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Spanish full-back on moving on from the Emirates Stadium, his elation at his old club ending their title drought, and how Mikel Arteta has helped prolong his careerOne day when he was 18 or 19, still near the start of his journey, Héctor Bellerín got a call from Mikel Arteta inviting him round. He remembers asking lunch or dinner but this was neither. “When I arrived that afternoon, he was sitting with a financial adviser and they started to ask: ‘How much do you spend on this?’ ‘How much do you spend on that?’. I was young, I’d just started to make money and spend money: on clothes, cars, the things we all do when you’re not really aware. I was pitching low. I felt embarrassed, ashamed, but I left with a lesson in humility and affection.“Mikel was the first player who showed me that I was important to him, that I mattered. He demonstrates real care, if not through a hug. I said: ‘Thank you.’ He said: ‘If you do the same for a teammate one day I’m happy.’ The legacy he left is one I try to pass on so young players feel looked after and that’s an experience that defines Mikel very well.” Continue reading...

Plus: worst-ever penalty shoot outs, poachers turned gamekeepers … and footballers donating antiques?!Mail us with your all of your questions and answers“Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s final game of last season was for York City against Rochdale in the National League. His first competitive game of 2026-27 season was for Hearts against Sturm Graz in a Champions League qualifier. Has a player ever made a bigger leap in competitive levels between consecutive club games?” asks Tom Reed.Does a jump from the Welsh League to the FA Cup count as a bigger leap? Probably not, but this was an FA Cup semi-final, rather than a Champions League qualifier, and it’s a cracking yarn regardless. “I’ll nominate Gary Plumley,” writes Russell Connor. “Gary made almost 200 appearances for Newport County in four separate spells over the course of a decade but by 1987 he had effectively retired and was running a wine bar while making occasional appearances for Ebbw Vale in the Welsh League.Steve Baines, the only referee in the English professional leagues to have had significant experience as a player.Dick Jol, who refereed the 2001 Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Valencia.Ben Haverkort, who as a player received 73 yellow cards and six reds, many for verbally abusing referees. Continue reading...

Team finished second bottom in men’s competitionInsiders insist team’s ‘light calendar’ a significant factorEngland’s worst Six Nations performance has contributed to the Rugby Football Union expecting a £10m loss in the financial year ending June 2026, the Guardian can reveal.Steve Borthwick oversaw a miserable campaign in which England lost four of their five matches, ensuring a fifth-place finish in the Six Nations table and reduced prize money on the back of what the RFU has described as a “hugely disappointing” competition. Continue reading...

World No 2 pulls out of ATP Masters 1000 event in CincinnatiSpaniard has been sidelined since April with ongoing wrist injuryCarlos Alcaraz has pulled out of the Cincinnati Open due to an ⁠ongoing wrist injury, casting fresh doubts over the Spaniard’s fitness ahead of his ⁠US Open title ⁠defence this ​month.The seven-times Grand Slam champion has been sidelined since withdrawing from the Barcelona Open second round in April ⁠but had been set to return at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, which he won last ⁠year. Continue reading...

John Longmire opens up on booing during player’s final years‘I should have threatened to pull our players off the ground’Former Sydney Swans coach John Longmire has opened up on his regret for not doing more to support Adam Goodes in the final years of his career, as the two-time Brownlow medallist faced “diabolical, almost unforgivable” treatment.Writing in his autobiography released this week, Longmire said the final years of Goodes’s career were a source of regret. Continue reading...

WTA event win earns 21-year-old a presidential reception in the Philippines as interest in tennis surges in home countryThe Philippines has been swept up in tennis fever after 21-year-old rising star Alex Eala delivered a historic win, drawing praise from the president who hosted a reception in her honour.On Monday, Eala became the first player from the Philippines to win a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour-level singles title. Continue reading...

Former world No 2 would like golf to ‘go back to old times’ if LIV folds‘I’d hate to see it go away,’ Australian says of rebel tourCameron Smith wants LIV Golf to survive but if it doesn’t, he would “100%” return to the PGA Tour.“I mean, if it was the only option, I think that’s where everyone would want to ⁠be for sure, 100%,” the Australian former world No 2 said ahead of this week’s LIV Golf New York event. “It would go back to old times.” Continue reading...

Briton withdrew from Wimbledon with bruised boneDraper in tears during 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 loss to Térence AtmaneJack Draper was in tears during a first-round comeback defeat by Térence Atmane at the Canadian Open.The Briton was competing for the first time since pulling out of Wimbledon with a recurrence of a bruised bone in his left arm, and was beaten 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in Montreal. Continue reading...

Club chair says forward will have medical on WednesdayEgypt international left Liverpool after nine yearsThe Turkish Super Lig side Trabzonspor say they have begun transfer ⁠negotiations with Mohamed Salah, with the club chair adding they hoped to sign the Egypt forward later this week.“Negotiations have been launched ⁠to transfer professional footballer ⁠Mohamed Salah, ​who is in a free status, to our club,” the club said in a statement. Continue reading...

Gianni Infantino is under increasing scrutiny following his World Cup sell-off plan. We look at each confederation’s relationship with the presidentThe pressure is growing on the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, with many countries withdrawing their support following the bungled World Cup sell-off. However, how key is Infantino’s relationship with each confederation and is it likely that an election contest will actually happen? We look at the key considerations, confederation by confederation. Continue reading...