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Wenger Slams Florian Wirtz: He’s Destroyed Liverpool

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Legendary French coach Arsène Wenger has launched a fierce criticism against Florian Wirtz, the German midfielder of Liverpool, holding him directly responsible for disrupting the balance of the team that won the Premier League last season. His comments, made on beIN SPORTS, have sparked controversy in both England and Germany.

 

“His signing broke Liverpool’s midfield”

The former Arsenal manager claimed that the biggest mistake in Wirtz’s arrival at Anfield were his demands during negotiations with the English club. According to Wenger, the German insisted on a non-negotiable condition: he wanted to play exclusively as a central attacking midfielder — his natural position — and not adapt to the team’s tactical needs.

“The problem lies in the demand Wirtz made to Liverpool. He asked to play as a No.10 and not on the wing if they wanted to finalize the deal. That move has destroyed the midfield of last season’s Premier League champions, where Gravenberch, Mac Allister, and Szoboszlai shone. With Wirtz in the mix, now Szoboszlai has to play wide,” Wenger stated.

The Frenchman didn’t hold back and added that if he were on the Reds’ bench, he would completely reshape the lineup. “If I were Arne Slot, I’d go back to last season’s midfield and play Wirtz on the left, giving him width in attack and freedom to move. But keeping him in the center has been a strategic mistake,” concluded the former coach of Arsenal’s “Invincibles.”

Liverpool Wins, but Wirtz Still Struggles

Wenger’s comments come just after Liverpool defeated Real Madrid 1-0 at Anfield in the fourth round of the Champions League. Although the win restored confidence for the English side, Wirtz once again went unnoticed. He barely influenced the game and was substituted in the second half without creating clear chances or showing the creativity that made him one of the most expensive signings of the summer.

Coach Arne Slot, meanwhile, preferred to highlight the team’s collective effort. “It was one of our best performances of the season. We could’ve scored more. Courtois was incredible — he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world,” he said.

However, the British press has already begun debating whether Wirtz truly fits into the new Liverpool system. His talent is unquestionable, but adapting to the pace and intensity of the Premier League seems to be taking its toll. Meanwhile, Wenger’s words reopen a debate Anfield hoped was behind them: was Florian Wirtz the wrong signing for the Reds?

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Leicester City Put Up For Sale

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General view of a Leicester City sign from the front of King Power StadiumLeicester City are looking to sell the club for more than £200m, with its Thai owners King Power ready to leave after 16 years.

 

The Foxes have had an eight-page sales booklet produced by a leading US investment bank to help offload the one-time Premier League title winners.

Citigroup lists the Foxes, its women’s team, and other major assets – including the 32,000-seat King Power Stadium and its Seagrave training facility which was opened in 2020 and is valued at £121m – as well as OH Leuven, Leicester’s Belgian sister club, as up for sale in a brochure titled ‘Project Lineup’.

The document, seen by BBC Sport, values the club’s physical assets at more than £200m, though no specific sum has been attributed to the sale of its struggling teams.

The brochure speaks of “a rare opportunity to acquire a club with an excellent track record of winning promotions to higher divisions”.

Leicester’s successes, including the 5,000-1 Premier League title win of 2016 and the FA Cup triumph five years later, are well promoted in the brochure, while their place in League One, after back-to-back relegations from the top flight and the Championship, fail to get a mention.

The club’s turnover, which Citigroup forecast to be more than £97m for the 2026 financial year are also part of the pitch, but the years of financial losses and the club’s debts – which, as outlined in its 2025 accounts, include £103.6m in bank loans – are omitted.

In the years that the club yo-yoed between the Premier League and Championship, with two relegations from the top flight in three years between 2023 and 2025, the club lost more than £180m.

King Power, run by the Srivaddhanaprabha family, bought Leicester for £35m from Milan Mandaric in 2010.

Khun Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha is currently chairman after his father Khun Vichai died in a helicopter crash outside the stadium in 2019.

Efforts to put the third-tier club up for sale were first reported in the Financial Times, external in July, but the product brochure now being circulated to prospective buyers is public confirmation that new investors are being sought.

The sale process comes just eight months on from Khun Top saying he is shouldering the blame for the club’s drastic recent demise.

There have been growing calls from disgruntled fans for the club to be sold, with the most vocal showing coming outside King Power Stadium after relegation from the Championship was confirmed last season.

Leicester’s struggles in recent years have come at a time when the King Power duty-free business in Thailand, which has been intrinsically linked to the club since the Srivaddhanaprabha family bought the Foxes, has also endured financial difficulties.

Despite the club’s issues, Leicester City is being positioned for sale as one of only five clubs to have won all three major English trophies – the Premier League, the FA Cup and the League Cup – since 2000.

The document also outlines the potential of the club’s academy, stating the Foxes have a “strong talent pipeline backed by leading scouting infrastructure, active transfer management and highly developed academy system consistently producing top players”.

Leicester sold academy graduate Jeremy Monga to Manchester City for £10m last month.

Leicester, relegated to League One for just the second time in their history last season, will start their latest campaign in the third tier under head coach Russell Martin at Notts County on Saturday.

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Amorim Wants Tomori, Nkunku 6 Other AC Milan Stars Out Of Club

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AC Milan coach Ruben Amorim has decided Fikayo Tomori and Christopher Nkunku do not figure in his plans this season.

 

David Odogu, Pervis Estupinan, Santiago Gimenez and Philip Terracciano are also expected to leave after Amorim held a crunch meeting with club bosses on Thursday.

The Portuguese, who was dismissed by United in January following a dismal 14 months in charge, accepted the task of transforming Milan’s fortunes – with the Italian giants finishing fifth last season.

He is set for a reunion with his old side this weekend in Poland, where he will search for his first win in charge of his new club having failed to register a victory in pre-season.

A 2-2 draw with Scottish champions Celtic was followed by a 1-1 tie with fierce rivals Inter Milan, before Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea put three goals past the Portuguese’s side in a woeful result in Jakarta.

But Amorim is ready to embrace the challenge, and suggested that his task at the San Siro is even greater than his job at Old Trafford.

‘I’m really very happy to be here, it’s an honour to be the coach of Milan,’ he said.

‘Why did I choose Milan? If you read an old interview of mine you will understand it, for me a special club.

‘It’s a very big challenge that I accepted even if after the last one [at Manchester United] I told myself to accept a smaller one.

‘Perhaps it is a greater challenge than the last. I’m proud to be here, we all are, me and my staff.

‘I’m at Milan to win, if you’re Milan coach you have to have this mentality,’ he added.

‘I’m not naive, I know there’s a lot of work to do, but if you’re the Milan coach you have to play to win.’

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Transfer: Man Utd Name 6 Clubs Rashford Can’t Join

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Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has blocked Marcus Rashford from joining any direct Premier League rival.

 

According to the UK Mirror, the Red Devils are determined to avoid a scenario where Rashford shines at a domestic competitor.

The 28-year-old is back at Carrington for pre-season training following a loan spell at Barcelona, but his long-term future at Old Trafford remains uncertain.

Ratcliffe wants to remove Rashford from United’s wage bill, but he won’t sanction a move to the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City or Liverpool

The restrictions extend to loan inquiries, as Chelsea, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur have been rebuffed.

There is fear among United senior officials that Rashford could prove instrumental in helping a rival secure a Champions League spot, a scenario that would be viewed as ’embarrassing’ by the club’s top brass.

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