Arsenal ended up without a striker, Liverpool without a right back, and Vardar without Gerson Rodrigues

Arsenal chased a striker until the last day and ended up without one

When a club tries for Julián Álvarez in the same summer, enquires about Victor Osimhen, pushes for Vinícius Júnior and finally sends the assistant coach to test the ground with Lautaro Martínez - that is no longer a strategy, that is panic with a good budget. According to the Daily Mail, Gabriel Heinze asked the Argentine striker directly whether he would come to London. Inter did not want to hear it: Martínez's contract runs to 2029, and the 29-year-old has 175 goals in 378 matches across all competitions. Álvarez, meanwhile, said openly that he only wants Barcelona, and Atlético refused to negotiate with a league rival. Arsenal brought in Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle and opened the season with 3:0 against Coventry and 1:0 away at Aston Villa. But the player who settles tight matches in April - he did not arrive.

Liverpool are waiting for Conor Bradley, and Carragher says that is a mistake

Jamie Carragher did not hold back: "They have made an enormous mistake." His point is simple and painfully logical - Jeremie Frimpong is not a right back but a winger playing there, and the club spent the whole summer waiting on an injured player instead of buying a solution. "I would wait for Trent to come back, I would wait for Robertson. But I don't think you should wait for Conor," says the former defender. "Liverpool are one of the biggest clubs in the world - you cannot wait." Andoni Iraola is now choosing between Frimpong, Dominik Szoboszlai and Ronald Araújo for the trip to Ipswich. Joe Gomez is injured. It is similar on the left: Carragher described Miloš Kerkez as "the Darwin Núñez of full backs". A club with that budget that spent the whole summer investing forward and left both flanks unfilled - that is not thrift, that is gambling.

UEFA has worked out how to turn a debut into a product

From this season every footballer stepping onto the pitch for the first time in the Champions League will wear a small badge on the sleeve - the word "debut" built into the familiar starball logo. The condition is playing, not being on the teamsheet: a substitute who comes on gets it, one who sat all 90 minutes has to wait. After the match the badge is removed, authenticated and sent to Topps, where it becomes a unique card with the player's autograph. UEFA and Fanatics simultaneously extended their deal for six years, from 2027 to 2033, for all club competitions. The idea is borrowed from American baseball, where it has run since 2023. The question nobody in the press release asks is who this serves: the 19-year-old debutant, or the market that turns his first touch of the ball into merchandise before the match has even ended?

Vardar and Gerson Rodrigues: the loudest signing lasted one summer

The story that was supposed to be the biggest name in Macedonian football ended before autumn began. Gerson Rodrigues, the Luxembourg international, is officially no longer a Vardar player - the club and the player parted a few months after the grand unveiling. Speculation that something would go wrong started back in May. Vardar meanwhile gets on with the job on the pitch without him: in the Macedonian Cup they beat Ovče Pole 5:0 and eased into the last sixteen, with a debut goal from Diabaté and the new coach in the stands. The question few in Skopje will answer out loud is whether there was any plan around that transfer at all, or just a signature under a good-sounding name.

Gaštarov is knocking on the national team's door

Matej Gaštarov has forced himself on Albert Riera at Red Star so convincingly that Serbian media reported he will soon get his first call-up to Macedonia's senior squad. Goce Sedloski has announced a longer list for the Nations League and room for new names - in the team and in the coaching staff. That is the normal route: you play at a club everybody watches, and the call comes on its own. In 2026 the Macedonian national team is still waiting for its first goal, a sentence that on its own says more than any analysis. If a new name scores it, the discussion about a generational change will stop being theoretical.