for his country, Fernández also suits up for Chelsea in the Premier League.

As ESPN's Adriana Garcia noted, this comes after Fernández posted a video on social media that showed him and his teammates "singing offensive chants that singled out France players of African heritage."

Some Argentina fans also participated in the same chants ahead of the 2022 World Cup final between the two nations.

Fernández issued an apology that said, in part, "that video, that moment, those words, do not reflect my beliefs or my character. I am truly sorry."

His Chelsea teammate and member of the French national team, Wesley Fofana, posted that the video showed "uninhibited racism."

Matias Grez of CNN reported that the French Football Federation (FFF) released a statement and said it will file a legal complaint over the situation.

"The President of the FFF, Phillipe Diallo, condemns in the strongest terms the unacceptable racist and discriminatory remarks which were made against players of the French team in the form of a chant sung by the players and supporters of the Argentinian team after their victory in the Copa America, which was shared in a video on social media," the statement read.

"The president of the FFF decided to directly appeal to his Argentinian counterpart and FIFA and to file a legal complaint for racially offensive and discriminatory remarks."

Grez also cited a FIFA spokesperson who said the organization is "aware of a video circulating on social media and the incident is being looked into."

The incident was one of multiple that marred the Copa América tournament.

An altercation involving multiple Uruguayan players spread into the stands following Colombia's semifinal win at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Then, the final between Colombia and Argentina was delayed for more than an hour amid the chaos that unraveled when thousands of fans without tickets entered Miami's Hard Rock Stadium.

Argentina eventually defeated Colombia 1-0 in extra time in a game that saw Lionel Messi exit with an ankle injury.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag's contract has been extended until June 2026.

Ten Hag's previous contract was set to expire after the upcoming season.

"While the club's review of last season highlighted areas for improvement, it also reached a clear conclusion that Erik was the best partner for us to work with in driving up standards and outcomes," Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth said in a statement.

The Red Devils finished last season eighth in the Premier League, the team's lowest league standing since 1990, but capped off the campaign with an FA Cup win.

Ten Hag, 54, will now head into his third season as United's manager since he was appointed in 2022. The club won the EFL Cup in his first season.

Ashworth highlighted those "two trophies in the past two seasons" as part of the reason behind Ten Hag's extension.

Ten Hag said in his own statement that "there is still lots of hard work ahead to reach the levels expected of Manchester United, which means challenging for English and European titles."

Manchester United last finished first in the Premier League during the 2012-13 season under Alex Ferguson.

Since Ten Hag stepped in to replace Ralf Rangnick at the end of the 2021-22 Premier League season, United has accumulated a 41-12-23 record in league play.

The Red Devils in 2023-24 suffered the most time-loss injuries of any team in the league (h/t Ben Dinnery of Premier Injuries) as players including Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes were sidelined.

Ten Hag in May cited these injuries as a reason United needed the FA Cup win to get into the Europa League.

"Any manager can always do something better, but I am two years here and I had only one time the full group of players, and you cannot progress a team with so many injuries," Ten Hag said after the Red Devils' record ninth home loss on May 12, per ESPN's Mark Ogden.

"It is like swimming with your hands behind your back. You have to keep your head above water and we are trying to do that."

Although the league record led to an "end-of-season review" by co-owners INEOS and rumors that leadership was considering other potential coaches like Brentford's Thomas Frank (h/t ESPN's Rob Dawson, The Telegraph), those injury limitations— and United's FA Cup win despite them— may ultimately have led the club's decision to stick with its current manager.

Manchester United is hoping the new "glow" gradient feature on its home kit leads to a glow up on the pitch.

The Premier League side released their new uniforms for the 2024-25 season Monday, with Adidas taking inspiration from the "Busby Babes" of the 1950s.

Manchester United is coming off its worst season in more than 30 years. The club finished eighth in the Premier League standings—its worst mark since the Premier League was founded in 1992—and failed to make it out of the Group Stage in Champions League. Only a FA Cup championship provided a small sliver of success and arguably saved Erik ten Hag's post as manager.

Ten Hag will enter the 2024-25 season firmly on the hot seat, and Manchester United will hope the new jerseys at least do a little bit to erase the memories of last season.

The most notable change between this and last season is Snapdragon taking over as the club's top sponsor. Snapdragon will replace TeamViewer, which bowed out less than halfway through its five-year deal that began in 2021.

Don McGuire, the chief marketing officer (CMO) of Qualcomm, which owns Snapdragon, said he's hoping the results on the pitch help make the new deal worthwhile. Snapdragon is paying $225 million over the next three seasons as part of the agreement.

"If we want to go deeper, it's really going to depend on the results that we see," McGuire told Adam Crafton of The Athletic. "And do we believe we could get anything more out of it? Because there is a law of diminishing returns with all things."

Despite wanting to see success, Snapdragon did agree to not penalize Manchester United if the team does not make the Champions League. United's agreement with Adidas does result in a reduced fee if the club fails to make the top league.

Manchester United approached former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy about a position on Erik ten Hag's coaching staff, according to world football insider Fabrizio Romano.

BBC Sport's Shamoon Hafez reported earlier in the week Championship side Burnley has also reached out to Van Nistelrooy to replace Vincent Kompany as its manager.

The 47-year-old had a decorated playing career, one that included a lengthy tenure at Old Trafford. He scored 95 goals in 150 Premier League appearances across five seasons, winning a league title in 2002-03 and helping United lift the FA Cup in 2003-04.

Success has been more elusive in Van Nistelrooy's coaching career.

The retired Dutch star first worked as an assistant under Netherlands national team coach Guus Hiddink in 2014 and returned to the Oranje in 2020 in preparation for the European Championship. In between those spells, he was on the staff for PSV Eindhoven's youth team.

PSV handed Van Nistelrooy his first senior management opportunity when he took over for Roger Schmidt, who exited at the end of the 2021-22 season. While the club went on to match its Eredivisie runner-up finish in 2022-23, he abruptly resigned with one match remaining and cited a lack of organizational support.

Hiring Van Nistelrooy would make sense for a number of reasons for Manchester United. Though much has changed behind the scenes since his departure in 2006, he has a general familiarity with the club. Bringing another Dutchman onto the staff may help Ten Hag better get his message across to the players as well.

Having said that, the presence of a club legend such as Van Nistelrooy in an official capacity might only add to the pressure on Ten Hag. It's easy to foresee plenty of supporters calling for Van Nistelrooy to take over in the event United struggles out of the gate.

This could all be a moot point because managing Burnley, which got relegated after earning promotion to the Premier League in 2023, could be an attractive vacancy. Kompany parlayed his time with the Clarets into landing the Bayern Munich job this summer despite their relegation.

Were Van Nistelrooy to navigate Burnley back to the top division, it would burnish his reputation more than working as an assistant at United could.

The Premier League announced Tuesday its full slate of games for the 2024-25 season.

The campaign will kick off Aug. 16, when Manchester United hosts Fulham. The opening weekend's headline fixture will see reigning champion Manchester City head to Stamford Bridge on Aug. 18 to face off with Chelsea.

Runner-up Arsenal wasn't done much favors, either. The Gunners have a winnable matchup with Wolverhampton Wanderers on Matchday 1, but they'll have their mettle tested in the first month.

Conversely, Liverpool couldn't have asked for a much better start to the Arne Slot era. The Reds take on newly promoted Ipswich Town to kick things off and then play Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Wolves and Crystal Palace. While United will be a difficult test, it's also a great opportunity for Slot to set a tone early on.

The Premier League was decided by five points or fewer in each of the last three seasons, so the final few weeks have been decisive in determining a champion.

Looking ahead to the spring, Chelsea hosts Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on May 3. That could have significant implications toward the title race or sorting out battle for a Champions League place. The Reds turn around and host Arsenal on May 10 in what could be an equally pivotal fixture.

Assuming Manchester City is once again setting the pace, its rivals for the trophy may not get much in the way of help down the stretch. Pep Guardiola's squad closes with Wolves Southampton, Bournemouth and Fulham in the final month, and it's tough to see the club dropping many points across that period.

Manchester United is retaining Erik ten Hag as manager after "the club's end-of-season review culminated in a decision to keep the Dutchman—and he has agreed to remain at Old Trafford," according to David Ornstein of The Athletic.

His current contract only runs through this upcoming season, though there is an option to extend it by another year. Per Ornstein, the two sides will enter negotiations regarding a potential extension of that length.

Ten Hag's future at United was almost assuredly saved by his FA Cup final victory over Manchester City. Otherwise, he was coming off a season that saw the Red Devils finish eighth in the Premier League, the club's worst domestic placement since 1989-90.

United only managed 60 points, their second-worst tally in the Premier League era (which began in 1992-93), and finished with a minus-one goal differential (worst since 1989-90).

Ten Hag himself called the campaign "just rubbish" in May, though added that reaching a second consecutive FA Cup final was the "maximum possible" outcome given the injuries United faced.

He could point to this season's FA Cup triumph—and last year's win in the Carabao Cup—as successes under his two-year watch, ending what had been a five-year silverware drought. United also finished third in the Premier League during the 2022-23 campaign, behind only Manchester City and Arsenal.

This year's league results were undoubtedly a concern, but ten Hag has also taken over during a period of major upheaval at the club, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS purchasing a minority stake in the club in February.

The Glazer family remains the majority owners of the club but Ratcliffe has taken over football operations, a welcome change among supporters given the consternation surrounding the Glazers' ownership.

United's woes during the 20 years of the Glazers' ownership have run deep, and ten Hag was potentially in line to become the latest scapegoat of that overall institutional failing. But Ratcliffe's intervention in the club has brought hope, and ten Hag will be given at least one more chance to become the first United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson in 2012-13 to win a Premier League title.