Alexis Mac Allister will be looking to be "remunerated properly" at a critical stage of his career, says Liverpool fan, Joel Richards. BBC Radio Merseyside discussed the midfielder's comments on Tuesday, where he told the media that he is "very sad" not to have been offered a new deal by the club. "He's at an age now, 27, where his next contract is going to be the biggest one of his career," Richards said.
Arsenal fans ‘forget’ how ‘important’ Gabriel Martinelli was at times, says Freddie Ljungberg (Picture: Getty) Freddie Ljungberg has questioned Arsenal fans’ treatment of Gabriel Martinelli, accusing supporters of ‘forgetting’ what the attacker did for the club before his summer exit. Martinelli managed just one goal and four assists in the Premier League as Arsenal finally brought their wait for the title to an end last season, in what was the Brazilian’s seventh year at the Emirates. It was subsequently decided that Arsenal would be open to offers for Martinelli after the 25-year-old was named amongst Mikel Arteta’s substitutes for the club’s last six matches of the campaign in all competitions. Martinelli would go on to complete a move to Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Hilal in a deal worth around £60million, becoming the second first-team winger to depart following Leandro Trossard’s switch to Besiktas a month-and-a-half earlier. Sign up for In The Mixer, Metro's football newsletter Get exclusive analysis and previews of the biggest games every Friday. Sign up now for free. Christos Tzolis was signed from Club Brugge to help fill the void left by the loss of the two title-winning forwards and the English champions worked right up until the end of the window to find another top-class attacker for Arteta. But the Arsenal head coach was left disappointed as the deadline came and went, and there are some fears they may be a little short of options on the left flank. ‘A Brazilian football player, he works that hard, the age he has and numbers and stuff, that’s not a cheap football player,’ ex-Arsenal winger Ljungberg said of Martinelli on Viaplay. Martinelli left the Gunners to complete a £60m move to Al-Hilal (Picture: AP) The Brazilian was a substitute in Arsenal’s final six matches of last season (Picture: Getty) ‘And they sold him for quite a lot of money so I was a little bit [surprised] when people really wanted him out and fans wanted him out. ‘I was a bit like, “That’s a good player that you just want out”, but that’s what everybody felt that they seemed to be wanting and they got rid of him. They got good money for him. ‘Sometimes the fans forget, maybe, how much he has done for this club, how many important goals he scored during the years.’ {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mikel Arteta speaks before Champions League match against Napoli","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/08\/3761798954835882587\/480x270_MP4_3761798954835882587.mp4","description":"Arsenal's Mikel speaks to the press on Tuesday ahead of their Champions League match against Napoli on Wednesday at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.","duration":"T1M34S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/08\/22\/111127717-0-image-m-34_1788904072537.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-08T22:46:27+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); Though somewhat miffed by some fans’ perception of Martinelli, Ljungberg can understand why the Gunners decided to bring in Tzolis as a replacement. According to Ljungberg, the Greece international – signed for a fee of £34m – perhaps looks a little more ‘tactically aware’ than the man he succeeded on the left. ‘If you talk about Martinelli, sometimes he did irrational things,’ the Swede – who won tw
Micah Richards struggled to contain his excitement and ran out of the CBS Sports studio after being named Kylian Mbappe's favourite pundit on Tuesday night.
Carragher saw the funny side (Picture: CBS Sports) Kate Abdo wasted little time in brutally mocking Jamie Carragher with a string of bankruptcy jokes during CBS Sports’ live coverage of the Champions League. Carragher was served with a bankruptcy petition last week over an unpaid tax bill with a spokesperson for the former Liverpool and England defender explaining the matter is expected to be ‘resolved imminently.’ Carragher took his usual spot alongside Micah Richards and Thierry Henry for the return of CBS’ Champions League show on Tuesday night. The broadcaster’s hugely popular coverage never shies away from poking fun at its stars with the Liverpool legend right in the firing line. Sign up for In The Mixer, Metro's football newsletter Get exclusive analysis and previews of the biggest games every Friday. Sign up now for free. ‘A busy hot summer can be taxing,’ Abdo said as she opened the show. ‘Not for this man, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher.’ Turning to introduce Richards, Abdo continued: ‘And a man whose career stats are more depleted than Jamie’s bank account, Micah Richards.’ Carragher howled with laughter after the brutal putdown and later on in the show, took the opportunity to join the fun and poke fun at himself. Abdo wasted little time in getting her jabs in (Picture: CBS Sports) Discussing Barcelona’s summer transfer window, Carragher said: ‘I think it’s about time we saw Barcelona back in terms of competing where they should be, one of the best teams in the world. ‘They have probably had financial problems, haven’t they?’ He added, ‘well, haven’t we all,’ leaving Richards in stitches once again. More to follow Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source
Socceroos World Cup star Cristian Volpato faces a possible bombshell national team suspension after a second police test confirmed cocaine, with Football Australia eyeing disciplinary action
Football Australia has power to suspend him from national teamStriker has maintained his innocence over failed drugs test Cristian Volpato’s immediate availability for the Socceroos rests in the hands of Football Australia after NSW Police confirmed the World Cup star had tested positive for cocaine on a secondary test.Volpato was pulled over by police on Sydney’s Anzac Bridge on 24 July and returned a positive roadside reading for cocaine. Continue reading...
Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta (Picture: Getty) Arsenal chiefs were full of praise for summer signing Christos Tzolis at the Champions League draw and told Club Brugge of his exploits in training. Greece international Tzolis signed a long-term contract at the Emirates Stadium in July after Arsenal agreed a £34m deal with Club Brugge. Mikel Arteta targeted the 24-year-old after sanctioning the exit of Leandro Trossard, while Arsenal also put Gabriel Martinelli up for the sale. Tzolis has enjoyed a bright start to his career in north London, helping the Premier League champions win their first four games of the season ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League opener against Napoli. Sign up for In The Mixer, Metro's football newsletter Get exclusive analysis and previews of the biggest games every Friday. Sign up now for free. After bringing Tzolis to the club, Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta insisted the Greek winger would ‘raise the technical level of our squad’ and bring a ‘strong mentality to our team’. Those high up at the Emirates Stadium were equally positive about Tzolis when bumping into officials from Club Brugge during last month’s Champions League draw in Monaco. President of the Belgian club, Bart Verhaeghe, said Arsenal were raving about the £34m signing and revealed he had been ‘coming out on top’ in various tests in training. Arsenal summer signing Christos Tzolis (Picture: Getty) ‘At the Champions League draw, I saw people from Arsenal and they showed a tremendous amount of respect,’ Verhaeghe told Het Belang van Limburg. ‘”What a player you’ve delivered”, they told me. They said he has an excellent attitude, is the best in the physical tests and is a great guy, too.’ In a separate interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, the Club Brugge chief added: ‘Arsenal said “what a player” when they approached me after the draw. https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc9S3CDETkp/?hl=en&img_index=1 ‘Christos had come out on top in all the tests. That’s what we do here: deliver a ready-made product. Because we know what those top teams are looking for. We prepare our players for that kind of football. ‘Back then, people laughed at our holistic approach to nutrition, sleep, special glasses… Today, it’s all standard practice. We were the innovators from day one, and we’ll keep innovating. ‘Today, we’re selling players to Arsenal and Inter Milan, two teams that have reached the Champions League final in the last two years. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Mikel Arteta speaks before Champions League match against Napoli","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/08\/3761798954835882587\/480x270_MP4_3761798954835882587.mp4","description":"Arsenal's Mikel speaks to the press on Tuesday ahead of their Champions League match against Napoli on Wednesday at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.","duration":"T1M34S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/08\/22\/111127717-0-image-m-34_1788904072537.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-08T22:46:27+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); ‘And at the same time, we’re recruiting directly from the Premier League, from a club like West Ham. 10 years ago, that was unthinkable.’ Last month, Arsenal defender Ben White revealed Tzolis was ‘beating everyone’ in pre-season
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