Premier League
FULHAM, BRENTFORD IN TITANIC $306M BATTLE TO REACH PREMIER LEAGUE
Brentford and Fulham will slug it out for a place in the Premier League on Tuesday (Aug 4) when the London rivals clash in a Championship play-off final worth an estimated £170 million (S$306 million) to the winners.
The rewards for promotion mean the Wembley showdown is often called the richest match in world football.
After 73 years outside the English top-flight, unfashionable Brentford are within touching distance of an unexpected berth among the elite.
In contrast to their west London neighbours, Fulham are hoping for an immediate return to the Premier League after last season’s relegation.
It is Brentford’s story that has captured the imagination of neutrals.
After spending 59 out of 60 seasons in the third or fourth tiers before reaching the Championship in 2014, the Bees have risen well above their traditional status thanks to innovative owner Matthew Benham.
Benham has introduced an analytics-influenced approach overseen by two directors of football, ensuring the club make the most of their resources, which are meagre in comparison with the Championship’s wealthier teams.
It has proved a successful formula as Brentford unearthed gems such as Neal Maupay, Ezri Konsa, Chris Mepham and Jota before selling them on for significant profits.
Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma and Bryan Mbeumo are the latest stars off the production line.
That trio took Brentford to the brink of automatic promotion last month before successive defeats against lowly Stoke and Barnsley forced them to settle for a third-place finish.
An impressive 3-1 win over Swansea in the play-off semi-final second leg overturned a 1-0 first-leg deficit and emphasised the quality nurtured by Brentford’s Danish boss Thomas Frank.
Frank’s team-building philosophy takes inspiration from New Zealand’s All Blacks, while his willingness to think outside the box has seen him employ a “head of set pieces and individual development”.
Winning promotion would be the perfect way to say farewell to Griffin Park – Brentford’s home since 1904 – as they prepare to move into a new arena nearby next season.
Brentford beat Fulham 1-0 and 2-0 earlier this season and their captain Pontus Jansson knows what it would mean to get that lucrative third victory.
“It’s quite obvious, for the club it means everything,” he said. “This is what we’re fighting for as a club for a lot of years, especially this year.
“We know the financial thing of playing in the Premier League, it’s one of the biggest fees, if not the biggest, in the world.
“It’s a dream hopefully come true to get through to the Premier League.”
Fulham would love to spoil the Brentford fairytale, but their bid to get back to the top tier would be damaged if Serbia striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is unable to return from a hamstring injury.
Mitrovic, the Championship’s top scorer with 26 goals this season, missed both legs of Fulham’s 3-2 aggregate play-off semi-final victory over Cardiff.
Fulham manager Scott Parker is cautiously optimistic about Mitrovic’s chances of featuring at Wembley.
“I’m hopeful – he was close to playing the second leg,” Parker said. “We pushed and pushed. The medical team did everything they could but he just wasn’t ready. It would have been too great a risk to involve him.
“He’ll be working now, working over the next few days. And we’ll just do everything we can to try to have him ready.”
-AFP
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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