TOP SPIN: All those pathways, academies, all that investment - and then some fella who has never batted at No 3 is handed the keys to one of the toughest positions in the Test line-up.

JACK GAUGHAN: Pep Guardiola smiled last week as he agreed that Manchester City 's Premier League rivals would be laughing at their current demise.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: I was approached to do the job on the back of England winning the World Cup two years previously. I guess that made me the obvious choice.

KIERAN GILL: For Aston Villa's manager is worthy of gratitude, having been a catalyst in Nicolas Jackson becoming the increasingly elite executioner he is for Chelsea today.

CRAIG HOPE: Former Sunderland boss Jack Ross has been promoted to a key strategic role working closely with sporting director Paul Mitchell, Confidential can reveal.

NATHAN SALT AND TOM COLLOMOSSE: Ask around Man United about Ruud van Nistelrooy the coach and endorsements quickly come rolling in. 'He's obsessed,' is how one source put it.

TOM COLLOMOSSE: Mail Sport understands King was even questioned by senior figures about the wisdom of hiring Lampard, and encouraged to look elsewhere.

LEWIS STEELE AT ANFIELD: Liverpool overcame their hoodoo against Real Madrid to topple the 15-time champions of Europe with a convincing win last night.

SAMI MOKBEL: The best ability is availability. James has made 45 appearances for Chelsea and England since the start of the 2022-23 season.

JACK GAUGHAN: Something a member of Manchester City 's staff offered up a while back stuck in the mind when trying to piece together the team's latest capitulation.

LEWIS STEELE: Before Mohamed Salah spoke to Mail Sport and a small number of other reporters on Sunday, he had stopped to talk to the written press just twice in his Liverpool career.

LEWIS STEELE: There are two scenes which perfectly paint the picture of how Arne Slot is slowly falling in love with Liverpool and how the Kop has grown to adore this low-key, smooth operator.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY OLIVER HOLT: Christian Horner is sitting in a quiet corner of the Red Bull motorhome. There is no anger in his voice but there is a certain steeliness to his words.

IAN LADYMAN: It dawned recently on Winks that it had been worth it, that the decisions taken to move sideways and backwards with the hope of one day moving forwards again had been the right ones.

ISAAN KHAN: Despite only opening in 2006 and with the memories of Highbury still fresh, the 60,000-seat, £390million arena has already started to lag behind the Gunners' rivals.

The seven-times champions of France face relegation to the second tier at the end of the season if they cannot put their finances in order, after the club announced debts of £422million.