SPORTbible

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."

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.

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.

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

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.

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.”

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

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."

An independent analysis of 34 EFL and non-league clubs has named a Premier League side as the best-run club in England.

Fair Game, a group which stands for better governance and sustainability in football, conducted an independent review 34 EFL and non-league clubs.

It scored the clubs out of 100 based on the criteria of "financial sustainability, good governance, fan engagement and equality standards."

And, perhaps surprisingly, it is a Premier League club that tops the list.

According to The Guardian, the report named Tottenham Hotspur as the best-run football club, earning a score of 68.2 out of 100 on the 'Fair Game Index.'

And closely behind Spurs in second place with a score of 65.4, was Manchester United, a club which has regularly made headlines due to their ownership.

However, under the leadership of new owners INEOS, this appears to have changed, with financial stability and good governance

In total, five Premier League clubs make the top 10 on the Fair Game Index, with Brentford, Fulham and Liverpool the other three.

Fair Game chief executive Niall Couper spoke about the importance of the index.

He said: "To deliver real and meaningful change we need to understand the problems. We’ve designed the Fair Game "Index to do exactly that and help reshape the game we love.

"It is the most comprehensive analysis yet of what it means to be a well-run club, and we’re calling on the authorities, the Football Regulator and football’s governing bodies to work with us."

Reacting to Tottenham's success on the index, club chair Daniel Levy said: “As a club that prides itself on good governance, we are delighted to have been recognised as England’s best-run club by the Fair Game Index,”

“This ranking further demonstrates the huge strides that are being made off the pitch, with our world-class stadium and innovative partnerships enabling sustainable, recurring investment into our football operations to ensure we remain competitive on the pitch and challenge for major honours.

“We welcome Fair Game’s work in highlighting the important role we can all play in operating sustainably to ensure our clubs remain at the heart of our local communities and for fans to enjoy for many generations to come.”

With Monday Night Football making its long-awaited return for Leicester City vs Tottenham Hotspur, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher have locked in their predictions for the 24/25 season.

The Premier League returned with four straight days of action over the weekend, with the expected main title contenders Arsenal and Manchester City both getting off to a winning start.

The weekend's action concluded at the King Power, where Leicester snatched a 1-1 draw against Spurs despite being dominated for the majority of the 90 minutes.

During the MNF, Neville and Carragher completed their annual predictions for the season ahead, and it's fair to say there is a few fanbases who aren't impressed with the two pundits.

Carragher opted for City to be champions, Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool to make up the top four, with Man United and Aston Villa making up the top six.

Neville went a slightly different route with Arsenal as champions, Man United, Chelsea, and City squeezing into the top four ahead of Liverpool and Tottenham.

The former United defender's choices have faced significantly more backlash than his Liverpoodlian colleague, with his decision to completely snub Aston Villa causing a stir online.

One fan wrote: "Neville writing off Villa again, as usual, I'm sure we will prove him wrong again."

A second added: "Neville putting Villa not in top 6 because despite getting 4th while in Europe ahead of Spurs who didn’t have Europe but do now and you think will finish above us. Hmmm"

It wasn't just the absence of Villa that ruffled feathers, as fans were far from convinced at Man Utd's place in the predictions.

"Gary saying Man United have a better midfield depth than Liverpool is an absolute mental take, does he count Mainoo as 4 players or something? Probably doesn't even include Casemiro either when discussing them," one fan replied.

While Neville has taken most of the stick for the predictions, fans weren't convinced with the logic of either for their 'impact signing of the season with Neville choosing Dominic Solanke and Carragher going with Chelsea's Pedro Neto.

"Pedro Neto impact signing… Chelsea not in the top 7 and Dominic Solanke impact signing but Tottenham finish lower than last season, make it make sense."