Premier League

While Chelsea and Liverpool battled on the pitch Sunday, the two clubs were also fighting behind the scenes to land Moisés Caicedo.

Sunday's matchup ended in a 1-1 draw, but it was the Blues who landed the Brighton midfielder in what was reported as a record-setting, $146 million transfer, according to The Athletic's David Ornstein and Simon Johnson.

The move was made official on Monday:

The Caicedo transfer saga became particularly epic over the past week.

For much of the summer, Chelsea were considered the frontrunners to land him. But on Friday, Liverpool swooped in and agreed to a £111 million ($146 million) transfer with Brighton.

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp even confirmed that agreement in a press conference.

"I can confirm the [Moises Caicedo] deal with the club is agreed, whatever that means in the end," he told reporters. "Of course, we want the player and not just the agreement. We don't have endless resources. We didn't expect a couple of things to happen over the summer, but when that happened, we gave it a go. Let's see what happens and we'll go from there."

The issue for the Reds was that Caicedo preferred a move to Stamford Bridge, and reportedly had already agreed to contract terms with Chelsea:

Once the Blues went back to the negotiating table and beat Liverpool's offer to Brighton, the deal was set in motion, much to Liverpool's chagrin.

Sunday's matchup between the clubs was a good indication of why both wanted Caicedo. Neither club had much issues getting into their attack, in part because neither side offered much in the way of resistance in the midfield.

It was open, end-to-end football that was lovely to watch for neutrals but would spell disaster for both sides over the course of a long season, especially against top contenders like Manchester City and Arsenal.

For Chelsea, the 21-year-old will not only offer a midfield anchor to help support the defense—a much-needed addition after N'Golo Kanté was swayed by the riches of Saudi Arabia— but he'll also allow last season's splash signing, Enzo Fernández, more freedom to get forward.

That pair should handle the middle of the park in Mauricio Pochettino's 3-4-3 setup. The Blues have made a lot of incoming and outgoing deals since last year's shocking spending spree, but none more important than Caicedo.

A new era for Chelsea is starting with quite the matchup.

The Blues are hosting Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on Sunday in a season-opening showdown between two of the Premier League's most prominent clubs.

Chelsea made headlines this summer by hiring Mauricio Pochettino as manager, and he is tasked with helping the team bounce back from a disappointing 12th place finish last season. Pochettino has coached Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham in the past but will have his hands full right away against Liverpool.

The Reds brought in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai and will be counting on the star power of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk as they also eye an improvement on last season's fifth-place finish.

Follow along for the top highlights from Sunday's matchup ⬇️

68' - Bit of a cheeky one as Trent Alexander-Arnold sees yellow for a little bit of time wasting.

HT - 1-1 at the break...but both sides could have had two if it weren't for two tight offside calls.

37' - An equalizer for the Blues as Axel Disasi gets on the end of a ball into the box and dinks it past Alisson to tie the game at 1-1.

18' - Liverpool with the early breakthrough as an outrageous through ball from Mo Salah cuts through the defense and sets up Luis Díaz for the tap-in. 1-0 to the Reds.

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app, homepage and social feeds—including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Manchester City got some tough news on Kevin De Bruyne's hamstring injury.

Sky Blues manager Pep Guardiola told reporters after Friday's 3-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor that De Bruyne "will be out for a while" with the hamstring ailment suffered in the club's Premier League season opener.

"He was injured again unfortunately," Guardiola said. "Same place and position as the Champions League final."

De Bruyne was forced out of Friday's game in the 22nd minute with the ailment and replaced by Mateo Kovacic.

The Belgian midfielder was being eased into the 2023-24 season after suffering a similar hamstring injury in the Champions League final against Inter Milan in June. He revealed after the final that he wasn't 100 percent for the second half of the 2022-23 campaign.

Losing De Bruyne is a tough blow for Manchester City, which is aiming to win the Premier League for the fourth straight season.

Guardiola's side already entered Friday down defenders Ruben Dias and John Stones. Stones missed the match due to injury while Dias was held out because he was not fit enough to play.

While it's unclear how long De Bruyne will be out, he'll almost surely miss the club's UEFA Super Cup match against Sevilla on Wednesday.

Manchester City's next Premier League match is set for Aug. 19 against Newcastle.

The Premier League is officially back.

Newly-promoted Burnley are hosting reigning champion Manchester City at Turf Moor on Friday in the opening match of the 2023-24 Premier League season.

While the likes of Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez departed Manchester City this summer, the club still boasts one of the most talented rosters in the EPL with Erling Haaland joined by new additions in Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol.

The Sky Blues are aiming to win the Premier League for the fourth straight season, and a win against Burnley will see them off to a strong start.

Burnley, meanwhile, are back in the Premier League for the first time since 2021-22 after winning the Championship. They'll be looking to build upon that success under boss Vincent Kompany.

Follow along for some of the top highlights from Friday's season opener.

75' - A third goal for Manchester City as Rodri deposits the loose ball in the box to put his side up 3-0.

35' - Make it two for Haaland as he bangs in City's second with 10 minutes to go before halftime.

4' - You just knew it'd be him. Took less than four minutes for Erling Haaland to get back to his scoring ways as the EPL season begins with a bang.

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app, homepage and social feeds—including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

Harry Kane reportedly is "increasingly likely" to stay at Tottenham despite the club accepting a massive bid from Bayern Munich.

Sky Sports News relayed the update on Kane after Jacob Steinberg of The Guardian reported Tottenham had accepted a bid of around $110 million from Bayern for the star striker.

Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness told German outlet Sport1 (h/t The Guardian) last month the club was confident about landing Kane.

"Harry Kane has clearly signaled in all conversations that his decision stands–and if it stays, then we'll get him, because then Tottenham will have to buckle," Hoeness said.

David Ornstein of The Athletic previously reported that Kane is "known to be enjoying life" with Spurs under new head coach Ange Postecoglou and "has been leaning towards staying" with the club.

Real Madrid was believed to have interest in Kane early in the summer as a potential replacement for Karim Benzema, but the 30-year-old has previously said he's not keen on playing abroad at this point in his career.

Here is what he told Gary Neville of The Overlap podcast (h/t Jonathan Veal of The Independent) in May 2021 regarding moving to another country as part of a larger answer about potentially becoming the all-time leading scorer in Premier League history:

"I guess injuries would be the biggest thing [in stopping me getting the record], obviously I've had injuries, ankle injuries and I haven't had anything that's kept me out for months and months touch wood but I guess for me I think injuries would be, be the biggest thing stopping me.

"Of course there's always the option of maybe moving abroad one day but I don't think that really interests me in the near future."

Bayern Munich is one of the most successful clubs in the world. It has won 11 straight Bundesliga titles dating back to the 2012-13 season and hasn't finished worse than second in league play since 2010-11.

Kane has been a dominant force for Tottenham since joining the club in 2011. He became Spurs' all-time leading scorer in February with his 267th goal in a 1-0 win over Manchester City.

The three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner is only 47 goals away from tying Alan Shearer's all-time EPL record of 260.

Despite Kane's individual success, Tottenham hasn't won a league title since 1960-61. It has finished outside the top three in EPL play in each of the past five seasons, including an eighth-place showing in 2022-23.

With Kane potentially staying at Tottenham this season, it opens up the possibility that Spurs could possibly lose their talisman on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the 2023-24 season.

Spurs will open the Premier League campaign on Sunday against Brentford.

Arsenal has struck first in their fresh campaign to dethrone Manchester City at the top of English football.

The Gunners stunned treble-winning City with a Leandro Trossard equalizer deep into stoppage time, before Fábio Vieira fired his decisive penalty into the top left corner in the shoot-out.

Here are some of the top highlights from the battle for the Community Shield.

Penalties - Vieira's spot-kick seals a 4-1 shoot-out win (and the Community Shield) for Arsenal.

90+11' - Arsenal equalizes with the last kick! Trossard's shot deflected heavily off of Manuel Akanji and into the Man City net, forcing a penalty shoot-out.

77' - It took most of the game but we have a goal and it was an outstanding finish from Man City youngster Cole Palmer

Chelsea has entered the race to sign Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappé, according to the Independent's Jamie Gardner.

"Sources close to PSG have indicated the Blues' co-owner Todd Boehly is trying to put together a deal for the 24-year-old, who seems certain to leave Paris either for a fee this summer or for nothing next year," Gardner reported.

Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal lodged a formal bid for Mbappé, but he reportedly declined to entertain any contract offers to scupper any agreement. Al-Hilal was prepared to offer a reported $776 million salary.

French newspaper L'Equipe (via Marca) reported Barcelona was prepared to discuss an Mbappé transfer. In an even more stunning turn, the Daily Mirror's John Richardson reported Liverpool was weighing a one-year loan move for the four-time Ligue 1 Player of the Year.

But the Telegraph's Tom Morgan reported Mbappé "remains determined to realize his dream of moving to Real Madrid in 11 months time when he can leave PSG as a free agent."

Todd Boehly has spent extravagantly since assuming control of Chelsea in May 2022. The Blues would seemingly have the financial might necessary to execute what would be the most expensive transfer in world football history.

Plenty of fans will argue Mbappé is so good the club can't turn down the opportunity to land him as well.

Some might counter, however, this signing would reflect what has been the club's biggest problem during Boehly's brief tenure. Too many transfers were made without consideration of how the squad fits together.

The Blues have already signed a pair of forwards, Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson, during the summer window, and Romelu Lukaku continues to call Stamford Bridge home for the time being. Nkunku or Jackson might suddenly get marginalized with Mbappé playing through the center.

Were manager Mauricio Pochettino to line up Mbappé out left, that would potentially cause some tactical issues with Mykhaylo Mudryk. The 22-year-old, who arrived for an initial cost of €70 million in January, should be a big long-term piece in the attacking line.

This could be much ado about nothing if Real Madrid remains in pole position to secure Mbappé's services. There's nothing stopping him from seeing out his PSG deal and signing a pre-contract agreement with the Spanish giant starting from January 2024.

And for Chelsea, losing out on the Mbappé sweepstakes wouldn't be the end of the world given how the Blues have already added to their forward ranks.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York announced Tuesday that his office has indicted British billionaire and Tottenham Hotspur majority owner Joe Lewis "for orchestrating a brazen insider trading scheme."

Sports broadcaster Ben Jacobs relayed more of Williams' statement:

Joe Miller and Samuel Agini of the Financial Times offered more details, which read in part:

"The 86-year-old, who is one of Britain's richest men, is accused of tipping off employees, associates, friends and romantic interests with non-public information about various entities, and lending some of them hundreds of thousands of dollars to trade on the privileged knowledge.

"According to an indictment that was unsealed on Tuesday, Lewis and his associates were collectively able to make millions of dollars using the stolen information, which included favourable results from clinical trials."

Lewis is the chairman of the Tavistock Group, whose investments number more than 200 companies in 13 countries, per its website.

Per the Financial Times, allegations against Lewis state that he shared information "about publicly traded life science groups Solid Biosciences and Mirati Therapeutics, as well as beef producer Australian Agricultural Company (AAC) and a special purpose acquisition company, BCTG."

Lewis bought a majority stake of Tottenham from Sir Alan Sugar in 2001 for £22 million, per John Besley of the Independent. Per Alex Kay-Jelski of The Athletic, Lewis "ceded official control" of the club to Bryan Glinton and Katie Booth last October.

Bloomberg lists Lewis with a net worth of $6.55 billion.

Erling Haaland is at the top of the soccer world after helping Manchester City capture its first-ever Champions League title and a treble.

So, it should come as no surprise that the Norwegian phenom was named the EA Sports FC 24 cover athlete on Thursday, replacing Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappé and Australia's Samantha Kerr as the face of the game.

Haaland is the first cover athlete for the rebranded video game that had been known as EA Sports FIFA for nearly 30 years. EA Sports FC was announced last year when the company failed to come to terms with FIFA on a licensing agreement.

EA Sports FC 24 is available for preorder on multiple platforms, including Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch and Steam. Both the standard edition and ultimate edition are available for preorder, but preordering the ultimate edition comes with additional perks, including up to seven days of early access and 4,600 FC points.

EA Sports FC officially launches on Sept. 29.