Guido Rodriguez will be one of the first casualties of the Nuno Espirito Santo era at West Ham United after the Argentine midfielder remained on the bench for the entirety of a 2-0 loss away to Arsenal on Saturday afternoon.
Nuno will soon want to put his own stamp on the Hammers’ squad, and the January transfer window could see the Portuguese coach start addressing issues with his side. A new striker seems likely to be a priority and the club are reportedly eyeing their new manager’s former Nottingham Forest frontman Chris Wood.
There will also be a need to offload players who aren’t part of Nuno’s plans going forward and Rodriguez falls into that category. He has struggled ever since arriving at the London Stadium in the summer of 2024.
Rodriguez’s West Ham Career Is Over
Nuno has now overseen two matches since replacing Graham Potter, with a promising 1-1 draw against Everton followed up by defeat to the Premier League leaders. There have been signs of improvement and the Portuguese has freshened things up in midfield, opting not to use Rodriguez at any stage of those two matches.
The 31-year-old remained on the bench at the Emirates and Freddie Potts instead came on Soungoutou Magassa in holding midfield. Those two are ahead of the Argentine in Nuno’s pecking order and that should indicate he doesn’t have a future at the London Stadium.
There was an air of excitement when West Ham announced the signing of Rodriguez as a free agent. Barcelona were previously keen on signing the veteran midfielder but he instead arrived in west London to hand The Irons valuable experience.
The 30-cap Argentina international is now playing under his third manager since joining the club and neither Nuno, Potter or Julen Lopetegui have relied on him. His only league appearance this season came in the season-opening 3-0 defeat to Sunderland.
Rodriguez’s £93,000 per week (per Capology) contract expires next summer meaning he’s free to talk to clubs from abroad in January. The Hammers’ transfer chiefs should try and cash in during the winter because he clearly won’t be contributing on the pitch.
Nuno relishes working with deep-lying playmakers who can control the tempo, such as Manchester United-linked Ruben Neves, who he helped develop while in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers. There is an opportunity to reunite with the Portuguese midfielder given the 28-year-old’s contract with Al-Hilal expires next summer.
A perfect scenario for the club is for Rodriguez to be sold in January and a replacement coming in next summer. There wouldn’t be a better option than Neves who is still in his peak years, has proven Premier League experience and knows Nuno’s brand of football to a tee.
Liverpool fans have encouraged one of their star players to ‘pack their bags’ as footage of their actions following the Reds’ 1-0 win over Wrexham on Wednesday has quickly surfaced online. Andoni Iraola’s side prevailed at New York’s Yankee Stadium, courtesy of a deflected effort from teenage sensation Rio Ngumoha in the 75th minute.
Dominik Szoboszlai captained Liverpool for the night and put in a good performance, while young midfielder Trey Nyoni heavily impressed again in a deeper role, like he had in a recent appearance against Sunderland. Besides those two, it was a very experimental side, with the likes of Calvin Ramsay, Calum Scanlon, and Harvey Elliott also among the starters.
Yet, it was a substitute that has caused uproar after the match. In what should have been a rather plainsailing occasion for the Premier League side, footage has now emerged of one Reds’ player appearing to cause a huge argument with his teammates – one that has his supporters theorising his Anfield departure.
Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
A 35-second clip following Liverpool’s pre-season win in midweek appeared to show Curtis Jones – who came off the bench in the 50th minute – throwing his arms around and getting progressively angrier at his teammates about something. He first spoke to captain Szoboszlai, before the likes of Jeremie Frimpong and Kostas Tsimikas tried to calm him down. Watch the incident below:
While it is unclear what provoked the midfielder after the full-time whistle blew, his fans have quickly theorised that it might have been something to do with the fact he didn’t receive the captain’s armband once Szoboszlai came off with 15 minutes to go, raising suspicion about the local lad’s bloated ego.
Reacting to the incident, one X user wrote: “See ya Curtis Jones, off you go. Thinks he’s better than he is. If he wasn’t Scouse he wouldn’t still be there,” as a second added: “Arrogant f****r who thinks he is miles better than he is. Pack your bags. A third remarked: “Just sell this idiot already.”
Meanwhile, a fourth continued: “If he wants to go, let him go”, as a fifth concluded: “His attitude these preseason games has been pathetic. Just sell him already, he clearly doesn’t wanna be here anymore and has an ego like he’s prime Iniesta.”
Liverpool’s Transfer Business Needs A Lot of Work
via Reuters
At present, the Reds have secured deals for World Cup winner Victor Munoz and Ibrahima Konate replacement Jeremy Jacquet, but there is still a feeling that more arrivals are needed before Iraola has the tools to succeed at Anfield.
Liverpool’s recruitment team are trying to work out a deal to bring Bradley Barcola through the doors in a deal that will exceed the £100 million mark again, but midfield needs to be prioritised, too. Jones looks increasingly likely to leave the club, while Ryan Gravenberch’s desire to venture forward means Iraola’s options in defensive midfield are limited.
With a little under a month until the Premier League season gets underway as the Reds take a trip to Newcastle, it remains to be seen whether they will add another midfielder to their squad. The feeling is that they certainly need one.
It has been a summer of upheaval for Newcastle United so far and things are only going to get worse as news emerged on Thursday morning that manager Eddie Howe would be leaving the club.
Howe was under pressure for vast swathes of the 2025/26 season, with Newcastle finishing 12th in the Premier League. And now the Englishman is departing St James’ Park.
Both the manager and the club initially agreed they would continue together this season, but Howe has decided it is time to move on and has informed Newcastle that he will step down.
The Magpies have not wasted nay time lining up a successor though, with Matthias Jaissle of Al Ahli, set to be named as his replacement.
Chelsea haven’t qualified for European football’s premier club cup competition, but there’s a chance that Stamford Bridge will still host Champions League football this season.
The Blues finished the 2025-26 Premier League campaign in 10th place, meaning they will not be competing in any of UEFA’s three European competitions this term.
Brighton took the final European spot after finishing 8th, but they still need to qualify in order to reach the Europa Conference League group stages.
Ninth-placed Brentford and 10th-placed Chelsea narrowly missed out on European competition. It was a particularly bitter blow for Chelsea, winners of the Europa League in 2019, Champions League in 2021 and Conference League in 2025.
However, the west London outfit can now focus on domestic competitions this season under the management of their new head coach Xabi Alonso, ranked as one world football’s top 20 managers, who is in the process of transforming the Blues’ squad.
Morgan Rogers became the most expensive player in British football history after joining from Aston Villa in a deal worth £117 million, while veteran England internationals Jordan Henderson and Danny Welbeck are both poised to arrive.
Reuters/Andrew Boyers
Although Chelsea will not be in this season’s Champions League, Stamford Bridge could still end up hosting a series of matches.
That’s because UEFA have prohibited Shakhtar Donetsk from hosting European fixtures in war-torn Ukraine for safety reasons.
Shakhtar, winners of Ukraine’s Premier League for a 16th time, are subsequently seeking a venue for their Champions League fixtures – and Stamford Bridge is one of the options, per The Standard.
REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay
“Shakhtar is currently negotiating with several venues in the United Kingdom and Germany in order to secure a host stadium for its UEFA Champions League matches next season,” an official spokesperson for Shakhtar said. “We will not comment on the process until a decision is announced in the near future.”
Shakhtar, currently managed by former Atletico Madrid and Barcelona star Arda Turan, will enter the Champions League when the league phase begins on September 8.
Brentford’s Gtech Community Stadium and Fulham’s Craven Cottage are also among the London-based stadiums that could be an option for Shakhtar on Champions League nights.
Shakhtar’s 2024-25 Champions League matches were hosted at Schalke’s Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
But there’s a chance that Stamford Bridge will be the Ukrainian outfit’s ‘home’ stadium this season.
