Sports
How James Milner broke Premier League’s appearances record
“What makes James Milner special? I don’t know where to start, to be honest,” former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp tells ESPN. He quickly flicks through the nine years they spent together, the trophies they won. “Of all the success we had at Liverpool, nothing would’ve happened without him. That’s how it is really.”
On Saturday, at age 40, Milner was named in the starting XI for Brighton & Hove Albion against Brentford for his 654th Premier League appearance, surpassing the landmark set by Gareth Barry in 2017. “Reaching that number of appearances is just like landing on the moon. Maybe it only happens once?” Klopp says.
Milner made 230 of his Premier League appearances under the German coach. By the time Klopp took charge of Liverpool in October 2015, Milner had already lived enough to satisfy a career. He made his debut on Nov. 10, 2002, at age 16; suffered the heartbreak of being transferred away from his boyhood club, Leeds United; then made doubting managers eat their words.
“He’s very different to a lot of people that I’ve met in my career,” former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, now at Brentford, tells ESPN. “You could never break him. No matter how bad the situation, no matter what’s thrown at him, I always felt that he would react in the right way and come back stronger, come back better.”
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His career has been so long that he played against England and Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman, who is now 62 years old. He has faced or played alongside 49% of players who have ever appeared in the Premier League. And for the six clubs he has laced up his boots for (Leeds, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Liverpool, Brighton), he has won three Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, two league cups and one Champions League. Oh, and the Intertoto Cup.
Pundit and former manager Graeme Souness once said you could never win anything with a team of James Milners. Well, the quiet lad from Leeds, who has been called boring and boasts the same haircut he had when he was 3, has proved that sentiment wrong time and time again. Now he has set a record that will surely last for decades — one that no one boring or ordinary could ever have claimed.
“I hope after game No. 780 or whatever he reaches, and he retires, whatever he does next, the world desperately needs people like him,” Klopp says. “I’m so happy for him that he’s reached the landmark. … Being part of something for eternity is really special.”
But what has propelled Milner to this feat? Teammates, managers, teachers, musicians, rugby players and a referee who have all gotten to know him agree: Milner is one of a kind.
Steady professionalism
“He is probably the most disciplined, stubborn, professional football player I have ever worked with.” — Klopp
Milner’s unrelenting professionalism has anchored his career, even before he broke through into Leeds’ academy. In a school report, a 14-year-old Milner weighed whether to pursue golf or soccer. His heroes were Paul Gascoigne and Harry Kewell, so soccer won out.
Former Premier League referee Jon Moss was Milner’s PE teacher at Westbrook Lane Primary School when Milner was 11. “I think he cried a couple of times when we got beat for the school team,” Moss tells ESPN. “He was just that frustrated by it, though we didn’t get beat very often.” Everton called Milner for a trial, but that was canceled. So serendipity led him to Leeds, who signed Milner to their academy in 1996.
Lucy Ward, the former striker and TV pundit, mentored Milner and taught him at nearby Boston Spa School in her role as head of education and welfare at Leeds just before he made his Premier League debut. “He was more mature than the rest of his teammates, and the rest of them had good contracts, which doesn’t really help young lads focus the mind on education,” Ward tells ESPN. “… He was dedicated to making sure he made the best of himself. In 20 years — just in front of [AFC Bournemouth midfielder] Lewis Cook — he was the best in terms of attitude and commitment and humility.”
“If you said to me back then at 16 that he would still be playing in the Premier League when he’s 40, I’d have said, ‘Yes, I completely believe you,'” she adds. “You just know there’d be no stone left unturned to everything that he did.”
Milner played his way through the England age-grade sides, lining up alongside former Aston Villa striker Luke Moore for England under-15s and under-16s. “He had great fundamentals and mastered the basics in terms of being a professional even at that age,” Moore tells ESPN. “He was eating better than us, and stretching more than us. His only vice, I think, was golf.”
Milner was promoted to the first team by the late Terry Venables, who coached England and Barcelona before finishing his managerial career at Leeds. Players at the time remember seeing Milner turn up to training one day. “We knew all about him, of course, but when he came into training, he didn’t hold back at all,” former Leeds midfielder Eirik Bakke tells ESPN. “He just scored some unbelievable goals, and you’re like ‘f—, no,’ as you know you’ve got competition for places. He was one of the boys straight away, even though he looked like a schoolboy.”
After debuting off the bench against Nottingham Forest in November 2002, he scored his first for the club a month later at Sunderland. Simon Rix, bassist for the Kaiser Chiefs and die-hard Leeds fan, remembers watching Milner. “He was one of our prized assets but was being sent into the fields behind the training ground goals to collect balls, coming back with cuts down his legs,” he tells ESPN. “Looking back now, I feel this is a sign of the characteristics which would stand him in good stead.”
But by 2003-04, Leeds were in financial strife and were relegated at the end of the season. Milner was reluctantly moved to Newcastle. On the way out, he waived his loyalty bonus of approximately £150,000, a source told ESPN, hoping it would help his boyhood club. “He wasn’t trying to make people say, ‘Oh, well done, you. You’ve saved our club,'” Ward says. “He didn’t want to leave, but he’d never ever have put his foot down and said, ‘No, I’m staying here.'”
This professionalism and sense of what’s right carried him through his career. Klopp says that at Liverpool, Milner “ran the dressing room from an organization point of view.” It wasn’t until Milner left the club that the manager realized no one else knew how much players should be fined for being late. “We had to set [the rules] up completely new again because Milly left,” he says.
No one who knew him early in his career is surprised to see he is still going. “He’s the most professional player I’ve ever played with,” former England U21 and Aston Villa teammate Curtis Davies tells ESPN. “Him playing past 40 doesn’t shock me at all. He’s never needed anyone to tell him to do the right thing. The professionalism is just him.”
Unmatched fitness
“I said, ‘Milly, you are already the fittest one here, stop running.’ But he just kept going.” — Klopp
Milner’s fitness and preseason tests are the stuff of Premier League legend. All of his ex-teammates remember how he’d always be the last man standing in fitness tests, or the one leading the grueling long-distance runs in preseason.
“He was literally, like, the fittest man in the world when I played with him,” Davies says. “You’ll get certain players who as soon as they’ve beaten everyone else slowly drop out. But he’ll max himself out.”
1:35
Henderson: Milner’s Premier League appearance record a remarkable achievement
Jordan Henderson says James Milner deserves to break the Premier League appearance record.
It’s always been like that. “Even at 11 years old, he had the physique of a much older man,” Moss says. Sam Allardyce remembers Milner’s drive when he coached him at Newcastle: “There are no miraculous stories about James, other than he has the pure dedication of Cristiano Ronaldo in how he looks after himself,” he tells ESPN.
It didn’t always go down well with teammates. Nedum Onuoha was in the same England U21 side as Milner and Davies, and played again with Milner at Manchester City. “I mean this as a compliment, but it’s just really annoying!” Onuoha tells ESPN, laughing at the frustrating memories. “If there’s a chart and it’s ‘Who’s going to jump the highest in training today?’ Well, he’s going to jump to his maximum. … He gives 100% to everything, and you feel you must do the same.”
Longtime Manchester United winger Ashley Young played alongside Milner for Villa and England. “I remember at Villa under Martin O’Neill and him not thinking that we’d trained enough — that definitely pissed people off,” he tells ESPN. “Milly has lungs that keep going. They just never stop.”
Former rugby league star and current rugby union coach Kevin Sinfield has raised more than £10 million for charity since retirement and got to know Milner through the James Milner Foundation, which works closely with the foundation at Leeds Rhinos, Sinfield’s old club. “I know some people at Brighton, and I’ll always ask, ‘How’s James going?'” Sinfield says. “And they’ll tell me he’s still winning the fitness test; he’s still driving standards and he’s still raising the program. That’s a huge compliment for someone of that age.”
A fierce competitive fire
“You cannot get to this point without being incredibly determined. At the beginning of our player-coach relationship, it was clear immediately I needed to find a way to get him on my side, because he’s so influential in so many ways.” — Klopp
Davies and Onuoha remember the urine tests (to measure hydration) from their U21 days. “Milly’s score was always the best score. He was always the most hydrated,” Onuoha says. “And you’d be like, ‘Oh, what a nerd.’ He’s staying up and staying hydrated through the night.”
One day, Onuoha decided to beat him, guzzling water all day and night before his test. When it came time for the results, he and Davies were there to see Milner’s reaction. “You could tell by his face he was really pissed off,” Davies says. “It was his thing.”
In his book “Ask a Footballer,” Milner said, “I’ve always been desperate to prove people wrong, desperate to be the best I can, to win every match I play, to win trophies and desperate not to lose.” Of Souness’ comment that a team of James Milners couldn’t win anything, back when Souness was his manager at Newcastle, Milner said: “It was a kick in the teeth. If anything, it drove me on.”
“I think his motivation does come from people doubting him,” Young said. “It’s the mentality he’s always had — the mentality to be better than anyone else and the day before.”
“His commitment to do everything he can to help the team and to be successful, it’s unrivaled,” Onuoha says. “Whether it’s around, say, being in the gym, whether it’s getting the massages before, whether it’s making sure you arrive at a good time, making sure you watch the video analysis of teams, making sure you’ve practiced your crosses, your penalties.”
Henderson always reinforces Milner’s importance to the success they had at Liverpool, and how Milner was able to lift his spirits and provide a good energy when the team needed it most. “He can really push himself into a dark place [mentally], but despite the pain, he keeps fighting,” he says. “You need those types of people in games, who dig in and go to the final moments.”
Astonishing versatility
“When you think about James, people would probably say an honest, top professional. But I can tell you, he could do it all.” — Klopp
In the 2016-17 preseason, Milner was called into Klopp’s office. “I asked him, ‘What do you prefer, right or left back?’ and he said, ‘Neither.’ I knew the answer before as I wanted him to play left back. I asked him, but his answer didn’t really matter. He was not happy.”
Milner played most of that campaign at left back and excelled, but he was surely relieved when the club brought in Andy Robertson the next summer. Having started his career as a winger, Milner drifted inside to central midfield at Aston Villa in 2009-10, and started in central defense once and played a flurry of matches as a false nine for City. He was frequently found in the No. 10 spot throughout his career, and once Klopp shifted him to fullback, he played both sides.
In 441 Premier League starts, Milner has started at every position on the field save for goalkeeper. Versatility can lend itself to underappreciation; playing everywhere but never locking down a spot makes it easier to fly under the radar. But Milner’s adaptability has proved to be a career-defining virtue.
“If he was told, ‘You are going in goal,’ he would make sure to have a special session with the goalie coach, finding out everything about the opposition’s crossing,” Davies says. “The biggest compliment I can give him is he was never a fill-in. He could play anywhere on the field. That’s just the way he is.”
Young, who has also played nearly everywhere on the pitch, adds: “That’s key to everything, especially nowadays in the last six or seven years. Managers are playing different formations so players are adjusting all the time. If you’ve got a good football brain, you can play in different positions.”
Klopp remembers using him briefly at center back in 2020-21 amid Liverpool’s injury crisis that took out Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip. “Sometimes there was tension there, but we had a brilliant relationship, even though he was not always happy with my decisions.”
Klopp thinks Milner’s versatility has been a key factor in him having this longevity. “If you are fixed on one position, it’s pretty clear over the years in each club there will be a player in your position either as good as you or better. They’ll be younger, faster, stronger, better in heading. So the more positions you can play, it gives you a longer lifetime.
“… But the most important factor he has is his general skill set. He has absolutely everything and shows only 50, 60% of it. Both his right and left foot are excellent, he has decent speed, he’s fast, he can dribble, he’s good in tight spaces, good in big spaces. He has an incredible attitude and makes it clear the fancy stuff will not be there on matchday. From a skill set perspective, he’s one of the top five players I have worked with.”
Boring … or simply one of a kind
“If you want to have [your vacation] perfectly organized … take James. James will sort it — the driver will pick you up there, the hotel will be perfect, the rooms great. That’s not boring for me. That’s well organized and perfectly structured.” — Klopp
Milner has never been one to deliver a spicy interview quote or appear in tabloids. Toss in his reputation as a model professional, being teetotal and his matter-of-fact manner, and there was a perception outside of the dressing room that he was dull.
The Boring James Milner social media account gained traction about seven years ago, playing on his supposed dullness. The first thing Milner does in his book is address some myths generated about him via the account. “I believe it’s standard for a book of this type to begin with a shocking revelation, so here goes. My name is James Milner and I’m not a Ribena-holic. I don’t really drink much tea either. I actually prefer coffee. And it gets worse: I can’t iron.” So there goes the myth he irons his socks. But is James Milner still boring?
Those who know him say the answer is no, he is unique. When Milner started going to Spain on holiday, he got frustrated at not being able to order in Spanish, so he taught himself the language. To fill spare time the past few years in Brighton, with his two children settled in school up north, he taught himself the piano. “You can’t be as good as him and be dull,” Allardyce says.
Young agrees that Milner’s boringness is a preconception. “He’s not [boring] at all. He’s just always busy,” he says.
“He plays into that ‘boring James Milner’ thing, and I think if he was actually boring, he’d probably be more resentful of it,” Davies says. “But instead, he sort of uses it. Yes, he’s been different to others throughout his career, and though he doesn’t drink, he’s still part of every social activity. And if the thing finishes at 4 a.m., James is there at 4 a.m.”
Milner is incredibly proud of his foundation, which helps children get into sport in the north of England. They’ve held gala events, with the Kaiser Chiefs playing two of them. “They were always really well attended by past and present teammates, which I think shows something of his character,” bassist Rix says.
“I’ve loved supporting the foundation,” Sinfield says. “He’s done a lot of work in Leeds and he’s a caring guy. He wants to help people and is just a wonderful role model for sports people right across the world. I think the big message is good guys can win, and good guys can have longevity if they look after themselves.”
And what about the man himself? What’s his assessment of the tongue-in-cheek claim he’s boring? “Maybe being boring has helped keep me going in the Premier League … still the same lad from Leeds, still teetotal, still with the same girl and still with pretty much the same haircut.”
Title IX investigators found a former North Carolina State University sports medicine director’s conduct while treating a male athlete for sports injuries was “unwelcome and of a sexual nature,” “pervasive” and “sufficiently severe,” according to redacted documents obtained by ESPN.
In addition, a senior athletic department official told investigators that sports medicine director Robert Murphy’s alleged behavior had raised concerns as early as 2014 or 2015, nearly eight years before NC State sought a Title IX probe, sources familiar with that investigation told ESPN.
And former men’s soccer coach Kelly Findley told investigators that he reported his concerns about Murphy’s behavior, including what he called grooming, to university administrators as early as 2016, the sources said.
The school launched a Title IX investigation in January 2022 after Ben Locke, a former men’s soccer player, filed a report with the NC State University Police Department, according to the documents.
Locke and 30 other former student athletes have since filed a civil lawsuit against Murphy and eight others who worked as university officials when the alleged abuses occurred. They claim in the lawsuit that the school repeatedly ignored multiple warnings starting as early as 2012 about Murphy’s questionable behavior.
The university announced Murphy’s hiring in December 2011. He left in 2022 following the launch of the investigation.
NC State did not respond to requests for comment but previously told ESPN that “the health and safety of students and student-athletes is paramount to NC State Athletics and the university.”
Murphy’s lawyer also did not respond to requests for comment, but in a March 12 court filing, he asserted that the defendant was acting “within the scope of his profession” and that the civil claims against him are beyond the state’s statute of limitations.
North Carolina enacted a law in 2018 making sexual contact under the guise of medical care a felony offense. The county district attorney’s office with jurisdiction over NC State says there is an ongoing criminal investigation into Murphy.
Kerry Sutton, an attorney for the plaintiffs, declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
NC State’s Equal Opportunity and Equity office conducted the six-month-long internal investigation that included interviews with approximately a dozen people, according to the documents obtained by ESPN. The investigation focused solely on Locke’s allegations and determined by a preponderance of the evidence that Murphy made repeated nonconsensual contact of a sexual nature with Locke’s genitals with his bare hands or fingers during therapeutic massage sessions.
Investigators noted in the documents that treatment of injuries near the groin and genitalia can “make it difficult to discern whether the conduct was severe in nature,” but they concluded that Murphy’s conduct was severe and pervasive enough to constitute sexual misconduct.
“Murphy’s physical contact with Locke’s genitalia, based on the treatment he was receiving, would not have been medically necessary,” one document states.
Locke, who was 17 when he first received treatments from Murphy, told investigators he felt like the “‘perfect target’ for Murphy’s “abuse” due to his age and repeated injuries, the documents state.
“Locke’s statements reflect his perception that he lacked the power to question how Murphy went about administering the treatments and his belief that his status as a student athlete would be compromised if he registered any complaint with Murphy,” one document states. “Accordingly, it is reasonable to conclude that Murphy’s conduct created an intimidating and abusive environment for Locke.”
Shortly after enrolling at NC State, Locke required surgery on both shins and received treatment from Murphy, according to the documents. The day after Locke’s surgery, he says Murphy drove the student-athlete from his apartment where he was recovering to the training facilities and instructed Locke to shower in the men’s locker room while Murphy stood nearby and observed, claiming the supervision was necessary as a safety precaution and for wound care.
Locke reported being impaired due to prescribed drugs for pain management and said he believed that Murphy assumed that he could “get away with showering with this kid who’s 17 years old, a freshman, and he’s not gonna say anything.”
Additionally, Locke reported that Murphy “touched, cupped, held, and flicked Locke’s penis” upward of 100 times over the course of a two-year period during various forms of medical treatment that often involved having Locke remove his underwear, according to the documents.
During an interview with investigators, Murphy denied the allegations that he “cupped or flicked” Locke’s penis but admitted to “touching Locke’s genitalia with the back of his hand,” according to the documents. The investigation could not determine the exact number of instances the unwanted touching occurred.
Murphy also told investigators that he never mandated Locke remove his underwear but “it likely became a thing” over time. Additionally, Murphy stated that “he may have requested Locke to not wear underwear during treatment … to have greater access to the affected tissue.”
Locke told investigators that Murphy regularly requested the former athlete undress from the waist down so that Murphy could apply a soft bandage wrap around the upper thigh and leg, known as hip spica wraps. Locke said the former director of sports medicine would kneel “in front of Locke with Murphy’s head being ‘face to face’ with Locke’s penis” during the wrapping process, according to the documents. He also reported that there were times when he was “completely naked during treatment with Murphy.”
Murphy told investigators that the wrap “doesn’t work as well in underwear” and that he had a “preference” for the wrap to be on bare skin.
Investigators interviewed other sports medicine experts to provide context for when a trainer might need to observe an athlete’s genitals for diagnosis or treatment. The documents noted that there are “‘limited circumstances’ when such observation was required such as traumatic injury to the genitalia.” The documents also noted that no such traumatic injury existed in Locke’s medical records.
Additionally, according to the documents, Murphy observed while a team doctor performed a prostate examination of Locke to rule out possible prostatitis, an inflammation of the prostate gland. Locke told investigators he thought it was “a little weird that [Murphy’s] sitting in here” in the room by his feet while Locke was positioned on a training table as the doctor performed the prostate exam. Locke said he did not object to Murphy’s presence in the exam room.
Locke said he did not realize the various requests from Murphy were unusual until he transferred to play at Lipscomb University and “was in shell shock” at how different things were after his new trainers told him they would not come “anywhere close to the [groin] region,” one document stated. Locke said he was never asked to remove his underwear during his time at his new school.
In addition to determining that Murphy’s behavior toward Locke was “unwelcome” and “of a sexual nature,” the investigation found the former soccer player was likely “intimidated by Murphy’s authority and position” and “concerned by potential repercussions” such as limited playing time.
Investigators acknowledged the “power imbalance” between Murphy as the director of sports medicine and Locke. As a result, the school determined that Murphy’s behavior “created an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment.”
According to the documents, Murphy participated in an initial interview with investigators but declined subsequent follow-up interview requests.
NC State placed Murphy on administrative leave when it launched the investigation and issued a letter of intent to terminate him in March 2022, according to letters reviewed by ESPN. He eventually resigned from his role before the investigation concluded in June 2022.
The university announced it hired Murphy in a December 2011 news release and touted his work at previous stops that included Mercer University and the Atlanta Falcons. Less than a year after he started, Findley — then the men’s soccer coach — informed a school administrator that Murphy’s conduct was inappropriate and “overly familiar,” according to the state lawsuit filed in North Carolina. The complaint alleges that Findley told athletic department leadership that he believed Murphy was “grooming” several male soccer players.
What the school knew and when it knew it is at the heart of the current civil court case. The lawsuit claims officials were alerted in 2015, 2016 and 2019, while also alleging that Findley warned school officials of Murphy’s conduct in 2012.
ESPN spoke with multiple former athletes who allege Murphy sexually abused or harassed them. Most of the men asked to be identified as John Doe, as they are identified in the state lawsuit. They played for NC State ranging in dates from 2013 to 2024.
The men described experiences similar to Locke’s, alleging that Murphy touched their genitals while he applied hip spica wraps or while performing therapeutic massages. Some described unnecessarily intrusive drug testing methods that required near nudity from the student athletes. Additionally, multiple athletes described Murphy regularly hanging out in the locker room and shower facility, something coaches and other trainers rarely did.
One former athlete told ESPN that Murphy’s reputation for touching athletes on their genitals was so widely known that they called it the “Rob Murphy special.”
“If somebody was gonna go see him for no matter what it was — back pain, arm pain, head pain, glute pain,” a plaintiff known as John Doe 9 said, “the joke was that whatever it was, he was going to find a way to touch your genitals.”
So far, 33 men have joined or said they plan to join the lawsuit.
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Bryson DeChambeau is putting together a solid season at LIV Golf, and is looking to carry some of that momentum into the Masters this week in search of the first green jacket of his career.
DeChambeau is second in the LIV Golf standings behind Jon Rahm. But he enters Augusta National with back-to-back wins in Singapore and South Africa. As he heads into the first major of the golf season, DeChambeau is carrying something new in his bag.
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Bryson DeChambeau warms up on the driving range before a practice round ahead of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on April 7, 2026. (Ashley Landis/AP)
He will use a 5-iron made with a 3D printer. It’s a club he built himself.
“There’s this nature that I have about myself where innovation is a habit of mine, and I really find and take pride in that ability to learn — even through failure, even through making a bad decision or a good decision — what I can get from that,” he told ESPN.
“We’ll see where it goes. We’ll see where it takes me. All I could say now is, if I don’t put them in the bag, it’s my fault now.”
DeChambeau had manufacturing deals with LA Golf and Cobra. According to ESPN, his deal with Cobra ended in February.
Tinkering with his clubs isn’t a new strategy for DeChambeau. He said he had been tinkering with the idea of building his own clubs for a few years and tried a new wedge as he won in South Africa.
Bryson DeChambeau signs autographs during the Par 3 Contest at the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on Apr. 8, 2026. (Michael Madrid/Imagn Images)
DeChambeau has had progressively better finishes at Augusta National since he made his first appearance in 2019. Since missing the cut in 2023, he finished tied for sixth in 2024 and tied for fifth in 2025. He missed the cut in 2022 and 2023.
“I feel like my game’s in the best place of its career, outside of maybe Greenbrier (in 2023) when I shot 58,” he said. “I’m excited to get the week going and see where I can put myself.”
He said his recent performances at the Masters were attributed to a more measured approach.
“More patience, like not as aggressive all the time. Knowing where to be aggressive and when not to be aggressive,” he said. “Making better decisions, having a caddie that reins me in sometimes.”
Bryson DeChambeau tees off on the third hole during a practice round for the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on April 7, 2026. (Kyle Terada/Imagn Images)
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Real Madrid‘s Eduardo Camavinga and Liverpool‘s Alexis Mac Allister could swap clubs, while Manchester City have joined the race to sign 16-year-old Hertha Berlin defensive midfielder Kennet Eichhorn. Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.
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TRENDING RUMORS
– Real Madrid and Liverpool are working on deals for Eduardo Camavinga and Alexis Mac Allister to swap clubs, according to TEAMtalk. The Reds have been long-time admirers of Camavinga, while Los Blancos are planning a reshuffle in their midfield. The Spanish side are pushing to sign Manchester City‘s Rodri but also want another midfielder alongside the 29-year-old, with Chelsea‘s Enzo Fernández and Paris Saint-Germain‘s Vitinha being considered as well as Mac Allister.
– Manchester City have joined the race to sign 16-year-old Hertha Berlin defensive midfielder Kennet Eichhorn, says Fabrizio Romano. Eichhorn is considered one of the top young midfielders in Europe and has impressed in the German Bundesliga despite his age. City have made a habit of targeting young players in recent windows, with U.S. wonderkid Cavan Sullivan (when he turns 18 in 2027), Norway’s Sverre Nypan and Brazil defender Vitor Reis already signed as teenagers.
– AC Milan and Juventus are among the clubs keen to land Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, as reported by Nicolo Schira. Both Serie A clubs are interested in bringing in the 37-year-old if he leaves the Blaugrana as a free agent this summer, but he has still not decided on his future. There have been no official offers yet, but there is genuine interest from Italy despite the Poland international’s high salary.
– Borussia Dortmund are weighing up another move to sign Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho, who is currently on loan at Aston Villa, says Bild. Sancho, 26, moved to Dortmund from Manchester City’s academy in 2017 and flourished before he was allowed to join Man United for €85 million in 2021. But after three loan moves (including back to Dortmund in 2024) he is set to leave the club on a free transfer in the summer. Dortmund are also watching Hoffenheim striker Fisnik Asllani but reportedly aren’t currently interested in Newcastle United‘s Nick Woltemade, and the club’s sporting director Lars Ricken said: “We are currently looking at a lot of players and analyzing them. We are assessing whether they can improve our team. We are doing the same with Jadon.”
– Chelsea are very impressed with the progress of Werder Bremen center back Karim Coulibaly and have entered the race to sign him this summer, as reported by Florian Plettenberg. Coulibaly, 18, is reportedly being scouted by various top clubs including Real Madrid, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli. Werder Bremen are hoping to bring in a fee of around €50 million from clubs looking to sign the Germany U21 international.
EXPERT TAKE
ESPN’s Madrid correspondent Alex Kirkland looks at Eduardo Camavinga’s future.
There’s no doubt that Camavinga’s future at Real Madrid is being questioned right now like never before. The midfielder — still just 23 — previously had persistent injuries as an excuse for not consolidating his place in Madrid’s starting XI since arriving in 2021. But this season, he has got plenty of opportunities (1,217 minutes in LaLiga, and 454 minutes in the Champions League) under both Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa, and hasn’t made the most of them.
This Madrid team badly needs a player with many of Camavinga’s characteristics. But instead, at this crunch stage of the season, Arbeloa has opted for Arda Güler and young Thiago Pitarch in his midfield four alongside Aurelien Tchouameni and Fede Valverde. In Madrid’s Champions League quarterfinal first leg against Bayern Munich on Tuesday, Camavinga was an unused substitute. That came after Camavinga was singled out for criticism by many fans and the Madrid media for his role in Real Mallorca’s opening goal in the team’s 2-1 defeat in LaLiga last Saturday, when he failed to track goal scorer Manu Morlanes’ run from midfield, in a loss which came close to ruling Madrid out of the title race.
Camavinga has a long-term contract until 2029, so he’s also a player who, if Madrid do want to revamp the squad this summer after a disappointing campaign, could raise significant funds with a departure. The names mentioned here — Rodri, Mac Allister, Fernandez and Vitinha — have all been mentioned frequently as potential Madrid targets to bring some of the qualities this season’s midfield has lacked. ESPN has reported that Vitinha is the player Madrid like most, but signing him from PSG would be extremely difficult, while Fernandez’s contract until 2032 at Chelsea is another obstacle.
Mac Allister would be a more feasible target, with his Liverpool contract up in 2028, although it’s not yet clear how much the Premier League club would expect to receive in a transfer fee if they were to let him go, and swap deals very rarely materialize. But still, Camavinga’s future is definitely one to watch this summer.
OTHER RUMORS
1:10
Burley: Arsenal were dull and boring vs Sporting CP
Craig Burley believes Arsenal were underwhelming and failed to impress despite their 1-0 win over Sporting CP.
– Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are in talks about the prospect of signing AFC Bournemouth center back Marcos Senesi. (Caught Offside)
– Everton are not expected to trigger the £50 million clause to permanently sign winger Jack Grealish from Manchester City but are confident they can reach an agreement for him to stay. (Athletic)
– Juventus and Atletico Madrid want to sign Ederson but Atalanta won’t lower their valuation of around €40 million for the midfielder. (Tuttosport)
– West Ham United have no interest in letting midfielder Mateus Fernandes leave despite concrete interest from Manchester United and others. (TEAMtalk)
– Arsenal are stepping up their interest in signing a center back as they look at Real Madrid’s Victor Valdepenas and Como’s Jacobo Ramon. (Caught Offside)
– Central defender Gleison Bremer could leave Juventus in the summer, with Tottenham Hotspur interested. (Gazzetta dello Sport)
– Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Garcia has emerged as a serious option for Newcastle United as they look to sign a striker. (TEAMtalk)
– Tottenham Hotspur are pushing to sign Manchester City goalkeeper James Trafford. (TEAMtalk)
– Aston Villa have set their sights on a deal to sign West Ham United winger Crysencio Summerville in the summer. (Football Insider)
– Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel is more likely to move to Newcastle United than he is to join Chelsea. (Football Insider)
– AC Milan are willing to offer Leon Goretzka a three-year contract worth at least €5 million-per-season, as they aim to beat off competition to sign the Bayern Munich midfielder as a free agent this summer. (Gazzetta dello Sport)
– There is a three-way race between Napoli, AC Milan and Roma for Kerim Alajbegovic, who has been re-signed by Bayer Leverkusen from RB Salzburg. (Calciomercato)
– Napoli have put Benfica’s Richard Rios at the top of the list of players to strengthen their midfield, but no official offer has been submitted yet. (Sky Italia)
– Nottingham Forest are hopeful they can sign Internazionale midfielder Davide Frattesi for under the €40 million agreed in January. (Football Insider)
– Freiburg are interested in Leeds United midfielder Ao Tanaka, but he is leaning towards a move in the Premier League. (Florian Plettenberg)
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