Carl Anka Welcome to a new series from The Athletic where we profile and speak to some of Manchester United’s most beloved cult heroes from the club’s modern era. Louis Saha thrived at linking play. Be that in the blue shirt of France or the red of Manchester United, the striker could get the ball from point […]
Rob Tanner It has been a whirlwind few months in the fledgling managerial career of Ruud van Nistelrooy. After a year off following a late-season departure from his first season in first-team coaching at PSV, Van Nistelrooy indicated he was ready to return to football. The former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker ended up […]
Oliver Glasner, Ruben Amorim and the 3-4-2-1: Why Crystal Palace are flourishing as Man Utd flounder
Matt Woosnam and Liam Tharme For just over an hour at Old Trafford on Sunday, Manchester United and Crystal Palace cancelled each other out. Managers Ruben Amorim and Oliver Glasner watched two fairly evenly-matched sides neutralise each other all over the pitch. Both teams had opportunities to score, even if neither was particularly on top. […]
The Athletic UK Staff Welcome to our wrap-up winter window edition of The Transfer DealSheet. Throughout the window, our team of dedicated writers, including David Ornstein, have taken you inside the market to explain the deals being worked on. The window closed for many leagues on February 3. The information found within this article has […]
Mark Puleo, Dan Duggan and more It’s hard enough when your favorite team’s best player leaves town. It’s even harder to watch that star player join a rival. And nothing in fandom compares to the pain of watching that star take the team you hate to heights your favorite club never reached. When a star […]
Mark Critchley and Laurie Whitwell For the first time in 20 years, Marcus Rashford is no longer a Manchester United player. With confirmation of his loan to Aston Villa coming late on Sunday evening, a relationship spanning two decades was put on pause, having come apart in the space of two months. A fresh start […]
The Athletic UK Staff The transfer window might have closed on Monday night, but the question marks remain. As you sit here on Tuesday morning, you might be left wondering about the business your team did — or in a lot of cases, didn’t do. Why have they not brought in that extra player? Why […]
Jacob Whitehead Premier League clubs have until tonight to complete their incoming transfer business — and this one is shaping up to be far busier than normal winter windows. A year ago, the major mid-season deals to be completed were Morgan Rogers’ arrival at Aston Villa from Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers’ Adam Wharton joining Crystal […]
Laurie Whitwell This piece was originally published on January 4, 2025. It has been updated to reflect the past month and the news that Marcus Rashford is close to joining Aston Villa on loan for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. It was a conversation with Ruben Amorim at the start of December that goes […]
The Athletic UK Staff Neymar has left Saudi Arabia. Antony has flown the coop — at least temporarily — from Old Trafford. Neither deal will be looked back upon particularly fondly. While the prices were sky-high for both players, it was the performances, or lack of them, that defined their spells at Al Hilal and […]