The final will be broadcast live on FRANCE 24 at 6pm CET.
PSG coach Luis Enrique said that there were “no favourites” going into the final against Mikel Arteta’s Premier League champions, and insisted that the devil will be “in the details”.
While the bookmakers do classify the Ligue 1 winners as favourites, they also suggest that this is the hardest final to call since 2018, when Real Madrid beat Liverpool.
Only one of the two sides has scored in each of the last seven finals, which may well be the case again at the Puskas Arena, given Arsenal’s likely approach.
The Gunners, unbeaten in the tournament, have kept nine clean sheets and conceded just six goals. Most expect that they will sit deep and try to punish PSG from set-pieces.
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“It’s going to be decided on the details,” said PSG captain Marquinhos, in agreement with his coach.
“How to defend, how to attack… how to defend a set piece, also how to attack a set piece.
“All the little details in a football match and in a final are going to be important.”
Arsenal’s players have played a lot more football this season than those from PSG, but winger Bukayo Saka dismissed the idea that his side might pay for their more arduous workload.
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“A game like this is not going to be decided on minutes, it’s going to be decided on moments,” said the England international.
Making history
Finally winning the Champions League for Arsenal would mean a lot, not only for the current team, but also players from previous generations who never managed to do it.
Patrick Vieira, a club icon and captain of their ‘invincibles’ side, sent current skipper Martin Odegaard a good luck video.
“It was special, he is a proper club legend for everything he’s done,” said Odegaard.
“Now we have the chance to do something that they haven’t done as well. It’s something nice to play for.”
In 2006, their only prior final appearance, Arsenal were beaten in the final in Paris by Barcelona, and they have lost their past four European finals.
Saka said that Gunners great Thierry Henry, part of the 2006 side, had also messaged him on Friday and was waiting for him in the stadium to watch Arsenal’s last training session before the final.
Henry is perhaps the highest profile of the tens of thousands of Arsenal fans travelling to Budapest, many soaking up the summer heat with drinks in hand in the city’s famous ruin bars.
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Luis Enrique could become one of just five managers to win the competition on three or more occasions, having first won it with Barcelona.
For his opposite number Arteta, who looked up to the Asturian as a player at Barcelona, he is already one of the best.
“He’s always been a reference (point) since he was a player,” said the Arsenal manager.
“He’s been an inspiration and tomorrow we’ll be clashing on that touchline.”
Beyond adding to Arsenal’s own trophy cabinet, the Gunners can also make history for English football after Aston Villa won the Europa League and Crystal Palace triumphed in the Conference League.
If Arteta’s team win, it would be the first time since the 1989-90 season – when Italy’s AC Milan won the European Cup, Juventus lifted the UEFA Cup and Sampdoria clinched Cup Winners’ Cup glory – that a nation has completed a European hat-trick.
PSG succeeding in Europe alone is significant for France. They would become the only French side with multiple European Cups.
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Only Zinedine Zidane‘s Real Madrid have won the trophy back-to-back in the modern era, lifting it three consecutive times between 2016-18.
Of course for the players, it is just about this match.
“It’s a match everyone wants to play in, it’s a match everyone watches, and it’s a match you have to win,” said PSG midfielder Joao Neves.
All great golf swings share at least one trait: They stay as close as possible to being on plane. For many weekend warriors, that’s a challenge — but this simple drill can help.
All you need is a club, a ball and two tees. Set up normally, then place one tee in the ground about a foot behind the ball. Next, stick the other tee into the butt end of your grip so it’s jutting out a couple inches.
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As you start your backswing, stop when your lead arm is parallel to the ground. (Instructors call this position P3.) The tee in the grip should point directly at the tee in the ground. If the butt of the grip points outside the tee (far side), then you’ll know the club is too shallow. If it points inside the tee (near side), it’s too steep.
Train yourself to point the butt of the grip to that target spot behind the ball every time you reach P3. When it does, you’ll know you’re on plane and in perfect position to put a solid strike on the ball.
Dr. Alison Curdt is a GOLF Top 100 Teacher and is the director of instruction at Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley, Calif
BUDAPEST — What about if Cristhian Mosquera hadn’t got his legs in a tangle? Imagine in that moment, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele hadn’t clicked as they so often have in every game other than this one. Maybe the pass got overhit for once or Mosquera got a foot to the ball instead.
That’ll be the question that haunts this team. Maybe not forever. When you are this good, this organizationally aligned and this able to improve in the transfer market, there is no reason to think they won’t be back in Madrid in 2027 or Munich in 2028. Arsenal have already proven they have the guts to go again and again. The cruel truth, though, is that they might not have to. That Bukayo Saka was right when he said the game would be decided in moments but there was just that one for Paris Saint-Germain to balance out theirs.
Could Arsenal really have held on to the lead Kai Havertz won them in such thunderous fashion? There really was little else in the 90 minutes that would have you believe they couldn’t. A moment or two where Arsenal were similarly jittery, Kvaratskhelia breaking away from William Saliba only to tire under pursuit and see his shot cannon off the post via Myles Lewis-Skelly. A last push for a winner at the end of 90 minutes, where Bradley Barcola stayed high and nearly got something on the counter. That was your lot.
Arsenal were so close to perfection. If they weren’t erring, PSG were getting nothing. Europe’s finest attacking force were made to look as toothless as Burnley. Wait, no, that’s an exaggeration. Michael Jackson’s men came back from the Emirates Stadium last week, having put up shots worth 1.29 non-penalty expected goals. PSG’s tally when you strike out the Dembele penalty was just 0.84. From their perspective, this was also remarkably low, a tally that this season they have dropped below only in two Ligue 1 games.
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Arsenal’s xG was not all that high either but then Mikel Arteta didn’t need his team to chase this match right the way through. The squiggly lines you’ll see above don’t tell the story of how well Arsenal did. They are entitled to play the game as they want. They came to win the Champions League and they came incredibly close. It is not their job to captivate the neutrals, though those who cannot admire a team as organised and ferocious as Arsenal might need to prove their ball knowledge. Ultimately, this was the sort of six of one, half a dozen of the other game that could only be decided from 12 yards out.
Arteta knew he could not have asked for more.
“What I said to the players and the staff is that if I tell them thank you a million times, it won’t be enough. It’s not because we won the Premier League. It’s not because we played the cup final, because we played the Champions League final in the manner we did. It’s because of the joy and the moments we have lived together every single day. That’s above anything else,” he said.
Still, they were so close to the best of those days. And maybe closer than many expected. The natural inclination for anyone looking at a game like this is to unleash something akin to combined XI brain. PSG had comfortably the better attack, two-thirds of a superior midfield and fullbacks you’d die for. Why wouldn’t they win this? Well, because this game isn’t attack vs. attack. It’s attack vs. defense. And football history has at most a handful of defenses that have sustained Arsenal’s level for this long.
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Their rearguard was brilliant. Gabriel was his customary self whenever PSG got the ball in the box, an achievement in itself. Flying into challenges with the ferocity that so entranced this club six years ago but that aggression now wholly focused on the ball. Whenever his teammates need him, he stepped up, dropped back or hurled himself into the line of fire. He is the Arsenal project writ large: shrewd recruitment, exceptional player development, incredible at set pieces and a ferocious competitor to the last.
It could not have been crueller that he was the one to miss the decisive penalty. Just as it felt brutal that Mosquera should concede the penalty. There was no disputing that he had made a calamitous error; it was just that for so much of the hour that preceded his tackle, Arsenal’s third-choice right back had been infuriating, arguably the best player in this season’s Champions League.
Time and time again, Kvaratskhelia looked for space and found that Mosquera, dropping deep and wide, was only prepared to cede the areas he wanted. If the Georgian wanted to drive to the byline and lob a cross in, he could be Arsenal’s guest. When he did try to drive into the box, he hit a wall. No way around it either, with Saka dropping back to help out. The same was true on the opposite flank, where Leandro Trossard and Piero Hincapie had Desire Doue locked up. This was not even the A team at the back, either. Riccardo Calafiori had been banged up in the week and, despite Arteta’s insistence to the contrary on Friday, Jurrien Timber had not been fit enough to start at right back.
Then again, this was more than just a back four effort. For an hour, Martin Odegaard struggled to get the possession he needed but his work without the ball was exceptional. As something of the line backer of this Arsenal rearguard, it looked like he was calling out PSG’s deep passes before they came, easing the defensive line from one side to another, gumming up progression lines that went through Vitinha. Havertz too did yeoman’s work with and without the ball.
Should Arsenal have offered more to add to the goal he fired high over Matvey Safonov? Certainly. It is natural that they wanted to go over the PSG man-to-man press at every opportunity but David Raya going long with 35 of his 37 passes was comfortably in the realms of perverse. Too often, any opportunity to build possession died because Havertz could not win the aerial duel, hold the ball up and bring his teammates into play all at once. When the openings came for Saka late in the second half, he just couldn’t find the guile to get a good shot away.
As was the case last year, the solution to what ails Arsenal when they are beaten by the best teams, they just need a few more of the game-breaking attackers that the other guys have. What this team could do with a Kvaratskhelia of their own. What they did to him, too.
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Arsenal, champions of England, a club who have restored hope to a bereft fanbase, really did give themselves an almighty shot at immortality. They demanded perfection of themselves, just as they knew PSG would of them. How close they came.
Paris Saint-Germain confirmed their place among Europe’s greatest football clubs after successfully defending their UEFA Champions League title.
The French giants defeated Arsenal 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final played in Budapest. The victory came a year after their impressive 5-0 win over Inter Milan in Munich.
PSG became the first team since Real Madrid’s run of three consecutive titles between 2016 and 2018 to retain the trophy. They are also only the second club to achieve the feat in the Champions League era, which began in 1993.
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In the competition’s 71-year history, PSG are now just the 10th club to win the European title in successive seasons.
Head coach Luis Enrique expressed his delight after the victory.
“I’m feeling many emotions – excitement, tiredness and happiness. This is the best moment of the season. We are still champions and have won it twice in a row. It’s incredible,” he said.
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Ten of the outfield players who started against Arsenal were also in the starting line-up for last year’s final against Inter Milan. The only change was goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, who replaced Gianluigi Donnarumma following his move to Manchester City last summer.
Over the past two seasons, PSG have dominated both domestic and European competitions. They have won eight of the 10 trophies available to them, missing out only on last year’s Club World Cup and this season’s French Cup.
If they win the Champions League again next season, PSG will become only the fifth club to lift the trophy three years in a row. However, they remain some distance from the record set by Real Madrid, who won five consecutive European Cups between 1956 and 1960.
Football journalist Julien Laurens believes this triumph may be even more satisfying than last year’s success.
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“Last season was special, but this victory will mean even more because they had to fight hard and come from behind. Against Inter, things were much easier. Winning back-to-back titles puts them among the greatest teams in football history,” he said.
The second day of the seventh NMPA Indian Open of Surfing 2026, a crucial stop on the national surfing series and a significant event in the selection of the Indian team for the 2026 Asian Games, greeted competitors with cool breezes and clear, sunny skies. A total of six quarterfinals and six semifinals were contested today across five different categories.
The penultimate day of the national championship witnessed one of its most significant contests as the Men’s Open quarterfinals delivered intense action on the waves. Kerala’s Ramesh Budihal topped the standings with an impressive score of 14.83, while Srikanth D followed closely with 13.00. Teenage sensation Kishore Kumar (11.80), Ajeesh Ali (9.93), Sanjay Selvamani (9.57) and Sivaraj Babu (8.76) also secured their places in the semifinals after strong performances across the heats.
The day resumed with the action in Men’s Open category which saw 24 surfers compete across six heats of the second round for quarterfinal berths. Kishore Kumar topped the qualifiers with a score of 14.17, followed by Ajeesh Ali (13.33) and Ramesh Budihal (13.00). Also advancing were Sanjay Selvamani (11.27), Srikanth D (11.00), Sivaraj Babu (10.23), Tayin Arun (9.80), Naveenkumar R (8.10), Harish M (7.83), Som Sethi (7.77), Ruban V (7.57) and Sanjaikumar S (7.20), showcasing skilful rides, technical manoeuvres and confident wave selection in challenging conditions.
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The second category in action was the Surfing Juniors 18 & Under Male, where 12 surfers competed across three quarterfinal heats for a place in the semifinals scheduled for the final day of competition. The young surfers put on an impressive display, with Harish P (13.60), Tayin Arun (12.67), Som Sethi (12.00) and Yogesh A (11.34) emerging as the top performers to secure semifinal berths. They will be joined by Prahlad Sriram (9.40) and Pradeep Pujar (6.56), who also advanced after strong performances in their respective heats.
Overnight rains made the conditions more unpredictable today, making wave selection and positioning crucial. It’s encouraging to see the top surfers rise to the challenge, and with the Asian Games venue also being a beach break, this event is offering valuable insights ahead of Team India selection,” said, Nawaz Jabbar, Competition Director, NMPA IOS 2026.
The Surfing Juniors 18 & Under Female semifinals saw Kamali Moorthy emerge as the standout performer, posting an impressive score of 12.44 to comfortably secure her place in the final. Joining her in tomorrow’s title-deciding contest are Aadya Singh (7.50), Saanvi Hegde (5.30) and Dhamayanthi Sriram (4.27), who also advanced with solid performances in the semifinals.
The day also featured the semifinals of the Surfing Juniors U-14 Boys and Girls categories, popularly known as the Groms division, where some of the country’s youngest surfers showcased their talent in highly competitive heats. In the boys’ category, Harish P led the qualifiers with an impressive score of 14.40, followed by Sheik Davudh S (13.00), Yogesh A (9.40) and Prahlad Sriram (7.27), all of whom advanced to the final. In the girls’ division, Dhamayanthi Sriram (9.50) and Sanvita Kundar (5.10) secured the top two spots, while Arabolu Nethra (1.00) and Gauri Srimushnam (0.50) also booked their places in the final.
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The championship is being organised by the Mantra Surf Club and Surfing Swami Foundation under the aegis of the Surfing Federation of India (SFI), with support from the Government of Karnataka and the Karnataka Surfing Association. The New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA) has returned as the
title sponsor for a third consecutive year, while Cycle Pure Agarbatti and Deconstruct Skincare continue their association as Gold Sponsors, underlining the growing institutional and corporate support behind the development of surfing in India.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a press release)
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Delhi vs Mumbai IPL 2026: Fans Flood Arun Jaitley Stadium for High-Voltage Clash
Scotland have been dealt a blow to their World Cup 2026 preparation as influential midfielder Billy Gilmour has been ruled out of the tournament due to injury.
The 24-year-old suffered a knee issue during Scotland’s 4-1 victory over Curacao at Hampden Park on Saturday and sank to the turf unchallenged before calling for the physios.
After receiving some treatment on the pitch, Gilmour was substituted off before the end of the first half and departing the playing surface unaided. That raised hopes that his injury was not a serious issue but following further tests the decision has been made to rule him out for the tournament which begins in two week’s time.
Gilmour will now return to his domestic club, Napoli, for rehabilitation.
The Scotland National Team announced the news on social media and posted a statement on X, formerly Twitter. It reads: “We regret to announce that the knee injury sustained by Billy Gilmour in today’s win over Curacao will rule him out of participation in @FIFAWorldCup.
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“We’re all with you, Billy.”
Gilmour had initially been called up to Scotland’s 26-man squad by manager Steve Clarke and looked set to play a crucial role in the team’s World Cup campaign alongside Napoli teammate Scott McTominay in the middle of the pitch.
Clarke said: “I am devastated for Billy because he has been an integral part of our World Cup qualifying campaign. The timing of this injury is so, so cruel and we all feel for him.
“He knows what we all think of him as a footballer and a person and while no words will give him any comfort tonight, I am certain Billy will have many major tournaments ahead of him in the future.”
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Scotland next play a warm-up game against Bolivia on June 6 before their first World Cup game against Haiti in Boston on June 14.
The United States’ men’s national team already has a major injury question mark before the 2026 FIFA World Cup even kicks off.
Chris Richards, the 26-year-old who many believe is the best defender on the USMNT heading into the tournament, won’t be traveling for the team’s international friendly against Senegal on Sunday.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino said that Richards is dealing with an ankle injury that has kept him out of Crystal Palace’s last two matches of the season. And even worse for fans, there’s currently no public timetable for his return.
Chris Richards of the United States prepares before the Gold Cup match against Haiti at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on June 22, 2025. The United States won 2-1.(Shaun Clark/Getty Images)
“I think he needs to keep doing his rehab,” Pochettino said, per the New York Post. “I think it’s much better to stay here and plan to train and [see] next week how it is.”
The “here” Pochettino speaks of is the USMNT training facility in Atlanta, which is where Richards is staying while his teammates head to Charlotte, North Carolina, for their matchup with Senegal.
Richards also wasn’t present for the team’s 26-man roster reveal in New York City last week, sending a video message instead as he stayed with Crystal Palace for its European final match in Germany. He didn’t play in the match despite being available as a sub.
Richards has yet to train with the USMNT, and Pochettino didn’t appear too optimistic he would be ready for the team’s first match against Paraguay on June 12 in Los Angeles.
Chris Richards, wearing jersey number 3, plays for the United States during an international friendly soccer match against Japan at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 9, 2025.(Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
“I was asking from yesterday when he arrived to [assistant coach] Jesús [Pérez] 100 times, ‘What do you think, what do you think, which formation we have’” Pochettino explained. “Wait, wait, wait, wait. The answer was ‘Wait, wait, wait.’ It’s too early. We need to see. The next few days are going to be key to see the possibilities to be ready or not for the World Cup.”
While it’s not expected Richards will be taken off the roster, FIFA requires all 48 teams to finalize their 26-man squads by June. Teams can still make injury-related roster changes up to 24 hours before their first match.
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The USMNT will try to get their chemistry and technical skills in check against Senegal, while also facing Germany in a pre-World Cup friendly before heading to Los Angeles for the start of their Group D schedule.
After Paraguay, the U.S. will have Australia in Seattle on June 19, followed by Türkiye in their final group stage match on June 25 back at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Chris Richards trains with the United States men’s national soccer team at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Training Ground in Marietta, Ga., on March 26, 2026.(John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
But a significant question mark remains at one of the most important positions on the field for the USMNT: center back. Richards is a natural fit there, but the depth behind him is far less convincing, even after Pochettino sacrificed some attacking options to bolster the defense on his roster.
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Richards was expected to start every match for the U.S. even before the roster was finalized, so it will be interesting to see how his injury progresses closer to the first match on June 12.
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings agreed to terms Saturday on a contract with Seattle Seahawks assistant Nolan Teasley to be their general manager, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been finalized with Teasley, who has spent his entire 13-year NFL career with Seattle. During that span, the Seahawks made the playoffs nine times, reached three Super Bowls, and won two of them including the most recent one in February.
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Teasley was promoted in 2023 to assistant GM by president of football operations and general manager John Schneider, who was the architect of both of those championship teams. After the Vikings decided not to re-sign quarterback Sam Darnold last year, he joined the Seahawks and helped them become champions.
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Teasley will replace Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who was fired in January after four years in the role. Adofo-Mensah was an outside-of-the-box hire, bringing economics degrees and Wall Street experience to the world of pro football. Vikings owners Mark Wilf and Zygi Wilf were first seeking more of a collaborator with this hire, a leader who could better bridge between the personnel department and the coaching staff, but all of their external candidates had traditional scouting backgrounds.
Watching Darnold lead the Seahawks to the Super Bowl, after he won 14 games in 2024 in his lone season with the Vikings, also undoubtedly played some part for the Wilf family in the dismissal of Adofo-Mensah.
Teasley was among five finalists who met in person this week with Vikings leadership during the second round of interviews, beating out current Vikings executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski, Denver Broncos assistant general manager Reed Burckhardt, Buffalo Bills assistant general manager Terrance Gray, and Los Angeles Rams assistant general manager John McKay.
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Brzezinski, who directed the draft last month while serving as interim general manager, has been with the Vikings since 1999 and rose to the top through his expertise in salary cap management and player contract negotiation. Brzezinski, who is widely respected in the organization and throughout the league, will remain in his role alongside Teasley and coach Kevin O’Connell, a trio the Wilfs will entrust to bring the Vikings their first championship.
Teasley was the only finalist without ties to the Vikings. Burckhardt and Gray both previously worked as scouts for the Vikings. O’Connell previously worked for the Rams. Gray, McKay and Teasley took part in the NFL’s accelerator program that was revamped with a rollout at the league meetings earlier this month.
Teasley is a Washington native who graduated from Central Washington University in 2007 with a degree in public relations, working in marketing before making the jump to the NFL and joining the Seahawks as an intern in the scouting department in 2013. He became director of pro personnel in 2018.
Adofo-Mensah and Ryan Poles were the only two finalists who had in-person interviews for the vacancy in 2022 after the firing of Rick Spielman. Poles was hired by the Chicago Bears instead and remains in that job for the defending NFC North champions.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has released the fixtures for the Women’s Round of 16 of the 2026 President Federation Cup, with matches scheduled to take place at different centres across the country on June 2.
Defending champions Rivers Angels will face Abia Angels in one of the biggest matches of the round in Eket, Akwa Ibom State.
Another exciting clash will see South-West rivals FC Robo Queens take on Remo Stars Ladies in Akure.
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In Awka, Edo Queens will battle Delta Queens in a tough encounter, while Bayelsa Queens will meet Ibom Angels in another highly anticipated game.
Elsewhere, Naija Ratels will go up against last year’s runners-up Nasarawa Amazons in Kaduna.
The Round of 16 matches are expected to deliver exciting football as clubs compete for places in the quarter-finals of Nigeria’s biggest women’s football competition.
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Full Fixtures • Rivers Angels vs Abia Angels — Eket, Akwa Ibom (4pm) • FC Robo Queens vs Remo Stars Ladies — Akure (1pm) • Ahudiyannem Queens vs Heartland Queens — Enugu (1pm) • Ibom Angels vs Bayelsa Queens — Awka (1pm) • Plateau United Queens vs Sunshine Queens — Abuja (4pm) • Confluence Queens vs Esthington FC — Enugu (4pm) • Delta Queens vs Edo Queens — Awka (4pm) • Naija Ratels vs Nasarawa Amazons — Kaduna (4pm)
Manchester City have their top transfer targets but their summer will also depend on which players in the current squad want to leave
Enzo Maresca will inherit a strong Manchester City squad. Under Pep Guardiola this season, they won two trophies and also pushed Arsenal into the final week of the Premier League season, with the Champions League the only major disappointment.
As City chased silverware in the final two months of the campaign, Guardiola made few changes as he largely settled on a best XI that – other than Bernardo Silva – will all still be here for the new manager. Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo have made the summer transfer window easier with the way they instantly settled into the starting lineup after their January moves.
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How busy City are over the next few months will largely be guided by how many others in the squad want to stay though. Guardiola’s decision not to significantly rotate had a knock-on effect for many others in the group that saw them get little game time, giving them personal disappointment to end the campaign.
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As City players assess their options, there will be a number who at least think about whether the Etihad is still the right place for them going forward.
Savinho
For the second consecutive summer, Tottenham are interested in the Brazilian winger and City haven’t immediately turned them away. They did ultimately last season, but it has been another frustrating campaign for the 22-year-old that saw him even fail to make the 55-man longlist for the Brazil World Cup squad.
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There is still time for things to click and Maresca could revitalise him – he always looks better on the left rather than the right – but equally there is a clear opportunity for a change of Premier League environment that could be the spark that Savinho needs. With Jeremy Doku having his best season and Semenyo fresh competition, Savinho has to decide if he wants the fight at City or a new challenge elsewhere.
James Trafford
Trafford has done very well this season to retain if not enhance his value given that he was replaced as No.1 after three league games. He has impressed in the limited opportunities he has had and won two trophies at Wembley in his role as cup keeper as well as earning a spot at the World Cup with England as third-choice keeper.
The 23-year-old has been thinking about an exit for some time given he wants to be No.1 for club and country, and is not short of interest in England and Europe. At the same time, the arrival of Maresca back at City may give him pause for thought given the two had a strong relationship when they were in the academy together.
Nico Gonzalez
Nico Gonzalez has had the bigest fall from grace of any City player this season. Nobody made more consecutive starts than him as he clocked up 15 in the first part of the campaign, but by the end of it he was left out of matchday squads entirely; missing the FA Cup final completely after scoring a banging winner in the semi must have hurt.
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Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package
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Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.
Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.
Eighteen months since signing for £49m, Gonzalez still doesn’t really have a role in the squad and he and Maresca will have to work out how to get the best out of him on a regular basis – or if anyone is best served with a move.
Josko Gvardiol
The silver lining for Josko Gvardiol’s season is that he has recovered in time for the World Cup. There was a chance that his broken leg could have seen him miss the summer tournament but he worked hard to return in four months rather than the six it could have been.
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Gvardiol has the chance to show on the biggest stage once again that he is one of the best defenders in the world, and that will only enhance his appeal to the best clubs in the game that have recognised he is yet to sign a new deal at the Etihad. There are still two years on his contract, but this would be the last summer for City to get big money for him if he makes it clear he wants to look elsewhere after a bruising two years in English football.
Omar Marmoush
Marmoush hit the ground running when he signed in January 2025 but this season has been a write-off. Being back-up to Erling Haaland is a role with a limited shelf life because of the frustration that comes with not playing, and makes being asked to contribute without any rhythm so much harder.
There is every chance that Marmoush vows to turn things around and force his way back into the team next season, but at the same time, looking over to Spain to see how Julian Alvarez has flourished since being Haaland’s No.2 will make a move seem more attractive.
Rico Lewis
It was a dream start to the season for Lewis, shunning a move to Forest and earning a new City contract after a standout performance in the opening game. Things very quickly went downhill though and he has barely been seen in the second half of the season, with the writing seemingly on the wall for his City career unless there is a shock U-turn.
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Lewis had been seen as a player similar to Bernardo Silva so could try his chances of filling in for that role, but with Elliot Anderson likely to be on his way that is the more likely destination for most of Silva’s minutes. Lewis has had plenty of time to consider a move and it feels like he needs a new start somewhere.
Rodri
City don’t want him to move on but he is approaching the final 12 months of his contract and heading to the World Cup without signing a new deal. Similar to Gvardiol, as he goes away with his national team, he will have to think about whether the brutal schedule in England is still something he thinks is best for his body or if there are other routes to challenging for major trophies that will give him a better chance of avoiding injuries.
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