GM football fans. It’s Tuesday, June. 10 - MLS renegotiate player bonuses for the Club World Cup, Forest write to Uefa over Palace’s Europa League spot, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY FIXTURE

International Friendlies: England vs. Senegal, 19:45 / 14:45. England have never lost in 21 matches against African opposition, winning their only previous meeting with Senegal 3-0 in the 2022 Fifa World Cup. Plus, England have won all three of their matches under Thomas Tuchel, with only Walter Winterbottom and Sven-Goran Eriksson winning each of their first four in charge of the Three Lions. Although Senegal are unbeaten in their last 23 matches in all competitions, they have won just one of their last seven matches against European nations.

Results…

• UEFA World Cup qualifiers (Results)

TOP TALKING POINTS

MLS Renegotiates Player Bonuses

Major League Soccer has submitted a new proposal to its players regarding how bonuses for the Club World Cup will be paid, following pressure from the MLS Players’ Association. Previously, the players would have collectively earned a hard cap of $1m. Under the new proposal, the players can split a prize pool of up to $24.5m if they win the tournament.

Broken down, the league’s offer would see players earn 20% of their team’s performance-based prize money at each stage of the tournament. The players competing would collectively receive $200,000 for a group stage draw, $400,000 for a group stage win (from a total prize of $2m per win), $1.5m for making the Round of 16, and so on.

The Seattle Sounders, LAFC, and Inter Miami are the only MLS clubs among the 32 teams playing in the Club World Cup, which begins Saturday.

Forest Press Uefa on Palace

Nottingham Forest have written to Uefa over concerns (paywalled) about Crystal Palace participating in the Europa League when they could be in breach of multi-club ownership rules. Forest could be promoted from the Conference League to the Europa League should Palace be removed from the competition.

John Textor, the American businessman who has a 43% stake in Palace, also owns Lyon, who have qualified for the competition too. Last week, Palace pleaded with Uefa, arguing that they do not collude with Lyon and that Textor’s minority stake means he doesn’t make decisions at the club. See previous write-up here.

Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion, who could also secure European football if Palace are considered non-compliant, have both taken steps to separate ownership structures to comply with Uefa’s rules. The governing body is expected rule on the matter by the end of this month.

WSL Revenues Soar

The Women’s Super League (WSL) saw record revenues during the 2023-24 season, up 34% compared to the previous year. The 12 teams in the English women’s top-flight amassed a combined revenue of £65m, with each club generating more than £1m for the first time.

Commercial revenue, which made up 40% of the total, was the main driver of growth. Matchday revenue rose by 73% to £12m, up from £7m in 2022-23, driven by a 31% increase in average attendance and fan engagement.

Deloitte forecast that revenue will top £100m across the league at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, helped by the upcoming Women’s Euros in Switzerland.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Manchester City have signed Rayan Ait Nouri from Wolves for £36.3 (More); City have also reached an agreement with Lyon to sign Rayan Cherki in a deal worth around £34m (More); Dive deeper into why City want Cherki (More) | Tottenham Hotspur have opened talks with Brentford for Thomas Frank to become their new manager; hoping for an agreement within 48 hours (More)

> Robert Lewandowski has said that he will no longer play for Poland while Michal Probierz remains head coach after the Polish FA stripped him of his captaincy (More)

> Cristian Chivu has been named Inter Milan’s new head coach until 2027 (More)

> Uriah Rennie, the first black Premier League referee, has died at the age of 65 (More)

> A supporter fell to their death from the second tier of the main stand during Portugal’s Nations League win against Spain on Sunday (More)

Americas

> American rapper Doja Cat, Colombian singer J Balvin and Nigerian singer Tems will headline the Club World Cup final halftime show in the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey (More)

> NWSL clubs will gain access to ‘intraleague loans’ of up to $1.065m, and expansion teams Boston and Denver will receive significantly more funding to build competitive rosters (More)

> Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica and Panama have reached the next round of the Concacaf qualifiers for the Fifa World Cup 26 (More) 

Rest of the World

> Jordan has qualified for the Fifa World Cup for the first time following a 3-0 victory against Oman (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think Tottenham were right to sack Ange Postecoglou, even after winning the Europa League?

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes... (31%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (68%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (1%)

Your punditry takes:

• 👍 B.W: “Winning the Europa League is great, but the overall season gets you fired. He did nothing to show that he was ready for the task this year, and giving him the keys to charge into Europe would not be great.”

• 👍 E.S: “It's pretty clear they made the right choice. Clean break, and the new manager can have the summer to prep the squad. Otherwise, I can't imagine this being anything but Ten Hag 2.0 if they kept him. A trophy doesn't save them from a disaster of a season.”

• 🙅‍♂️ J.R: “Spurs kept a hospital ward in business. Despite this, and despite all the negativity (including, presumably, Levy's), Angie kept us up and got us in the Champions League.”

• 🙅‍♂️ J.C: “Having delivered a trophy and a Champions League place, despite terrible injuries to his squad, Ange earned the right to at least start next season as manager. This is not like Ten Hag. Ange is already under contract, whilst Ten Hag was granted a new deal. Stability is most often key in clubs securing on-field success.”

• 🙅‍♂️ S.G: “Absolutely not! You don’t sack the coaching team that just delivered your first trophy in 17 years—and your first European title in generations. Sure, league form dipped, but let’s not ignore the injury crisis. Other teams may not use that excuse, but Tottenham had to adapt all season. When it counted—during that Europa League title run—they delivered. As an Arsenal fan, I have to say: classic Levy.”

EXTRA TIME

Will USL’s move to pro-rel threaten the MLS?

How the Glazer family cost Man United £1.2bn.

Will Xabi Alonso’s tactics work at Real Madrid? (video)

Michail Antonio documents his recovery from a road accident.

48-year-old Totti just scored from the halfway line.

The rise of classic football shirts shows no sign of fading.

How many footballers have been knighted?

GAME FACE ON

For which club have each of the following pairs of players been teammates?

• Dean Huijsen & Romelu Lukaku.

• Alexander Isak & Martin Odegaard.

• Raphinha & Eduardo Camavinga.

Scroll below for the answer.

Editor’s note: The trivia section will remain following our recent feedback poll—thanks to everyone who responded. If you’ve come across trivia that you love and would like us to feature the question, just hit reply to any of our emails and send it to our team!

ON TODAY

UEFA World Cup Qualifiers

• See all fixtures here.

CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifers

• Bolivia vs Chile (21:00)

*Times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.

Answer

Roma. Real Sociedad. Stade Rennes.

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