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Paul Scholes has admitted that he has been forced to use Manchester United touts in order to secure Old Trafford tickets for matchdays, as claims emerge that the Red Devils have frozen out legends such as fellow Premier League title winner Nicky Butt. The pair have revealed their experiences in dealing with the club in recent years, claiming that the club is "different" from the years when they were playing under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Scholes reveals Old Trafford ticket troubles

Scholes was speaking on podcast and touched on the issues he has faced in securing tickets to watch United play in recent years.

While he noted that it has now been 13 years since he hung up his boots and departed the club as a player – following a storied career in which he won 11 Premier League titles – he expressed a desire for a clearer line of communication to exist between the club and former players.

This revelation that he has used ticket touts to gain resold Old Trafford tickets paints an uncomfortable picture, which reflects the state of United as a club in recent times, something Scholes has often spoken out on.

AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Am I allowed to say that?' – Scholes explains embarrassing situation

"It's a very different football club to the club we knew," Scholes began. "I don't know about you Nicky, you worked there quite recently, but I don't really know anybody there."

Butt agreed: "I don't know anybody there."

Scholes continued: "I have four season tickets so we use them… my son uses them every single week. You get people asking [for tickets]. I've had a Salford lad who wants to go to the game this week – a couple of tickets. So I've had to ring a tout? Am I allowed to say that? Honestly, I know a tout."

Butt explains shocking season ticket threats

"My lad has got the same thing," Butt explained. "If you don't use them three times you get them taken off you.

"I've had an email saying ‘you're having your ticket taken off you’. So I rang them up and said can I speak to somebody about this please? And they go ‘who am I speaking to please?’, and I go Nicky Butt and they go, ‘OK, well who's that?’"

Scholes joked: "Who's that? Is that the one who used to play for Newcastle?"

"I couldn't really say it but I felt like saying: I played about 450 games for this club!" Butt concluded.

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The club is 'different', Scholes concludes

"I'm not complaining about that," Scholes said about not receiving special treatment. "That's just the way it is and the way it happens. Just because you played for the club, you're not entitled to stuff."

Host Paddy McGuinness interjected: "Hang on a minute! The amount of games you played, your life-long service as a player for United, you gave everything to the club."

Scholes replied: "Yeah, but we only played for them. You're going back 13 years now for the last time I played. We don't mind paying for them, we just don't know who to ring because the club is just different, it's a different football club."

A significant update has emerged regarding one Rangers star’s Ibrox future, with the 49ers Enterprises tempted to sell and his potential price tag in the January transfer window revealed.

The Gers have found some much-needed form with Danny Rohl at the helm, with three wins in succession coming their way in the Scottish Premiership.

Numerous players have performed better under the German than they did with Russell Martin in charge, not least Nicolas Raskin, who was impressive in Sunday’s 3-0 win away to Dundee in the league, bossing the midfield battle for the visitors.

The Belgian fell out of favour under his previous manager, who publicly explained why he axed him from Rangers’ squad to face Hearts earlier this season.

“He won’t be in the squad tomorrow. We have a lot of conversations as we do with every player, but he’s back training with the squad which is a good step. Now, like every player, he has a duty to make sure he earns the trust of all his other team-mates, coaching staff and the staff in the building to help us win football matches.”

Rangers may sell Raskin for £20m in January

Now, according to a new update from TEAMtalk, Rangers and the 49ers could be willing to sell Raskin in January, potentially demanding as much as £20m for his signature, even though Rohl has “consistently praised” his influence and sees him in his long-term plans. Two unnamed Serie A sides are weighing up a New Year approach.

£20m “could be enough” to force the Gers’ hand midway through the season, with the Scottish side “aware of his growing market value -particularly after another impressive international break with Belgium, where he earned widespread plaudits for his composure and work rate.”

Opinion may be split over Rangers potentially letting Raskin leave the club in January, not least because he has shown the quality that he has in his locker in recent weeks, also being lauded by Derek Ferguson in the past: “Raskin, since he started looking after himself, has been phenomenal. It’s his drive, his ability on the ball.”

The 24-year-old is contracted at Ibrox until the summer of 2027, so a big decision does need to be made relatively soon, in order for the Gers not to miss out on receiving a hefty fee for him, and certainly not losing him on a free transfer at that point.

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That said, waiting until the summer feels like a sensible choice, allowing Raskin to remain at the club for the rest of this season, helping Rohl’s side give themselves the best possible chance of success, both domestically and in Europe.

0 mins under Martin: Rohl must unleash Rangers' "left-footed Van Dijk"

Batter rewarded for impressive form for Oval Invincibles, en route to their third Men’s Hundred title

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Sep-2025Jordan Cox has been rewarded for his Player-of-the-Tournament display in the Men’s Hundred with a belated call-up to England’s T20I squad to face Ireland later this month.Cox, 24, topped the Hundred averages with 367 runs at 61.16, and a strike-rate of 173.93, as Oval Invincibles lifted the trophy for the third consecutive season with an emphatic 26-run victory over Trent Rockets in the final at Lord’s on Sunday.Cox himself made 40 from 28 balls in the final, after which he said he would continue to “bang the England door down”, after a series of luckless near-misses in recent months, including a broken thumb sustained on the eve of his designated Test debut in New Zealand, and a side strain sustained while making a century for Essex earlier this summer.He has previously played two T20Is, making scores of 17 and 0 against Australia in September 2024, as well as three ODIs on the subsequent tour of West Indies in October and November.His recall comes as part of a second-string England squad, captained by Jacob Bethell, that is due to play three T20Is in Dublin on September 17, 19 and 21. The original 14-man squad had been notably light on specialist batting, with the likelihood that a bowling allrounder – Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed or Jamie Overton – would be carded to come in at No.6.The news comes just 24 hours after England’s 50-over squad were bowled out for 131 in 24.3 overs at Headingley, to slump to a humiliating seven-wicket loss to South Africa in the first ODI.

“I don’t know which arm I’ve taken more wickets with,” says Tharindu Rathnayake of his wicket tally in domestic cricket. “I’ve never looked at it properly. I’ve bowled a lot with both my arms.”If this seems like bragging, Rathnayake continues to speak as if being able to bowl with either arm is a normal experience to which anyone could relate. It must seem natural to him, though – he has 337 first-class wickets, and 122 List A dismissals.”When I started first-class cricket, I bowled a lot with my left arm. But later, after a couple of years, it became about 60% right arm, and 40% left arm.”Related

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Right, so why, on day one of his debut Test, against Bangladesh in Galle, did Rathnayake bowl 15.5 overs of right-arm offbreaks before he tried his first ball of left-arm spin?”I just felt that the ball that turns into the batter is harder for them to face because this wicket is suited to the batters. When you bowl right-arm offspin against right-handed batters with the red ball, it’s not easy for them to play. When I bowl offspin, I also have more options with the fields I can set. With left-arm spin, because the wicket is not behaving as we want it to, they can put the ball into gaps, and they have more scoring options.”To what extent Rathnayake knows this unusual craft is not clear yet. Unlike Kamindu Mendis, the other ambidextrous spinner in the side, Rathnayake is primarily a bowler. In the match-ups age, though, being able to bowl with either arm could be a supremely useful skill. Rathnayake seems to be aware of that potential.”Before we come to the match, in our planning, we talked about what each batsman is better at facing, and which sides they hit to,” he said. “So I try to create plans around their weaknesses, and change which arm I’m bowling with according to that.”Though Rathnayake claimed two wickets – both left-handers caught at slip against his offbreaks – in his first session of Test cricket, he said the Galle pitch got better to bat on through the day.”There was a little moisture early on, but it dried out. There wasn’t much spin. I’m expecting it to stay good until day four.”

The PBKS captain scored an unbeaten 41-ball 87 to take his team to their second IPL final and first since 2014

Shashank Kishore01-Jun-20251:53

Moody: Shreyas identified key moments to go into the fifth gear

“Relax, rejuvenate, get a massage, and be in a great mindspace.”That is Shreyas Iyer’s agenda ahead of Tuesday’s IPL 2025 final, where he’ll have the chance to win a second straight title as captain, this time with Punjab Kings (PBKS), following his success with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) last year.Iyer played a truly special innings to get there. His unbeaten 41-ball 87 in Qualifier 2 against Mumbai Indians (MI) took PBKS to their second IPL final, their last one coming way back in 2014. Iyer’s knock contained eight sixes, including four in what became the match’s final over as PBKS won with six balls to spare.Related

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Sensational Shreyas Iyer powers PBKS to second IPL final

Iyer was a picture of composure as he struck the winning runs, even as his team-mates rushed onto the field to celebrate.”I don’t know, to be honest,” he said of his demeanour. “I love big occasions. I say to myself and my colleagues, the bigger the occasion, the calmer you are, and you’ll get the best results. Today I was focusing on my breathing rather than sweating it out.”Iyer also spoke of an attitude shift in the PBKS camp since their defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1 three nights ago. He said he had underlined to the team that one bad game wasn’t going to define their season. Having thrown the “hiccup” against RCB “in the bin”, they wanted to show “intent and positivity” going into a knockout clash against MI.”All the players need to be assertive,” he said. “Show intent from ball one. We weren’t able to capitalise on the start, but the intent was stupendous. Even for me, when I went out there, I had to take some time, but the batsman at the other end [Josh Inglis], he was striking pretty well. I know the more time I spend on the field, the better I play and my vision also gets better.”‘Today I was focusing on my breathing rather than sweating it out’•Associated PressIyer’s handling of a group of hugely talented uncapped Indian players at PBKS has come in for widespread praise. Among this group is Nehal Wadhera, who made crucial 29-ball 48 during an 84-run stand off just 47 balls with his captain.”I just let them be, don’t ask too much of them,” Iyer said. “I love the fearless nature we bring to the table, the ideas they share. Talk to any of them and they’ll have a fair set of ideas on how to play a situation. Even if they haven’t got that much experience, I feel they have that brave nature, and in such big occasions, it’s important they need to gain more experience.”Asked to jog back to auction day and the prospect of going to a new team, Iyer revealed he wasn’t focused as much on going to a particular team as he was on playing in a “good environment”, which he said he got at PBKS this year.”I am very comfortable around the management and everyone around me and the environment is very positive,” he said. “I am just staying in the moment, cherish the situation. I want to go to the dressing room and celebrate with team-mates about getting into the final. But in my mind the job is only half-done, so I don’t want to think too much about the final.”

The Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) has announced the sacking of former Barcelona legend Patrick Kluivert from his role as head coach. The decision follows Indonesia’s 1-0 loss to Iraq, which saw them finish bottom of their World Cup qualifying group and eliminated from contention for next year's competition. Kluivert stepped into the role in January, but has been sacked alongside the rest of his coaching staff.

• Indonesia confirm Kluivert sacking

  In an official statement, the PSSI announced the sacking of their entire coaching staff. This includes senior team coach Kluivert, along with his assistants Alex Pastoor and Danny Landzaat. The statement also confirmed the dismissal of Dutch nationals Gerald Vanenburg, coach of the Indonesia U-23 squad, and Frank van Kempen, coach of the Indonesia U-20 team. The coaching staff had signed two-year contracts in January, but Indonesia’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup led to their premature dismissal in a strategic decision. 

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• AFP
  

  Ex-striker fails to qualify for World Cup

  Indonesia were placed in a group in the Asian World Cup qualifiers alongside Saudi Arabia and Iraq, with each team playing the others once. They lost 3-2 to Saudi Arabia, while Iraq beat them 1-0. As a result, Indonesia finished bottom of the group, with Saudi Arabia qualifying automatically for the 2026 World Cup and Iraq advancing to the play-offs. Under Kluivert, Indonesia played eight games, recording three wins, one draw and four losses.

• Ex-striker's playing days and coaching career

  A member of Ajax’s golden generation in the 1990s, Kluivert won the Eredivisie and Champions League in the 1994-95 season under manager Louis van Gaal. He later joined Barcelona, forming a lethal partnership with Rivaldo and helping the club retain the 1998-99 La Liga title. After spells with Newcastle United and PSV, he retired at Lille. Kluivert also served as assistant coach at Australian side Brisbane Roar under Ange Postecoglou and later with the Netherlands national team under Van Gaal in 2014. In 2025, he replaced South Korean coach Shin Tae-yong as head coach of the Indonesian national team.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  What next?

  Kluivert will look to put the setback of his Indonesian sacking behind him and aims to return to the dugout as soon as possible.

Liverpool have had an unblemished start to the Premier League and Champions League this season after securing narrow victories against the likes of Arsenal, Atlético Madrid and most recently Everton.

First-half goals from Ryan Gravenberch and new signing Hugo Ekitiké were enough to see off their Merseyside rivals, even after Idrissa Gueye’s second-half goal looked like Everton may be able to mount a comeback.

After emerging victorious in the derby, Arne Slot was quizzed about how his team coped with a difficult run of fixtures: “This is also the reason why teams like us, Chelsea, all the ones that are playing in Europe need a squad like this, because you need to play so many games.”

The depth of Slot’s squad will be on full display in their opening League Cup game this week as he confirmed that five of the weekend’s starters will be absent from the fixture.

Five ruled out of Southampton League Cup clash

In his pre-match press conference, Slot confirmed that a number of players would be rotated when Liverpool face Will Still’s Southampton. The players that fans won’t be seeing on Tuesday night are Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Mohamed Salah, Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Van Dijk, Salah, Szoboszlai and Konate have played the most minutes of any Liverpool outfield players this season, and Gravenberch has played the ninth most, which is likely why they are being rested against this poor-form Southampton side, with all five also playing three games in the space of six days last week.

Despite being one of the favourites to push for promotion this season, Southampton have had a poor start to life back in the Championship with only one win from their opening six games.

While it has not been confirmed by Slot, another player who could be rotated for Southampton is Goalkeeper Alisson. Last week, The Daily Mail’s Lewis Steele shared that new goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili had been “pencilled in” for a debut in this fixture.

Predicted Liverpool XI vs Southampton

One of the biggest benefits of Liverpool’s big summer is that they have high-quality options on the bench when they need to rotate. When defensive changes have been made this season, it has been Joe Gomez or Waturo Endo who have filled in at centre-back, but it seems likely only the former will start there against Southampton. Gomez is likely to be paired with 18-year-old Giovanni Leoni, who arrived from Italian side Parma in the summer.

In midfield, Slot could start Endo and Curtis Jones. Jones had been out of the side due to an injury sustained before the international break, but he got minutes against Everton, suggesting he is ready to be reintroduced to the team.

Only three players have scored more than one goal for Liverpool this season, and with Gravenberch and Salah confirmed to be out of the lineup, they will need to come from elsewhere. This could be the perfect opportunity for Florian Wirtz to find his shooting boots and show fans why Liverpool spent so much on him.

Alternatively, Liverpool’s youngest-ever goalscorer, Rio Ngumoha, could be given a chance. His three appearances this season have only amounted to 20 minutes of game time, with the highlight being his late winner against Newcastle.

With Southampton’s poor form, trying out some of these lesser-used players will unlikely run much risk. Each of the players mentioned would find game time against Southampton valuable for different reasons, and the match may serve as the perfect opportunity for Slot to give them what they need.

Predicted Liverpool XI vs Southampton: Mamardashvili, Frimpong, Gomez, Leoni, Robertson, Jones, Endo, Wirtz, Chiesa, Isak, Ngumoha

Manchester United have agreed an off-field deal which has left director of football Jason Wilcox “delighted”.

It has been a productive summer transfer window so far for the Red Devils, with INEOS spending more than £200m on the likes of Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.

However, the club have also bolstered their ranks for the future with a deal for teenage defender Diego Leon. United paid Paraguayan side Cerro Porteno £7m for Leon, who Ruben Amorim used in pre-season.

Talking during the summer after appearing in friendlies, Leon said: “It’s incredible. I am really enjoying being here with team-mates and learning a lot of things. It’s the first time I have had friendlies like this. I thought it was going to be the stadium half-empty before entering the pitch but then, I hear a sound that surprised me! The stadium is full, the fans. It’s all crazy.”

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Leon could feature in the club’s academy ranks while also pushing for a spot in the first-team squad under Amorim, and a new update on the club’s academy has been confirmed.

Man Utd agree deal for Brentford academy director

On Thursday, it was revealed that the new academy director for Man Utd will be Stephen Torpey.

The Red Devils had been looking to fill the vacancy since Nick Cox departure to Everton as technical director was confirmed in June. Cox has stayed at Carrington to ensure a smooth transition and will take up the role on Merseyside when Brentford academy director Torpey joins in the coming months.

Wilcox admitted he was “delighted” and described Torpey’s previous work as “outstanding”.

Torpey said after a move to Man Utd was announced: “I am really proud to have this opportunity to lead Manchester United’s academy. It is obviously a great time to be joining as the club enters an exciting new era; I can’t wait to play my role in continuing the incredible tradition of youth development here.

“After spending time with the leadership team, it is clear that the academy will always remain key to the identity of Manchester United, with our primary aim being to produce players ready to support a first team capable of challenging for the biggest honours.”

Former Real Madrid footballer Alvaro Benito provided his thoughts on the 2025 Ballon d'Or ceremony, which saw Ousmane Dembele being crowned as the best player in the world, ahead of rival Lamine Yamal. While Benito admitted that the PSG forward deserved the award, he was unhappy about where Pedri finished in the rankings and was brutally critical of the journalists who vote.

• Dembele pips Yamal to 2025 Ballon d'Or

  Dembele was crowned the world's best male player at the 2025 Ballon d'Or ceremony in Paris on Monday evening, beating Barcelona sensation and rival Yamal, who finished runner-up. Dembele's PSG team-mate Vitinha completed the podium by finishing third, while Mohamed Salah and Raphinha rounded out the top five.

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  Which 2025 Ballon d'Or rankings were shocking?

  While the majority of football fans agreed that Dembele and Yamal deserved to finish in the top two, Raphinha's exclusion from the top three, as well as Pedri's exclusion from the top 10, drew the ire of the footballing fraternity. Additionally, disgruntled fans expressed their shock over Bayern Munich and England talisman Harry Kane finishing 13th after he scored 41 goals for Die Roten.

• Benito reflects on the Ballon d'Or outcome

  Former Madrid player Benito gave his approval to Dembele taking home the prestigious individual accolade, but didn't back away from criticising where some of the other players finished in the top 30 rankings. 

  "The criteria for this award do influence collective achievements, and I believe that should always be the case. But then, since it's a purely subjective assessment by the people who vote, and you see when the votes are broken down from each country, each one favors their own country or neighboring countries," he said on "That's why I don't quite believe this award. Nor can there be very objective criteria.

  "Of course Dembele deserves it. He's had the best season of his career with a team that was the best in Europe from January until the end of the season, playing extraordinary football and with very good numbers.

  "[But I want to make it clear] that Pedri plays football like an angel, there's no doubt about it. That Lamine Yamal is a more attractive player, well, surely. That [Kylian] Mbappe seems to me to be a better player than Dembele, well, he is. In terms of potential, the two best attackers in the world are Mbappe and Lamine Yamal. But we can't say much more about individual titles."

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  Yamal wins Kopa Trophy

  Yamal won the Kopa Trophy for the second year in a row, with reports suggesting that the gulf between the number of votes won by the Barca wonderkid and Dembele was big. The 18-year-old's father, however, vowed that the Ballon d'Or will be Yamal's to lose next year.

After opening day humiliation at the hands of newly-promoted Sunderland, West Ham United have reportedly launched their first approach to sign a Barcelona midfielder.

Potter: West Ham have to "improve" after Sunderland defeat

West Ham know all too well that the Premier League is a slippery slope towards shock relegation when teams get off to a disastrous start and must ensure that their defeat at Sunderland is a turning point in Graham Potter’s reign. Picking up where they left off last season, the Hammers were blunt going forward and vulnerable going the other way in what has been the trend of Potter’s tenure.

Having his say on a disappointing afternoon, Potter told reporters: “In the first half, I thought we were good. I thought we did lots well in terms of quieting the crowd down and creating some opportunities. We could have scored, I thought, but nevertheless, we felt OK.

“We started a bit slow in the second half, and from out of nowhere, a goal goes in and it becomes difficult. It was a game where probably the first goal, especially here with the environment, was going to be challenging for us. But we tried to push.

“But in trying to push, we opened ourselves up. The second goal’s a poor one – a mistake leads to a cheap set-piece, and then we didn’t do the basics well enough in the second phase. We haven’t done the basics well enough – it’s as simple as that, and we have to improve that.”

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That defeat may have been the wake-up call that those at the London Stadium needed both on the pitch and in the transfer window, however, with reports now indicating that they’ve made their first move for a Barcelona talent.

West Ham launch first Casado enquiry

As reported by Mundo Deportivo and relayed by Sport Witness, West Ham have now launched their first enquiry to sign Marc Casado from Barcelona. The Spanish giants reportedly value their midfielder at just €30m (£26m), which has sparked a race between the Hammers and Wolverhampton Wanderers to secure a bargain deal this month.

24/25 league stats P90

Marc Casado

Lucas Paqueta

Minutes

1,611

2,380

Key Passes

0.50

1.36

Progressive Passes

5.98

5.87

Ball Recoveries

5.03

5.64

When compared to Lucas Paqueta last season, Casado’s quality becomes clear. Whilst he struggled to match the Brazilian when it came to key passes, the 21-year-old progressed play at an excellent standard, whilst also impressing when recovering possession.

Dubbed a “genius” by U23 scout Antonio Mango, the Barcelona ace still has plenty of room for improvement and plenty of years ahead of him to realise an ever-increasing potential.

For just £26m, West Ham would be landing an undeniable bargain and a player who would slot straight in as one of Potter’s most effective players this season.