Ronaldo named the year: „Probably the last”

At 41, Cristiano Ronaldo has finally said out loud what everyone had been working out with a calendar in hand. „This is probably my last year of football and I want to leave a spectacular legacy”, he told an American magazine, a few days after marrying Georgina Rodriguez on 11 August. Five Ballons d'Or, three Manchester United titles, four Champions League trophies with Real Madrid, two Scudetti with Juventus - and he is writing the final chapter at Al Nassr, where he has 123 goals in 142 matches and a single title, won only last season. His contract runs another year. So this is not a farewell but an announced farewell - the difference being that the second sells better.

Arsenal 3:0 City, and the goal came before the crowd sat down

At Arsenal, the season started in 23 seconds. Riccardo Calafiori struck against Manchester City at the start of the Community Shield after an assist from Myles Lewis-Skelly, the first goal in the opening minute of this fixture since 1968. Then Kai Havertz with a header from a Christos Tzolis cross, then Martin Odegaard before half-time from a low pass - 3:0 before the break. City had one shot from Phil Foden in the 20th minute that David Raya saved, and a miss from Erling Haaland. For Arsenal this is a first Community Shield since 2023. The trophy is the smallest in England, but the way it fell says more than the cup itself.

Chelsea is worth 5 billion pounds and still has no shirt sponsor

Todd Boehly and Mark Walter are negotiating to sell their stakes in Chelsea to majority owner Clearlake Capital, in a deal that would value the club at over 5 billion pounds. The two hold 12.8 percent each, Clearlake 61.5 percent, and Swiss businessman Hansjorg Wyss holds the rest. Just four years ago the same consortium bought the club for 2.5 billion. Their money has doubled - while on the pitch Chelsea has missed the Champions League in three of the last four seasons, has no shirt sponsor and no solution for the stadium. When the valuation rises while the results fall, this is no longer a football club but a financial product with grass underneath it.

Rodri lands in Barcelona: 76.5 million and one sentence

Rodri arrived in Barcelona and immediately delivered the sentence they paid for. „It is a dream to play for Barca. Now we go for the Champions League and everything else that comes our way”, the Spain international said. The fixed fee is 60 million euros, rising with bonuses to 76.5 million. That is less than the 80 million Manchester City paid for him in 2019 when it prised him from Atletico Madrid - meaning City is selling the player who brought it dominance for less, seven years on. The question nobody in Catalonia is asking out loud: how many matches is a knee worth that has already given way once?

2.5 billion in one summer: England is playing alone against Europe

Premier League clubs have spent 2.50 billion euros this summer, with two weeks still to go before the window closes. For comparison: Serie A spent 912 million, La Liga 602 million, the Bundesliga 591 million, Ligue 1 - 482 million. England alone is spending more than the other four big leagues put together. Chelsea leads with 407 million, Tottenham with 267, Arsenal and City with 177 each. But the most interesting part is the bottom of the list: Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton and Leeds all broke their club records, and so did the three newcomers - Coventry, Hull and Ipswich. When even the bottom of the table is spending at record levels, the word „competition” in European football is slowly becoming an archaism.