GM football fans. It’s Friday, Mar. 28 - Premier League’s extra transfer window, San Siro sale controversy, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
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KEY FIXTURES
FA Cup, Quarter-finals: Fulham vs. Crystal Palace, Sat 29, 12:15 / 08:15. Fulham are winless in their last six home meetings with the Eagles in all competitions–but they have won four of their last five FA Cup quarter-finals. Brighton vs. Nottingham Forest, Sat 29, 17:15 / 13:15. Brighton are unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions, scoring at least twice in each, and have won six of those games. However, Forest did net seven against Brighton in February–their joint-biggest win in Premier League history. Bournemouth vs. Manchester City, Sun 30, 16:30 / 12:30. This is the first ever FA Cup meeting between the two sides. Meanwhile, Bournemouth won 2-1 against City in November–their first win against them, having not won any of their first 21 meetings in all competitions. See every fixture and broadcast channel here.
Results…
Women’s Champions League: Barcelona 6-1 Wolfsburg (Agg 10-2) (Report) | Chelsea 3-0 Man City (Agg 3-2) (Report) (See Semi-Final Bracket)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Extra Transfer Window
The Premier League will introduce an additional transfer window in the summer to accommodate Fifa’s Club World Cup. The decision was made during Thursday’s shareholder meeting.
The 32-team Club World Cup runs from June 14 to July 13, with Chelsea and Manchester City the two Premier League teams participating this year. The new window will open early for ten days, between June 1 and June 10, during which every Premier League team can sign and sell players. It will then open again on June 16, until Deadline Day on September 1.
During the meeting, shareholders also discussed closing the transfer window before the start of the new season. Despite support for the idea earlier this year, shareholders pushed back as they felt it would require alignment across the European leagues–only the Serie A is willing to close its window early.
Discounted San Siro
The Prosecutor's Office in Milan is investigating the sale of San Siro to Inter and AC Milan. The aim of the investigation is to determine whether the sale of San Siro—which is shared between the two rivals—and its surrounding areas to both Serie A clubs could result in losses for public finances.
According to the disclosed information, Milan and Inter will spend just over €115m to purchase the stadium and the surrounding 280,000 m² of land. However, local authorities argue the price is too low, particularly given the city will lose income from concerts and matchdays.
The City of Milan purchased the stadium in 1935. While it was conceived to host AC Milan’s home games, from the 1947-1948 season onwards, the stadium became a "friendly ground" for F.C. Inter as well. In 2019, both clubs agreed on plans to demolish the stadium, but as the building was over 70 years old, it was granted protected status.
Madrid Misconduct Investigation
UEFA are investigating allegations of “indecent conduct” by four Real Madrid players during their Champions League last-16 win against Atletico Madrid. The players in question are Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Dani Ceballos, and Antonio Rudiger.
The governing body has appointed a disciplinary inspector to study the unspecified allegations. While unconfirmed, reports suggest the allegations involve Mbappe grabbing his crotch and Rudiger making a throat-slitting gesture after Madrid’s penalty-shootout win.
The players could be at risk of suspension, and any ban imposed would force a player to miss Madrid’s game at Arsenal on April 8 in the first leg of the quarter-finals. However, there is no guarantee the case will be heard before that date.
POLL
Do you think cracking down on emotional celebrations is a bad thing for the game?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Harry Redknapp ‘jokes’ that Thomas Tuchel is a German spy and appeared to perform a Nazi salute (Watch) | Phil Foden’s Manchester City teammates are reportedly worried about his ‘mental fatigue’, though the evidence of this is unclear (More) | Tottenham Hotspur will make Andoni Iraola their top target if they sack Ange Postecoglou in the summer (More)
> Spanish authorities are calling for a 15-and-a-half-year prison sentence for former Spanish football federation president Angel Maria Villar for corruption and embezzlement (More)
> Spain’s Liga F is set to be the first senior professional league to introduce Football Video Support, a “cost-effective” alternative to VAR (More)
> Former Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng, who was initially found guilty in an abuse case, claims that the Munich prosecutor’s office has dropped charges against him (More)
> Leeds United, currently first in the Championship, have announced a 14% ticket increase for adults next season (More) | US consortium close to an £18m majority takeover of Leyton Orient (More)
Americas
> MLS Matchday 6 kicks off on Saturday with New England vs NY Red Bulls and Toronto vs Vancouver; see full fixture list (More); see conference standings (More) | Rumours that Inter Miami are open to signing Cristiano Ronaldo on a short-term contract from Al Nassr for the Club World Cup are circulating; though nothing is advanced (More)
> The Brazilian Serie A restarts on Saturday (Mar. 29), beginning the season with five matches to be played at 18:30 local time (17:30 ET) (Full Fixtures); Neymar has been ruled out of Santos’ opener against Vasco da Gama due to a thigh injury (More)
> The Brazilian football federation has been in touch with Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti about leading their national team in next summer’s World Cup (More)
Rest of the World
> South Korea's sports ministry said it will work with the domestic league to improve the quality of pitches after Son Heung-min said the issue was partly to blame for their poor World Cup qualifier results (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think the lucrative Club World Cup prize pot softens concerns over player welfare?
🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 💰 Yes... (24%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🤕 Nope... (74%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (2%)
Your punditry takes:
💰 A.A: “The big prize money in the Club World Cup makes teams and players more willing to compete, even if they are tired. Clubs can use the money to improve training, medical care, and recovery, which helps with player welfare. Since winning also brings financial security, players may feel the reward is worth the extra effort.”
🤕 J.Mc: “Ha! As if a massive bribe to the clubs will, in any way, have a bearing on their welfare! If anything, it increases pressure for clubs to try and make their “bigger” players take part. The organisers won’t want to pay this out for a reserve player tournament, will they?”
🤕 N.W: “No, throwing money at the problem doesn't fix it. The players are playing too many games. They need rest, not $$$. Plus, that money is going to the clubs, not the players. Also, how empty are some of the stadiums going to be? Who is turning up for Ulsan vs. Sundowns? Or Wydad vs. Al Ain? The USMNT can't even fill up these stadiums. This will be a bad look for the WC, only a year away.”
✍️ S.B: “Yes and no for me. The money will satisfy the clubs, which is the main or one of the biggest factors why the owners are happy to send their clubs to this competition. That being said, money shouldn't be a factor to cover over player welfare. Unfortunately, though, players, agents and transfer fees are so far out of control that clubs don't really have a choice but to seek out competitions like this or expand existing confederational formats.”
EXTRA TIME
The mystery of Pele’s disputed 1,000th goal.
… and the maths behind his 1,283 goals.
Kylian Mbappe meets Kylian Mbappe.
The football photo that just won the World Press Photo award.
This year’s FA Cup is a historic anomaly–here’s why.
AIK’s kit launches with signatures from all youth players–literally.
A preview of every 2026 World Cup team.
… and which countries have qualified already?
Old football programmes were stunning. (w/ photos)
Why Taylor Swift could feature on Barca’s shirt.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Who is the all-time top goalscorer in the history of the FA Cup?
Clue: In a hurry.
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
Bundesliga
Bayer Leverkusen vs Bochum (19:30)
Ligue 1
Strasbourg vs Lyon (19:45)
*All time in UK. ET -4. CST -5. PDT -7. MDT -6. CET +1.
Answer
Ian Rush scored 42 FA Cup goals, 15 more than the second-highest Denis Law.
What I don't hope happens is that [fan] resentment carries on and that he doesn't do well at Real Madrid, because I love people from own city doing well.
