Arsenal paid for Guimarães after losing Vinícius

When Real Madrid tied Vinícius Júnior down until 2032, London was left with a full budget and an empty list. The answer came within days: Bruno Guimarães signed a four-year contract with an option for one more season. The Brazilian made 195 appearances for Newcastle, 31 goals and 32 assists, and was a central figure in winning the League Cup in the 2024/25 season - a trophy the club had waited seven decades for. Newcastle did not want to sell and rejected a first offer of 60 million pounds. Then the player himself said where he wanted to go, and the story was over. Another reminder that in modern football the contract is written by lawyers, but the decision is made by the man in the boots.

Rodri costs more than Barcelona wants to pay

Barcelona offered 38.5 million pounds for Rodri. Manchester City refused and is asking for over 60 million. City's problem is that his contract expires in June 2027 - meaning next summer the player can walk away without a single euro in compensation. So the club with the strongest balance in England sits in a position where time works against it, and still insists on a premium price. Real Madrid, meanwhile, waits in the shadows with 43 million ready. Rodri won the Ballon d'Or for his role in Spain's world title, and in Manchester he collected four Premier League titles, the Champions League, two FA Cups and three League Cups. Who blinks first - the club with the money or the club with the time?

Ferran Torres to PSG, Barcelona charges for what it lost

According to Spanish sources, Ferran Torres has agreed a four-year contract with PSG, and the French are ready to pay around 50 million euros. This is no ordinary transfer - Torres scored the decisive goal for Spain in the final against Argentina. PSG is emptying its cabinet after the departures of Gonçalo Ramos, Lee Kang-in and Randal Kolo Muani, so an attacker has to be bought. For Barcelona the maths is different: had they extended his contract, they would have owed another 8 million euros to Manchester City, on top of the 55 already paid plus 10 million in bonuses. Thirty-one goals last season, but also 14 matches without a goal between late January and mid-April. The Catalans sell when the price is good, not when the form is good - that is the difference between a club that plans and a club that reacts.

The derby at the National Arena: Shkëndija arrives with an empty bench

Today at 5 p.m. at the National Arena, Vardar and Shkëndija play the biggest derby of the second round. From the Tetovo camp comes word that coach Artim Polozhani will be without at least four players. Babucarr Gaye and Bojan Dimoski are still injured, Sebastian Spahiu has joined them, and goalkeeper Amzai's availability is in doubt - so Ramani, who performed well in Edinburgh, is expected in goal. And here lies the real dilemma: on Thursday Shkëndija face the return leg against Hibernian in the third qualifying round of the Conference League. Will the coach go for the win with everything he has left, or save the energy for Europe? If he chooses the latter, the derby will be won by the calendar, not by a team.

Dimitrievski kept goal in a match defined by a red card

Valencia lost to Newcastle 1:2 in a friendly in which Macedonian international Stole Dimitrievski was in goal for the Spanish side. Valencia went ahead through Ugrinić in the fifth minute and played well - until, in the 36th minute, captain Gayà went in studs-first straight into Elanga. The referee showed a red card immediately, and the Newcastle forward had to be carried off on a stretcher. A man down, the second half was a formality: Yoane Wissa scored in the 52nd and 76th minutes to turn it around. This is a friendly in August - a match that carries not a single point. And that is exactly why Gayà's challenge is harder to excuse, not easier: what are you risking somebody else's career for, in a game nobody will remember by the score?