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Arsenal and Spurs forced into unprecedented kit change for North London derby after PGMOL and Premier League ruling

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Arsenal have been forced into an unprecedented kit decision for the North London derby this weekend, the club have confirmed.

The Gunners face Spurs away from home on Sunday and are looking for a third straight win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

But unlike in previous times, Arsenal will not be lining up in their traditional colours.

That's because the PGMOL have ruled that Arsenal's kit contains too much white, clashing with Spurs' home strip.

There were discussions about wearing red shorts and socks as a solution but on their official website, the club have confirmed they will sport their new black away kit.

For the same reason, Spurs must wear their away strip when they travel to the Emirates Stadium in January.

A statement from Arsenal read: "This season’s north London derbies will have a similar feel to them with the usual excitement and passion, however they will have a different look than seasons gone by.

"That’s because both teams will be wearing their away strips in the fixtures this campaign, after the PGMOL and Premier League ruled that our 2024/25 home kit features too much white, thus clashing with Tottenham’s traditional colours, even with the option of red shorts and socks for us, which was also discussed.

"As a result, for the first time in recent ‘NLD’ history, we’ll be wearing our changed colours, with our black adidas away kit being donned at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where we’ll aim to clinch a third-straight victory at the venue."

The away strip, which is black with hints of green, red and white, was debuted in the 2-0 win over Aston Villa on 24 August.

Arsenal look set to be without a number of their regular starters amid a mixture of injuries and suspensions.

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Adrien Rabiot 'offers himself' to Premier League side he claimed 'were below his level' as free agent scrambles to find new club

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Adrien Rabiot has made an apparent u-turn regarding the potential destination of his next club as the free agent continues his search for a new club.

The 29-year-old midfielder is still without an employer after leaving Italian giants Juventus earlier this summer.

Having been capped 48 times for France, Rabiot would appear to be a shrewd pick-up on the market given his experience at the very top level.

A five-time Ligue 1 champion, the former Manchester City man has so far kept quite regarding his next venture.

After snubbing Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur back in 2019, Spurs themselves have now decided against signing him.

Arsenal are another club who Rabiot is said to have offered his services to this summer, according to information from TBR Football.

The former PSG man is also said to have had interest in him from clubs in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but it's understood his preference is to sign for a team in one of Europe's top leagues.

Having been involved for France at Euro 2024, Rabiot admitted earlier this summer he was unsure then where his immediate future was.

"The renewal with Juve? I don't know what will happen but I don't feel like talking about this," he told the media back in June.

"Say something to the fans? I think they've understood that I'm focused on the European Championship with my national team and that we'll see what happens after that.

"My focus is 100% here, then obviously I'm always in contact with the club.

"If I'm not under contract, I'm no longer a Juventus player".

Reports have suggested that Rabiot's wage demands are also a huge stumbling block for prospective clubs.

The midfielder is said to be asking for around £220,000-a-week, with Tottenham's highest-earner, Son Heung-min, only taking home a figure close to £190k-a-week.

Spurs also looked to the future by bringing in teenage star Archie Gray from Leeds United.

“Yeah. Yeah [I’ve felt backed]," said Ange Postecoglou earlier this year.

"Well, [targeting younger players] was definitely part of my plan because I think when you’re trying to build or rebuild a team, you’ve got to…look, all managers hope they’re there for the long-term, but the reality is that you don’t know how long you’ll be there, but I’ve always tried to build teams that will last over a cycle which is, you know, three, four, five years."

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What Martin Odegaard did at Oslo Airport will massively worry Arsenal fans ahead of north London derby

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New details about Arsenal star Martin Odegaard's injury have been revealed, and it doesn't look good.

Odegaard led Norway to victory in the Nations League on Monday as his side beat Austria 2-1, with Manchester City star Erling Haaland scoring the winning goal.

But during the match, the midfielder suffered an injury which could prove to be devastating for Arsenal's title challenge season as they face North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Man City in their next two Premier League fixtures.

And now more details about the extend of the injury have emerged, and Arsenal fans will not be happy.

According to Norwegian outlet NG, Odegaard was pictured using crutches and avoiding putting pressure on his left foot as he boarded a private jet at Oslo airport.

The midfielder was unable to get onto the plane unassisted, and required help from airport staff to get over to the plane.

Norway's national team doctor Ola Sand also confirmed to NG that Odegaard will undergo an MRI scan when returning to London, where it will be determined how serious the injury will be.

It remains to be seen if the injury blow will rule him out of Sunday's league meeting with Tottenham.

However, it appears to be unlikely that he will available for the crucial tie, as Norway manager Stale Solbakken expressed his concerns after the match.

"It looked bad in the dressing room too," said Solbakken. "He didn't have the nerve to continue. It is not certain that [Mikel] Arteta will call me tonight and praise me."

The injury comes just weeks after Arsenal's new midfield signing Mikel Merino suffered a freak injury in training just three days after joining the club.

The Spaniard came to the North London side this summer, joining from La Liga club Real Sociedad for a reported fee of £31.6m including add-ons.

However, during his first training session with his Arsenal teammates, Brazilian defender Gabriel landed on top of Merino, causing a small fracture to his shoulder.

Confirming the injury in a press conference, Arteta said: "Very unfortunate...he had a collision and he has a shoulder injury. It looks like he’s going to be out for a few weeks."

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Arsenal handed worrying Martin Odegaard injury update days before North London derby

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Arsenal have been handed a worrying update on star player Martin Odegaard following his injury during Norway's Nations League clash.

Norway beat Austria 2-1 in their Nations League fixture on Monday as Manchester City's Erling Haaland scored his side's winner.

But their victory came at a price as Odegaard suffered an injury blow that will have a huge impact on Arsenal, who resume their Premier League campaign with a massive showdown against cross-town rivals Tottenham.

Arsenal's medical team immediately contacted Norway's staff to find out the extent of the injury.

It remains to be seen whether his ankle blow will rule him out of Sunday's league meeting.

But Norway boss Stale Solbakken has revealed the scenes from inside the dressing room and it doesn't paint a good picture.

He claims the injury 'looked bad' as he referenced Mikel Arteta when asked about Odegaard.

"It looked bad in the dressing room too," he said. "He didn't have the nerve to continue. It is not certain that [Mikel] Arteta will call me tonight and praise me."

Norway doctor Ola Sand confirmed Odegaard suffered a 'small sprain' in his ankle, saying: "He got a small ankle sprain. We will see, maybe we use ultrasound to look at it.

"If we are unsure, there will be an MRI tomorrow."

The 25-year-old midfielder has started each of Arsenal's opening three league games this season.

They have recorded seven points from three games ahead of facing Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

It's been a rough international break for Arteta, who was also dealt a injury blow when Riccardo Calafiori limped off against France.

So, he could be without Calafiori and Odegaard for Arsenal's trip to Spurs.

What's more, the Gunners face Manchester City on September 22 and take on Atalanta and Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League in the coming weeks.

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Jose Mourinho's transfer wishlist at Man Utd 'leaked' and he was trying to build a superteam

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A five-man transfer list made by Jose Mourinho has revealed the superteam he was trying to build at Manchester United.

The legendary Portuguese manager spent two years in charge of United, leading them to trophies in the Europa League and EFL Cup.

Mourinho was sacked by United on 18 December 2018, having won just seven out of the first 17 Premier League matches of the 2018/19 season.

But a leaked list shows the five transfers that Mourinho wanted to make during his final season with the Red Devils, and if they all had happened, it could have changed everything.

The biggest name on the transfer shortlist that Mourinho had hoped to pursue is undoubtedly Gareth Bale, who at the time was playing for La Liga giants Real Madrid.

At the time, Bale had been linked with a move back to the UK after falling out of favour with Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, who rarely started the Welshman.

However, after the sudden departures of both Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo, Bale had a change of heart and went on to stay with Los Blancos until 2022.

Next on Mourinho's list was another former Tottenham Hotspur player, Toby Alderweireld, who reportedly had held talks with United about the move.

However, ultimately the deal fell through as Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy refused to entertain any offers below £75million, which was not achievable for United.

Also in defence, the Portuguese manager wanted to bring in a new left-back after losing faith in Luke Shaw, leading to Ashley Young playing the position.

Juventus' Alex Sandro was the preferred option, but with the Italian club looking for £60m, United moved their focus to Kieran Tierney before deciding that he was not enough of an improvement on Shaw to justify a bid.

Mourinho had also hoped for a reunion with Brazilian winger Willian, whom he managed during his time at Chelsea, but the deal fell apart despite a bid from United reportedly being accepted.

The final name on Mourinho's shortlist, was Brazilian midfielder Fred, who was the top target of the 2018/19 summer transfer window.

Of course, Fred did join that summer for a fee of £52m and went on to make 213 appearances for United.

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Ange Postecoglou brutally axes two first-team players as Tottenham squad for Europa League confirmed

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Ange Postecolglou has brutally axed two players from his Tottenham Hotspur squad for the league phase of the UEFA Europa League.

Spurs had to submit their squad to UEFA by the end of Wednesday and had to cut two stars in order to comply with various regulations.

Postecologlou had to leave out Spanish left-back Sergio Reguilon and English full-back Djed Spence due to restrictions.

A new squad list can be submitted with a handful of permitted changes if Spurs advance past the league phase where they will face Qarabag, Ferencvaros, AZ Alkmaar, Galatasaray, Roma, Rangers, Hoffenheim and Elfsborg.

UEFA squads differ to Premier League squads as they include main squad and a B-list. The latter can only include players under the age of 21 who have spent at least two years of the club, meaning summer signings Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall had to be registered on the main list.

When it comes to the 25-man main squad, UEFA rules also state that "as a minimum, eight of those 25 places are reserved exclusively for 'locally trained players' and no club may have more than four 'association-trained players' listed among those eight places.

"If a club has fewer than eight locally trained players in their squad, then the maximum number of players on List A is reduced accordingly."

There are two types of locally-trained player. One is 'club-trained players', who were on the club's books for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21.

The other is 'association-trained players', who were on another club's books in the same association for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21.

Spurs have only two of the four required club-trained players in Brandon Austin and Alfie Whiteman, so were forced to reduce their squad to 23 players.

They also had seven association-trained players, of which only four can go in their own category.

The other three had to be placed into the main group but there was only one spot left in that group.

Spence has made two substitute appearances in the Premier League this season while Reguilon has not featured in a matchday squad after spending last season on loan at Manchester United and Brentford.

Tottenham's squad is as follows:

Goalkeeper: Guglielmo Vicario, Fraser Forster, Brandon Austin, Alfie Whiteman

Defenders: Radu Drăgușin, Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero, Pedro Porro, Ben Davies, Micky van de Ven

Midfielders: Yves Bissouma, James Maddison, Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert, Pape Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur

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Tottenham one of three clubs to oppose major UEFA rule change that will impact several Premier League teams

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Tottenham Hotspur were reportedly one of three clubs that opposed a major UEFA rule change that will affect several Premier League sides this season.

UEFA have made plenty of changes to the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League this season, most notably switching out the group stages for 36-team league phases.

The changes mean sides in the Champions League and Europa League will each play eight different opponents, while Conference League teams will face six before the knockout stages.

Another significant change won't impact the players on the pitch, rather the supporters in the stands.

Ahead of the European competitions beginning next month, UEFA have lowered the maximum amount that away supporters can be charged for match tickets.

This week UEFA announced that away tickets prices in the Champions League this season will be capped at €60 (£50), while away fans in the Europa League and Conference League cannot be charged more than €40 and €20 respectively.

Next season those prices will drop further, with a €50 cap introduced in the Champions League and a €35 cap in the Europa League.

While it's good news for supporters, not all clubs will be happy with the change.

According to The Telegraph, Tottenham objected the lowering the amount they can charge visiting fans in the Europa League this season. There are reportedly two other clubs that were against the proposals.

The report claims that Spurs raised objections to the price caps, although it is unclear whether they formally voted against or in favour of the changes.

Tottenham declined to comment on the matter when contacted by SPORTbible.

Tottenham’s director of football administration and governance, Rebecca Caplehorn, is a member of the European Club Competitions Committee, which endorsed the reduction in maximum ticket prices.

Tottenham fans have already voiced their anger at the club's decision to scrap senior season tickets from the start of next season.

Tottenham will host Qarabag, Alkmaar, Roma and Elfsborg in the Europa League this season while travelling abroad to face Ferencvaros, Galatasaray, Rangers and Hoffenheim.

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Tottenham reach extremely rare agreement with Real Betis over 'future priority' transfer

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Tottenham have reached an agreement with Real Betis to sign highly-rated United States international Johnny Cardoso, but there's a catch.

Betis and Tottenham engaged in talks this week regarding Argentine midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who is on the verge of leaving the North London club after a four-year stay.

Lo Celso enjoyed a season-long loan spell at the Estadio Benito Villamarín in 2018/19 before joining on a permanent basis from Paris Saint-Germain.

Now, he looks set to make a return to Betis, according to Relevo, who claim Spurs have agreed a fee of €4 million [£3.3m] plus bonuses for the 28-year-old.

Given the current climate, that sum appears incredibly low.

But in the deal, Tottenham have inserted a 'priority option' to buy Betis midfielder Johnny Cardoso, who has already agreed terms, says Fabrizio Romano.

In fact, they've included a sell-on clause, which means if they do decide against signing Cardoso in the future, then they will make a profit.

Ahead of Friday's deadline, Ange Postecoglou ruled out making any more signings following the arrivals of Lucas Bergvall, Wilson Odobert, Archie Gray and Dominic Solanke.

“Unless something surprising jumps out at us in the last 11 hours or whatever it is, that’s it for us,” he said ahead of Sunday’s clash against Newcastle.

“If nothing else happens, there’s a couple probably moving out, I think it’s been another positive window.

“You want to go into every window and come out the other side of it in a stronger sense and I certainly feel that.

“The players we’ve brought in are already making a short-term impact and even in the longer term, I think they’re going to be really good contributors for us.

“I certainly think we’ve got a more well-rounded squad to deal with Europe, the extra games and whatever injuries we have. So yeah, I think it’s been a real positive window."

Postecoglou added: “I’m very happy. We’ve done a hell of a lot of work in 12 months, three windows. No doubts the squad’s changed.

“The demographic of the squad has changed, the suitability to the football I want to play, we’re much better equipped for that. There’s growth in the team, absolutely.

“We needed to do some fairly major work 12 months ago and since then we’ve gone a long way to getting the team to where we want to.

“There’s still more work to be done. It was never going to happen quickly. I don’t think it should happen quickly. When it does happen quickly, you’re more fraught to getting it wrong. So I think we’re in a good place.”

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Europa League draw LIVE: Man Utd and Tottenham learn league phase opponents

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And the second studio guest is none other than Athletic Bilbao legend Aritz Aduriz, who certainly loved this competition.

He scored 26 goals in 39 games for the Basque side, and is the official UEFA ambassador for the 2025 Europa League final in Bilbao.

How does the draw work?

If you didn't follow yesterday's Champions League draw, this will be something different to what you are used to.

Instead of the traditional group stage format, the 36 teams involved in this season's Europa League will play in a singular league.

Some aspects remain the same - teams cannot draw another team from the same league, for instance - but there are a number of changes.

Each team plays eight games instead of six, and will be drawn against two teams from each of the four pots. There will also be four home games and four away games for each team.

The teams from pot one will be drawn out manually, before an AI supercomputer takes over to assign them all seven opponents each. The process repeats itself for each of the four pots.

Getty

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Tottenham gifted second goal vs Everton after nightmare Jordan Pickford error

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Son Heung-min scored an open goal for Tottenham after a nightmare mistake from Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Sean Dyche's side went into the clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium wanting to avenge last weekend's 3-0 home defeat to Brighton, which saw them finish with 10 players.

But it was hardly the greatest start, with Yves Bissouma - returning to the Spurs team after his club-enforced one-match suspension - putting the hosts in front inside 14 minutes.

It was then 2-0 on 25 minutes through Son's first goal of the season - but it was scored in the worst possible circumstances for the Toffees.

A throw-in from young debutant Roman Dixon went backwards to Michael Keane, who elected to pass it back to Pickford.

The England goalkeeper took a heavy touch, but was closed down by Son, who won the ball from him and tapped it into the empty net.

It has hardly been a convincing start to the season for the Toffees, who are lacking depth in key areas and are yet to score a goal in 135 minutes of action.

Dyche has also received some criticism over his team selection, with Keane preferred to new signing Jake O'Brien despite his indifferent form last season.

Spurs, meanwhile, drew 1-1 with Leicester on the opening weekend of the season - with manager Ange Postecoglou demanding that his team show a reaction after full-time.

He told Sky Sports: "First half, excellent, controlled the game. Wasteful in front of goal.

"The second half was the same. We started off well, wasteful in front of goal. Once Leicester scored, you could tell they lifted, the crowd lifted. We lost our composure and let them back in the game.

"I don't buy ring rust. It's an issue we had last year as well - we need to keep working hard at it and being more ruthless in front of goal."

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