After claiming their second Super Bowl just over a year ago, the Philadelphia Eagles struggled to live up to expectations in their title defense season.
Despite some major changes to the defensive unit in the offseason, it’s the Eagles’ offense that often fell flat during the 2025 NFL season. Philadelphia finished the year 23rd in passing yards (3,498), 18th in rushing yards (1,988) and 13th in total touchdowns (46), while averaging just the 24th most yards per game (311.2).
Despite an unreliable offense, Philly still topped the NFC East with an 11-6 record, but were eliminated from the playoffs in the Wild Card Round at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers.
With offensive superstars like Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and AJ Brown, the Eagles’ struggles in possession were a head-scratcher to many fans and pundits.
After their 2025 season ended in January, Philadelphia decided to part ways with offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who had been with the team since 2021. They’ve since replaced him with former NFL quarterback Sean Mannion.
Mannion played 14 games over seven NFL seasons, split between the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings. The 33-year-old spent the last two seasons as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach with the Green Bay Packers.
Barkley, whose production came back down to earth this past season after winning Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2024, recently shared his first thoughts on the Mannion hire.
Barkley Encouraged by Mannion Move
Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports
In a recent appearance on NFL Network, Barkley was asked about his first impressions of his new offensive coordinator and learning a new system.
“I’m super excited about it,” Barkley said. “I’m going on Year 9, which is crazy to say, and I’ve had a lot of different coaches and head coaches and been a part of a lot of systems. I don’t think I really came across a system like this. For me, it’s refreshing. You get something new. You get to learn something new.”
The 29-year-old scored seven touchdowns and registered 1,140 yards on 280 rushing attempts in 2025 — a significant step down from the 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns the Penn State product put up a season earlier. His 106-yard performance in the Wild Card game against the Niners wasn’t enough to carry the Eagles deeper into the postseason.
Mannion will be the seventh offensive coordinator Barkley plays under in eight seasons.
Newcastle United captain Bruno Guimaraes has told the club he wishes to leave this summer to join Arsenal, according to David Ornstein.
The Magpies have already sold Anthony Gordon to Barcelona for £70m, while Sandro Tonali completed a £100m move to Tottenham Hotspur this week, with Eddie Howe looking to rebuild his squad.
But they have now been rocked by the wishes of the Brazil international, with the Gunners ready to make a mega bid to take him to north London.
Bruno Guimaraes Tells Newcastle He Wants to Join Arsenal
via Reuters
Guimaraes has just finished representing Brazil at the World Cup, where he enjoyed an excellent tournament but couldn’t help the five-time winners past the Round of 16, where they were eliminated by Erling Haaland’s Norway side.
But he has now informed Newcastle bosses that he wishes to leave this summer after the club failed to qualify for Europe, and he wants to join Arsenal in the summer window.
The Gunners have made it clear they would be willing to pay up to £60m for the 28-year-old, and are now preparing to make a formal offer. No club-to-club contact has been made yet, although Arsenal did have a verbal enquiry worth around £55m rejected by the Magpies earlier this month.
Manchester United have reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign midfielder Andrey Santos, according to David Ornstein.
The Red Devils have been in the market to bolster their midfield options this summer, but missed out on deals to sign their top targets Elliot Anderson and Matheus Fernandes, after they moved to Man City and Tottenham Hotspur for £116m and £85m respectively.
But INEOS have now secured their second midfield signing of the summer after agreeing a fee with Premier League rivals Chelsea for the Brazil international.
Man Utd Agree £50m Deal to Sign Andrey Santos
Santos, who has been described as ‘world-class’, has been a long-term target for INEOS, and a deal has now been struck worth a fixed fee of £48m, plus a further £2m in easily achievable add-ons for the 22-year-old.
Personal terms are already in place, and permission has now been given to the midfielder to undergo a medical before putting pen to paper on a long-term contract at Old Trafford. Chelsea have also secured a 10% sell-on clause as part of the deal.
In what was perhaps the most dramatic game of the 2026 World Cup so far, Argentina came from two goals down to beat Egypt 3-2. Such as the drama, football legend Lionel Messi was seen in tears at the full-time whistle.
Egypt took the lead through Yasser Ibrahim as Messi missed a penalty to get his team back level. The side from Africa then saw one goal controversially ruled out before Mostafa Ziko scored to make it 2-0. At this moment, Argentina’s number 10 appeared to spark into life.
Cristian Romero pulled one back, and only four minutes later, Messi had levelled the scores. Enzo Fernandes would complete the remarkable comeback in the 93rd minute. Messi was in tears at the final whistle, later explaining his emotions to the press:
“I felt like I had let the team down at an important moment,” the 39-year-old said on his missed penalty. “But fortunately, fate had something special for me at the end, and I managed to score the equaliser.”
Thierry Henry Drops Verdict on Messi vs Egypt
Just one day prior, Cristiano Ronaldo had exited the pitch also in tears, as Spain beat Portugal to end his World Cup dreams for the final time. For Messi, this was a different kind of emotion, and former Barcelona teammate Thierry Henry provided some interesting insight into the scenes.
Speaking on Fox Sports, the pundit offered up an honest assessment of Messi’s tears. In a clip which has gone viral on numerous outlets, generating thousands of views and comments, he explained:
“First and foremost, he reminded us that he’s human, because he missed some penalties and four out of eight (at all World Cups). And then he reminds us again that he’s not human.
“I mean, I played with him, and with Leo, sometimes do not wake up the beast? That’s what happened, and I’ve seen it in training, closely. You know when you’re in training sometimes, and you know guys when when one of the coaches don’t want to call a foul or the ball was out, and then you score, and then Leo wanted that ball to be out and a foul, and then he goes, ‘The ball went out’, and the coach was like, ‘Stop complaining, because it can happen in the game.’
“Next thing you know, you look at his eyes and he switches, and he goes and get that ball. I was there. I witnessed it [in training at Barcelona]. He scores three goals in a row by scoring straight away, robbing the ball off you, scoring again, robbing the ball off you, scoring again, and he turns. He said, ‘Next time, call of foul’, and we all went. ‘Yeah, next time, call of foul’ because he’s just unstoppable. When he goes into that mood, he’s very difficult to stop.”
Egypt Manager Makes FIFA Messi Accusation After Argentina Defeat
“They want Argentina and Messi to stay in the World Cup for marketing. If they wanted Argentina to win, why invite other teams to participate? This match was clearly rigged, and the whole world witnessed it.
“We were better than Argentina, and football is unfair. We had a clear penalty that the referee didn’t award, and Ziko’s goal at the start of the second half was disallowed, even though it was perfectly legitimate.”
“The Egyptian Football Association cannot remain silent regarding the refereeing decisions witnessed during the match against Argentina as well as the failure to make appropriate use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. Several key incidents raised serious concerns and left profound questions about the consistency and fairness of decisions that directly influenced the course of the game.
The statement concluded: “Every player who wears the Egyptian shirt, and every supporter who stands behind the team, deserves fairness, respect, and equal application of the laws of the game.”
Argentina will now face Switzerland in the quarter-finals as they look to continue their trophy defence, having won the World Cup in 2022.