Defenders Maik Nawrocki, Alexandro Bernabei and Yuki Kobayashi have missed out on Celtic’s Champions League squad.

Polish centre-back Nawrocki is out injured with a hamstring problem and faces a continued lay-off of about six weeks along with fellow defenders Cameron Carter-Vickers and Stephen Welsh.

The latter pair have made the 25-man squad with Welsh’s homegrown credentials a potential factor in the decision.

Celtic since signed Nat Phillips on loan from Liverpool to deal with their injury list at the back, with fellow summer signing Gustaf Lagerbielke in the pool too.

Japanese central defender Kobayashi is expected to return to fitness soon following an ankle injury but he is not listed in the squad.

Bernabei has played twice this season but has not made the cut with Liam Scales a potential back-up for left-back Greg Taylor after impressing in central defence in the recent win over Rangers.

There is also no place for goalkeeper Benjamin Siegrist, midfielder Kwon Hyeok-kyu and summer signing Marco Tilio, who arrived at Celtic with an injury, along with James McCarthy, who last featured in October last year.

Celtic begin their European campaign in Rotterdam next Tuesday against Feyenoord and also face Lazio and Atletico Madrid in their group.

American investment firm 777 Partners have returned to the negotiating table at Everton but are now reportedly considering a majority purchase.

The group had been in talks earlier this summer over a partial investment only for rivals MSP Sports Capital to enter into an exclusivity agreement with Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri.

With the agreement now over after that potential investment fell through over repayments to existing lenders – although a £100million loan to help finalise the completion of a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock was agreed – it appears 777 have re-entered talks.

However, reports suggest it is with a view to a full takeover of the club.

Everton have been seeking outside investment for some time in order to free up finances to complete the new stadium.

In January Moshiri, who has spent more than £500million on players since becoming the majority shareholder in 2016, said the club was not up for sale but admitted he was exploring funding options to cover the final stages of the £550m-plus build at Bramley-Moore which will is set to see the ground opened next season.

The 777 group, which did not comment when contacted by the PA news agency, currently own, or part own, Genoa, Standard Liege, Hertha Berlin, Vasco de Gama and Melbourne Victory and the London Lions basketball team and British Basketball League.

Harry Wilson revealed how the Wales dressing room serenaded David Brooks with “his song” after the Bournemouth forward scored his first international goal since beating cancer.

Brooks was diagnosed with stage-two Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2021 while on Wales duty.

The 26-year-old announced he was cancer-free in May last year, but it has been a long road back to form and fitness as Brooks’ body took time to recover from the full effects of the disease.

So it was no surprise the entire Wales squad wildly celebrated the stoppage time goal that Brooks scored to seal a 2-0 European Championship qualifying victory over Latvia on Monday.

It was Brooks’ first Wales goal since scoring the winner in a Nations League tie against the Republic of Ireland in November 2020.

“When the news broke that he had his illness we were on camp and it hit us hard,” Wilson said after the Riga success.

“He’s a big part of the group. He’s been my room mate for years and it was tough for us all.

“To see how strong he’s been through it all, how he’s come back and regained his fitness. He’s had setbacks along the way and picked up a few injuries.

“His body was completely shut down for a while and it’s going to happen, but it’s how he’s dealt with those setbacks.

“Now he’s fully fit he showed his quality at the end. At that moment in the game a lot of players would have snatched at that chance, but he was so calm to wait for the keeper to go down and just lifted it over him.”

Wales supporters are used to belting out the ‘Brooks will tear you apart again’ song to the tune of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear You Apart’ in tribute to him.

Wilson said: “The other day when he came on against South Korea the fans must have sang his song for a good 15 to 20 minutes.

“They were singing it again at the end when we went to them to show our appreciation.

“I think he must have done an interview so he was the last one back in the dressing room.

“We had it going as well and I think it shows what a massive member of this group he’s been and how much he’s been missed over the couple of years he’s been out of the squad.”

Wales’s win – only their second in 14 games – has put them back in the mix for a top-two spot and automatic qualification while easing the pressure on boss Rob Page.

They have drawn level with Armenia on seven points and trail Croatia and Turkey by three.

Next month’s visit from group favourites Croatia will be followed by a November double-header away to Armenia and at home to Turkey.

Wilson said: “We’ve done well at home in the past against big teams when we’ve got the ‘Red Wall’ behind us. We’ll be looking to do that again.

“We know Armenia away is going to be tough, hostile and the pitch might not be great, but you’ve got to deal with that when you go to these places.

“We feel it’s back in our hands now and we have to make sure we put on performances like we have done before.

“We were all disappointed with how the summer camp went, not just the results (defeats to Armenia and Turkey) but the performances as well.

“We couldn’t wait to get back on camp and put right what went wrong in the summer. We put a bit of pressure on ourselves but we never do it the easy way.”

A VAR who made what referees’ chief Howard Webb described as an “error” in awarding a goal to Manchester City in the last round of Premier League matches has been selected as a fourth official for the coming weekend.

Tony Harrington will be on the touchline for the Newcastle v Brentford match on Saturday, and will also be the referee for Friday night’s Championship game between Hull and Coventry as he continues his return from injury.

Harrington and assistant VAR Adam Nunn checked and cleared Nathan Ake’s goal for City against Fulham on September 2, which put them 2-1 up in a game they ultimately won 5-1.

Ake’s header went low into the bottom corner, narrowly passing by his team-mate Akanji who was stood in an offside position. Harrington and Nunn determined that Akanji’s presence had no significant impact on Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Fulham head coach Marco Silva strongly disagreed with the decision to give the goal, and Webb admitted last week that it should not have counted.

“From the outset I think this should have been disallowed. It certainly appears Akanji has an impact on Leno the goalkeeper who seems to hesitate,” Webb told the ‘Match Officials: Mic’d Up’ programme.

“We think it’s a clear situation of offside. Unfortunately it wasn’t identified on the day. This was an error.”

What the papers say

After failed talks with manager Erik ten Hag, Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho is looking set to leave the club after the pair could not settle their differences, The Star reports. Sancho has played three games for the club this season.

The Daily Mail says the club is looking at signing former Ajax, Aston Villa and Everton winger Anwar El Ghazi . The 28-year-old from the Netherlands is a free agent after leaving PSV Eindhoven.

Germany have placed former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann and former Manchester United and Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal on their shortlist after Hansi Flick was sacked from the role, according to the Mirror.

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Ousmane Diomande: Arsenal had a rejected bid worth £30million for the 19-year-old Sporting CP defender but will make another attempt next year, the Metro reports.

2022 Ben Francis Cup Knockout champions Edwin Allen High started their 2023 DaCosta Cup campaign with a 7-1 win over Claude McKay on Monday.

Edwin Allen, who were quarterfinalists in last year’s DaCosta Cup, are now leaders of Zone H after the first round of matches. Elsewhere in the zone, Kellits High secured a 1-0 win over Thompson Town. Zone H play kicked off on Saturday when defending champions Clarendon College beat Lennon High 5-0.

In Zone I, Wycliffe Martin High secured a 1-0 win over St. Mary High.

Wales kept their Euro 2024 qualification hopes alive with a 2-0 win in Latvia as Aaron Ramsey’s 100th career goal and a David Brooks clincher lifted the pressure on under-fire manager Rob Page.

Ramsey stroked home a 29th-minute penalty – his 21st goal for Wales – before Brooks, on as a substitute for the injured captain, settled matters in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

The victory was Wales’ second in 14 attempts and gives them renewed hope that they can claim a top-two place in Group D.

On a night when Wales simply had to win or be left with a play-off route to Germany next summer, there was further good news before kick-off as group leaders Croatia did them a favour by winning 1-0 in Armenia.

Croatia are Wales’ next Euro opponents in Cardiff next month, and Page can now look forward to that game after heading to Riga with huge question marks over his future.

The 49-year-old was feted as a national hero after leading Wales to their first World Cup for 64 years, but poor performances at that tournament and in this campaign had prompted large parts of the fan base to call for managerial change.

Page had drawn encouragement from Thursday’s friendly with South Korea – and he named 10 of the side who started that goalless draw in Cardiff.

Captain Ramsey returned in place of Nathan Broadhead as Burnley’s Connor Roberts won his 50th cap.

Jordan James made his first competitive start and the 19-year-old suggested he may be a mainstay of the Wales midfield for some time to come.

Latvia had drawn a complete blank in Euro 2024 qualifying, losing all four games, with three of them – including a 1-0 away defeat to Wales in March – by a single goal margin.

The tiny three-sided Skonto Stadium, with cars parked behind one goal, seemed at odds with what was such an important night in Welsh football. But over 1,000 Wales fans were in a crowd of 6,464.

There had been a mood of sporting celebration in Riga throughout the day as Latvians turned out to honour their basketball players, who had recorded a best finish of fifth at the sport’s World Cup, in the city.

Wales should have had the perfect start inside 75 seconds when Ethan Ampadu released Brennan Johnson but Tottenham’s new striker skied over on his unfavoured left side.

Ampadu was off-target from a Harry Wilson corner but Wales were threatening at set-pieces.

Chris Mepham met another Wilson corner at the far post and Ben Davies reached the deflected ball first to force Roberts Ozols into a flying save in the Latvian goal.

Chances continued to come and go for Wales with Johnson wayward again and Ozols producing stops to deny Wilson and Roberts.

There was a danger that frustration would creep in, but Latvia provided a helping hand when Kaspars Dubra bundled over Wilson after 28 minutes.

The incident survived a VAR check for a potential offside in the build-up and Ramsey coolly converted for his landmark goal.

Wales should have been out of sight in the next 10 minutes as Neco Williams and Johnson fired wide when well-placed and Ozols denied Wilson again.

Latvia had shown nothing as an attacking force for 41 minutes before suddenly bursting into life.

Ward shovelled out a Janis Ikaunieks header that Roberts had to clear as the Latvian striker prepared to pounce for the rebound, while Raimonds Krollis almost profited twice after being left unguarded.

Wales suffered a blow four minutes into the second half when Ramsey signalled to the bench to come off, with David Brooks taking his place.

The worry was that Wales would miss Ramsey’s stabilising influence and Krollis went close after Johnson had driven wide.

Latvia might have been reduced to 10 men when Ikaunieks aimed a wild kick at James.

Slovakian referee Michal Ocenas brandished a yellow card before being asked to review the decision at the VAR monitor. After a two-minute check Ocenas stuck with his original decision and Ikaunieks escaped further sanction.

The final quarter became very fragmented with a series of niggly fouls.

Ikaunieks’ 20-yard shot flew into the side netting and, while that would have represented the cruellest punishment for Wales, Brooks ended matters by racing on to Wilson’s pass and scoring with the most delicious of chips.

Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba has been provisionally suspended by Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal after returning an adverse sample.

The France international tested positive for testosterone in a random drugs test following Juventus’ Serie A game against Udinese on August 20, when he was an unused substitute.

After the Italian anti-doping body issued a statement on Monday evening confirming Pogba’s suspension, Juventus said the club would now consider “the next procedural steps”.

If found guilty of doping, a suspension of between two and four years could be handed out to Pogba.

“Juventus Football Club announces that today, September 11, 2023, the footballer Paul Labile Pogba received a precautionary suspension order from the National Anti-Doping Tribunal following the results of tests carried out on August 20, 2023,” a statement from the Serie A side read.

“The club reserves the right to consider the next procedural steps.”

Italy’s national anti-doping tribunal confirmed Pogba’s positive sample for testosterone.

A statement from the anti-doping body read: “The National Antidoping Tribunal informs that, in acceptance of the instance proposed by the National Antidoping Prosecutor, it has provided for the provisional suspension of the athlete: Paul Labile Pogba (FIGC) for the violation of articles 2.1, 2.2; prohibited substance detected: Non-endogenous testosterone metabolites (The GC/c/IRMS results are consistent with the exogenous origin of the target compounds).”

Earlier on Monday, former Manchester United midfielder Pogba said he was almost driven to walk away from football after allegedly being blackmailed by an organised crime gang.

The 30-year-old’s brother Mathias was detained in September 2022 on suspicion of involvement in the alleged plot, which Paul Pogba claimed amounted to a bid to extort £11.1million from him.

Mathias Pogba was released in December and denies the charges.

Paul Pogba reported the incident to Turin prosecutors in July of last year, shortly after leaving Manchester United on a free transfer in order to rejoin Juventus.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Paul Pogba said: “When there is money you have to be careful. Money changes people. It can break up a family. It can create a war.

“Sometimes I was just by myself thinking: ‘I don’t want to have money anymore. I just don’t want to play anymore. I just want to be with normal people, so they will love me for me – not for the fame, not for the money.’

“Sometimes it’s tough. This life, you have to go through it. It will only make me stronger.”

Laure Beccuau, a Paris prosecutor, said the investigation was looking into allegations of “blackmail by an armed gang, kidnapping and membership of a criminal conspiracy”.

Mathias Pogba is himself a professional footballer, with the 33-year-old having represented Crewe, Crawley, Wrexham and Partick Thistle, as well as the national team of Guinea.

He is currently without a club after leaving French lower-league side Belfort in 2022.

Scotland host England in the 116th edition of international football’s oldest fixture on Tuesday.

Ahead of the old foes going toe-to-toe at Hampden Park, the PA news agency picks out some of the talking points.

History in the making

The game has been billed as the 150th Anniversary Heritage Match, to commemorate the advent of international football on November 30, 1872. At the West of Scotland Cricket Ground in Partick, a Scotland team exclusively made up of Queen’s Park players drew 0-0 with England, whose biggest contingent came from Oxford University. Other clubs represented were Notts County, Sheffield Wednesday, Cambridge University, the 1st Surrey Rifles and the now defunct Hertfordshire Rangers, Barnes and Harrow Chequers. Scotland’s passing game and the English tactic of running with the ball cancelled each other out in front of several thousand supporters.

Scotland bid to close the gap

England only lead 48-41 in the 116 meetings between the nations but Scottish wins, as well as the encounters themselves, have become scarcer in recent years. Scotland’s last home win came in the 1985 Rous Cup when Richard Gough headed the only goal, and their most recent victory was a bitter-sweet victory in 1999 when Don Hutchison headed a Wembley winner but England went through to Euro 2000 with a 2-1 play-off aggregate win. England have not lost in the past five meetings but the most recent two games were draws.

Attention elsewhere for Scotland fans

For probably the first time in the century-and-a-half of the fixture, many Scotland fans will be more concerned with a result elsewhere than what happens at Hampden. Scotland will become the first team to qualify for Euro 2024 if Norway and Georgia draw in Oslo. While the Scotland players will be focused on the task at hand, there might be some roars and celebrations from the home fans regardless of the situation in front of them.

Southgate balances progress with performance

England head to Hampden Park on the back of a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Ukraine in front of a partisan crowd in Poland. Gareth Southgate called it a good test in a hostile environment, just as he expects in Mount Florida on Tuesday night. This is England’s first friendly match since March 2022, after a run of 16 competitive matches taking in last year’s Nations League and World Cup before Euro 2024 qualification got under way. But do not expect too many changes as Southgate says it would be “ridiculous” to overly experiment against high-flying Scotland. “We’ve got to find the right balance of physical freshness – we’ve had a day less preparation – experience, finding out about some players, winning, playing well,” he said.

Southgate to give Colwill debut?

England’s development under Southgate has been impressive since he took charge in challenging circumstances in 2016, but there are plenty of questions to answer as next summer’s Euros come into view. Key among them is what to do at centre-back, given trusted lieutenant Harry Maguire’s lack of form and game time at Manchester United. Saturday’s match against Ukraine was his first start for club or country of the season, with Southgate seeing his experience as vital alongside Marc Guehi given John Stones and Tyrone Mings are out injured. Fikayo Tomori and Lewis Dunk are other centre-back options in the squad if Southgate wants to change things up against Scotland, as is uncapped Levi Colwill. The 20-year-old flourished on loan at Brighton and impressed since getting his chance at Chelsea this term. This would be a big occasion to make his debut but a great test for a player some have tipped to be a starter come Germany.

Paul Pogba could face a lengthy ban after failing a drugs test, according to reports in Italy which emerged shortly after the Juventus midfielder revealed he almost walked away from football after allegedly being blackmailed by an organised crime gang.

It is claimed the France international tested positive for testosterone in a random drugs test following Juventus’ Serie A game against Udinese on August 20, when he was an unused substitute.

Elevated levels of testosterone were reported to have been found, which means Pogba’s second sample would also need to be checked.

According to Italian media, Pogba has three days to produce a counter-analysis of the result. If found guilty of doping, a suspension of between two and four years could reportedly be handed out.

The PA news agency has contacted Juventus and the Italian Football Federation for comment.

Earlier on Monday, former Manchester United midfielder Pogba said he was almost driven to walk away from football after allegedly being blackmailed by an organised crime gang.

The 30-year-old’s brother Mathias was detained in September 2022 on suspicion of involvement in the alleged plot, which Paul Pogba claimed amounted to a bid to extort £11.1million from him.

Mathias Pogba was released in December and denies the charges.

Paul Pogba reported the incident to Turin prosecutors in July of last year, shortly after leaving Manchester United on a free transfer in order to rejoin Juventus.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Paul Pogba said: “When there is money you have to be careful. Money changes people. It can break up a family. It can create a war.

“Sometimes I was just by myself thinking: ‘I don’t want to have money anymore. I just don’t want to play anymore. I just want to be with normal people, so they will love me for me – not for the fame, not for the money.’

“Sometimes it’s tough. This life, you have to go through it. It will only make me stronger.”

Laure Beccuau, a Paris prosecutor, said the investigation was looking into allegations of “blackmail by an armed gang, kidnapping and membership of a criminal conspiracy”.

Mathias Pogba is himself a professional footballer, with the 33-year-old having represented Crewe, Crawley, Wrexham and Partick Thistle, as well as the national team of Guinea.

He is currently without a club after leaving French lower-league side Belfort in 2022.

Gareth Southgate says Harvey Barnes is a player England “like a lot” and Kieran Trippier praised Elliot Anderson’s potential amid talk of a possible tug-of-war with Scotland for the Newcastle duo.

There is an increasing number of players that have been part of the English set-up that have gone on to represent another country, including Jamal Musiala and Wilfried Zaha.

Angus Gunn was called up to the England senior squad by Southgate before switching allegiance to Tuesday’s opponents Scotland, who are now reportedly targeting Barnes.

The 25-year-old has yet to add to the solitary senior England cap he won in 2020 but remains on the manager’s radar, as does Newcastle team-mate Anderson.

The Whitley Bay-born 20-year-old spent two days with Scotland last week before withdrawing from the squad due to injury.

“Both are very good players,” England boss Southgate said of the Newcastle pair in the bowels of Hampden Park ahead of Tuesday’s friendly.

“In terms of Harvey, he’s obviously a player who has played for us. We have a lot of competition in that area of the pitch so he is a player we are always monitoring and he’s a player we like a lot.

“With Elliot, I think he’s a player who has progressed really well. We’ve previously spoken with him, but of course he was named in the squad here so assumed that was that.

“I thought he had an excellent pre-season with Newcastle as well.

“You could see that evolution that he has got as a young player and the potential he has got. I know at Newcastle they rate him very highly.

“I don’t know the answer to the ultimate question for either player, but there are going to be more and more of these sorts of situations.

“There are so many players with dual or triple nationality now.

“It is very complicated for every country and sometimes you can’t offer the player something as quickly as they like.

“We have benefited from it and we have lost players because of it and I think that is always going to be the case, really.”

The pair’s club team-mate was sat alongside Southgate in Glasgow, with right-back Trippier full of praise for homegrown Newcastle talent Anderson.

“As the gaffer said before, in pre-season he’s been unbelievable,” Trippier said of a player who has represented both nations at youth level.

“I think it was good for him last year to stay with us and not go out on loan again, to gain that experience.

“He’s a young lad with great potential. Obviously we’ve had talks but, like Gareth said before, he went away with Scotland.

“Ultimately that’s his decision. He’s a young lad with great potential so that decision is ultimately up to him.”

Gareth Southgate says it would be “ridiculous” to overly experiment as England head to hostile Hampden Park to face in-form foes Scotland in a so-called friendly.

Both sides are on the cusp of qualification for next summer’s European Championship as they meet on Tuesday evening for the 116th edition of the world’s oldest international fixture.

Southgate sees England’s first friendly fixture since March 2022 as an important test and learning step for his side, fresh from Saturday’s challenging 1-1 draw against Ukraine.

Scotland have won their last five matches and will be roared on by a sold-out Hampden Park crowd on Tuesday, when the 53-year-old knows he has to get the balance right with his selection.

“We’ve got to find the right balance of physical freshness – we’ve had a day less preparation – experience, finding out about some players, winning, playing well,” Southgate said.

“So, the usual things that are expected of us with England, really.

“But I think the first thing is we can’t fiddle around with the team because we’re playing a top-level side, who are going to be at full tilt and giving us a really high-level challenge.

“So, you can’t overly experiment because that would be ridiculous.”

Southgate largely stuck with the tried and tested with his squad selection for this September double-header, leading to starts for Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson against Ukraine.

It was the former’s first competitive start of the season and the first time the latter had represented his country since swapping Liverpool for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq.

Southgate was criticised by some for selecting the pair against Ukraine, while a disjointed, toothless performance hardly set pulses racing.

“I haven’t seen it, so the reaction for us is, we’re top of the group,” said the England boss, who could hand Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah their debuts in Glasgow.

“I think we’re the top scorers in Europe. The boys did a really good job in a difficult environment and we know that our attacking play didn’t quite click.

“I think some of that was the surface, really, because to make those really incisive, quick passes at times you just needed a little extra touch or there was a little bobble.

“I’m very conscious I wasn’t going to be too harsh on my internal review with the players.

“Because you could see moments when we’re watching it back where the ball pops over players’ feet or (someone) goes to play a ball first time, and it lofts in the air.

“Equally, that wasn’t the case with everything that we did, so we’re always challenging. We want to be better and better and we’ve got to set a high standard.

“We weren’t as happy coming away with the point as we might have been but it’s still a really good result.

“We saw what happened in our group later that night (with Italy drawing 1-1 with North Macedonia).

“When we beat North Macedonia people were questioning the quality that they had and the standard of the opposition, but Italy went there and couldn’t get the win.

“So, we kind of know the cycle, frankly, with England. I’ve been in the job long enough now.

“It’s constant, it’s never-ending, but we have to really focus internally on what’s important for us.

“Review to our own standards, review and make sure that we know what we’re working towards, and what we’re comparing ourselves against, really.”

Southgate believes the trip to Glasgow will help in that on a night when England and Scotland will commemorate the 150th anniversary of their first meeting on November 30, 1872.

The former defender admitted he was briefly a member of the Tartan Army in his childhood.

“I mean, this is horrendous what I’m going to say here ahead of tomorrow, but I was supporting Scotland in 1978 because obviously we hadn’t qualified,” the England boss said.

“I kind of followed that through the trauma of Peru and the Netherlands.

“Then we were back in ’82 and all of a sudden, you know, for me then onwards it was all about England.

“But, yeah, great fixtures. I’ve met so many of the former players over the years – worked with some of them, played with some of them.

“It’s a fabulous game. I know there’s a rivalry and I know people will be wary of it crossing a boundary, but it’s a brilliant sporting rivalry and it’s a great game to be involved in.”

England boss Gareth Southgate stressed Harvey Barnes is “a player we like a lot” while also emphasising the competition he faces amid talk of the winger possibly switching allegiance to Scotland.

Barnes is reported to be considering a switch three years on from winning his sole England cap to date in a friendly against Wales.

At a press conference ahead of Tuesday’s friendly clash with Scotland at Hampden Park, Southgate said of the 25-year-old: “He’s obviously a player who has played for us.

“We’ve got a lot of competition in that area of the pitch. He’s a player we’re always monitoring and he’s a player we like a lot.”

Southgate was asked about on a potential swap of allegiances for Barnes and Newcastle team-mate Elliot Anderson, who has played for both countries at youth level and received a call-up to the Scotland squad last month, only to be forced to withdraw due to injury.

Southgate said: “Both very good players. With Elliot, again I think he’s a player that has progressed really well. We’ve previously spoken with him, but of course he was named in the squad here, so assumed that was that.

“I thought he had an excellent pre-season with Newcastle, you could see that evolution that he’s got as a young player and the potential he’s got. I know Newcastle rate him very highly.

“I don’t know is the answer to the ultimate question for either player, but there are going to be more and more of these sorts of situations.

“There are so many players with dual or triple nationality now, it is very complicated for every country, and sometimes you can’t offer the player something as quickly as they’d like.

“We’ve benefited from it and lost players because of it, and I think that’s always going to be the case.”

Southgate was joined at the press conference by Newcastle full-back Kieran Trippier, who said of Anderson: “As the gaffer said, in pre-season he’s been unbelievable. It was good for him last year to stay with us and not go out on loan again, to gain that experience.

“He’s a great lad with great potential. We’ve had talks, but he went away with Scotland. That’s his decision, it is ultimately up to him.”

Paul Pogba says he was almost driven to walk away from football after allegedly being blackmailed by an organised crime gang.

The 30-year-old midfielder’s brother Mathias was detained in September 2022 on suspicion of involvement in the alleged plot, which Paul Pogba claimed amounted to a bid to extort £11.1million from him.

Mathias Pogba was released in December and denies the charges.

Paul Pogba reported the incident to Turin prosecutors in July of last year, shortly after leaving Manchester United on a free transfer in order to rejoin Juventus.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Paul Pogba said: “When there is money you have to be careful. Money changes people. It can break up a family. It can create a war.

“Sometimes I was just by myself thinking: ‘I don’t want to have money anymore. I just don’t want to play anymore. I just want to be with normal people, so they will love me for me – not for the fame, not for the money.’

“Sometimes it’s tough. This life, you have to go through it. It will only make me stronger.”

Laure Beccuau, a Paris prosecutor, said the investigation was looking into allegations of “blackmail by an armed gang, kidnapping and membership of a criminal conspiracy”.

Mathias Pogba is himself a professional footballer, with the 33-year-old having represented Crewe, Crawley, Wrexham and Partick Thistle, as well as the national team of Guinea.

He is currently without a club after leaving French lower-league side Belfort in 2022.

England star Georgia Stanway insists the resignation of Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales has to be “the start of something, not the end of something”.

Rubiales finally announced he was quitting as president of the RFEF on Sunday night, three weeks after he kissed Spain midfielder Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the World Cup final trophy presentation in Sydney.

Hermoso later said she had not consented to the kiss, but Rubiales has spent the last three weeks standing firm in saying he would not quit over the incident despite the opening of disciplinary proceedings by football’s world governing body FIFA and the instigation of a criminal complaint in the Spanish courts.

Stanway was part of the England team beaten by Hermoso and her team-mates in Sydney, and hopes the controversy over how this matter has been handled has a wider impact than just being the eventual trigger for Rubiales’ exit.

“Everybody’s fought and we fought as a women’s football group,” Stanway said.

“We fought as players, we’ve fought as staff, we’ve fought as journalists for the outcome to be what it is.

“Obviously, the outcome is what we want. But at the same time, we want this to be the start of something, rather than the end of something.

“We want to continue to be able to have these conversations, to feel comfortable to have these conversations, feel comfortable in your workplace, to be able to stand up for whatever you think is right.”

Rubiales had told an RFEF emergency general assembly on August 25 that he would not quit his post, but was provisionally suspended by FIFA the following day pending an investigation into his conduct.

As well as kissing Hermoso, Rubiales was also pictured grabbing his groin in celebration of the World Cup win while standing metres from Spain’s Queen Letizia and her teenage daughter.

Rubiales posted on the social media platform X on Sunday night: “After the rapid suspension carried out by FIFA, plus the rest of proceedings open against me, it is evident that I will not be able to return to my position.

“Insisting on waiting and holding on is not going to contribute to anything positive, neither to the federation nor to Spanish football.

“I have faith in the truth and I will do everything in my power to prevail.

“My daughters, my family and the people who love me have suffered the effects of excessive persecution, as well as many falsehoods, but it is also true that on the street, more and more every day, the truth is prevailing.”

Rubiales has also done an interview with chat show host Piers Morgan concerning the matter, which is due to air on Tuesday evening.

There has been no public statement yet from Hermoso, nor from the rest of the Spain squad who had said they would not represent their country while Rubiales remained in post.

Spain are due to play Sweden and Switzerland in the Nations League on September 22 and 26.