Ballon d'Or Shortlists Revealed

Good morning. The Ballon d’Or shortlist nominations have been announced, Liverpool claims it has secured the record deal for a Premier League front-of-shirt sponsor, and everything else you need to know.

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Champions League league phase (Sept 9). Barcelona vs Feyenoord, 17:45 BST / 12:45 ET. Barcelona have scored 17 goals across their opening four La Liga matches this season. But if Feyenoord do secure a shock win, they’d be the first-ever Dutch side to win away at Barcelona in European competition. Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Liverpool have won each of their last three Champions League games against Atletico, including in the league phase at Anfield last season. They’ve also never lost their opening game of a Champions League (or European Cup) campaign when playing at home. Napoli vs Arsenal, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Arsenal were the only side to win all eight league phase matches last season. However, the Gunners have won only once in their last six away trips to Italian sides in this competition. See every Champions League fixture here.

Results…

Paris Saint-Germain have 10 Ballon d’Or nominees for the 30-player shortlist for the best men’s player of the year, by far the most of any single club. It also exceeds the seven nominees in total from La Liga and five from the Premier League (including Rodri). While Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe are among the favourites to win the award, Lionel Messi has been nominated for the first time since 2023. See the full men’s list here.

For the women’s award, two-time winner Alexia Putellas made the list, alongside other top contenders Alessia Russo, Ewa Pajor and Melchie Dumornay. Three-time winner Aitana Bonmati did not make the list after having missed most of the season with a broken left fibula. See the full women’s list here.

Five clubs have been shortlisted as the men’s Club of the Year, including Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Flamengo, and Bodo/Glimt. Meanwhile, the women’s Club of the Year nominations are FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Club America, Manchester City and OL Lyonnes.

See the shortlist for men’s Young Talent of the Year here, and the women’s here. And see the shortlist for the men’s Coach of the Year here and the women’s here.

The ceremony will take place in London on 26 October.

Liverpool have agreed a front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with Turkish Airlines starting in 2027-28, worth more than £300m over five years. The club believes this is the most lucrative such sponsorship in Premier League history, though Manchester United’s deal with Snapdragon was reported at a similar sum. United have also filled their sleeve sponsor vacancy with a record deal worth over £20m a year with fintech unicorn SumUp.

Notably, when Fenway Sports Group bought Liverpool for £300m in 2010, commercial revenue was around £62.1m in total, meaning the annual value of the Turkish Airlines deal now effectively matches that sum.

This is the first season under the Premier League-wide ban on gambling companies advertising on the front of club shirts after clubs voluntarily voted to ban them. Last season, gambling sponsors featured on the front of the shirts of 11 of the 20 Premier League clubs. However, the ban still allows sleeve or training kit sponsorship from betting companies, with Man United having secured a record training-kit deal worth a reported £20m a year with a UK-based betting firm.

Dive deeper into the Premier League’s sponsorship trends here.

USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino appeared to criticise Christian Pulisic for skipping the 2025 Gold Cup, as he vowed to change the mentality around the national team. Pulisic withdrew from the tournament to rest following his club season and remain fresh for the 2026 World Cup. “You say, ‘If I play, I have no holidays. I cannot arrive fresh for the World Cup.’ ... You know now that is bull----,” Pochettino said. He added that his objective was to change “this type of idea that are not right”.

Pulisic’s decision did not ultimately lead to the World Cup he had hoped for. The AC Milan winger failed to score in four appearances, missed one group-stage game with a calf problem and then fractured his right tibia and fibula during the USMNT’s round-of-16 defeat to Belgium. His club form had also declined before the tournament, with Pulisic failing to score in his final 19 appearances of last season after netting 10 times in his opening 15.

Pochettino’s planned changes go beyond the senior team. After signing a new four-year deal, he has been given a larger role in US Soccer’s youth development and coaching structure and says the ambition is to make the US “one of the most powerful countries in soccer”. He also wants to change the habit of clubs holding young players back from international duty and said LA 2028 is a major priority, with the US aiming to challenge for Olympic gold.

His first squad of the new cycle will be named on September 17 ahead of friendlies against Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada.

• A Manchester United fan group has called for a unified protest against the “season ticket ban fiasco” ahead of Sunday’s derby against Manchester City (More) | Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister said he is "very sad" not to have been offered a new deal by the club and had "options" to leave in the summer (More)

• Lionel Messi reaches an agreement in principle to buy Spanish second division club Eldense, having already acquired Cornella (More)

• Como have renewed Roberta Picchi's contract until the end of ​the 2027-28 season after the ‌forward was diagnosed with breast cancer (More)

• European Leagues group has extended a complaint against Fifa to the European Commission, alleging “abusive conduct regarding the women’s international match calendar” (More)

• Spain's football federation has unveiled an agreement to support fertility treatment for female ​players and referees (More/paywall)

• MLS regular season matches take place on Wednesday (Sept 9); see all upcoming fixtures (More) and Standings (More)

• A redeveloped Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex will host the Northern Super League's new Winnipeg club from 2027, backed by Canadian government funding (More)

• Al-Hilal’s 47-game unbeaten run in the Saudi Pro League ended after a 2-0 home loss to Neom (More)

• Australian coach Tony Popovic has turned down Football Australia's four-year extension until the 2030 World Cup (More)

Yesterday’s Poll: Who do you think will win the men's Champions League this season?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Arsenal (33%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇩🇪 Bayern Munich (22%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester City (8%)

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain (12%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇪🇸 Barcelona (17%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (8%)

Your punditry takes:

Why do Tottenham Hotspur not have a stadium sponsor?

How Jurgen Klopp learned football tactics. (video)

Non-league goalkeeper chosen to rule a kingdom in Uganda.

The best stats from the opening WSL weekend.

PSG’s big Champions League advantage is also its biggest problem. (op-ed)

Man City players react to their FC 27 ratings.

Name the team that each front-of-shirt sponsor is most known for:

Scroll below for the answer.

Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.

Answer

Liverpool. Manchester United. Inter Milan. Barcelona. Fiorentina.