A former Premier League player, who was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison for sexual assault just last month, has secured a shock transfer to a top-flight club this week.

The player in question represented Wolves and Nottingham Forest’s first-team, while having also been part of Manchester City’s youth academy. In June, the 29-year-old was found guilty for the rape and assault of a young woman in August 2024. He has denied in court that the assault took place in his home in the Spanish town Betera and claimed that it was consensual.

He was also slapped with a 13-year restraining order that forbids him from going within 500 metres of his victim and has been ordered to pay more than £55,000 in damages. He has appealed the verdict.

Ex-Wolves & Forest Player Signs For Top-Flight Club After Prison Sentence

Rafa Mir via REUTERS/Marcelo Del Pozo

The prosecutor in Rafa Mir’s case has said he will not enter prison until the end of the appeal. Despite this, he was convicted of the crime, which brought his career at Sevilla in La Liga to an end.

He spent the last two seasons on loan away from the club at Valencia and Elche. His contract at Sevilla has since now been terminated, leaving him on the free agent market.

Despite that, the striker is now reportedly set to sign for Greek club Aris Thessaloniki, but there is a condition on him in order to live outside of Spain, according to The Sun. Mir has had to obtain permission from the Provincial Court of Valencia to approve his relocation for work.

He will have to sign in every month at the Spanish consulate in Thessaloniki. And, as Greece is a part of the EU, any non-compliance would lead to a European arrest warrant being invoked.

Rafa Mir’s Career So Far

Mir previously spent three seasons contracted to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League. He only appeared twice in the league for the club and had a loan spell at then-Championship outfit Nottingham Forest.

The striker played four times for Wolves and 13 times for the Tricky Trees, but never scored a goal for either side. He has once found the net on English soil, which came for Sevilla in a 3-1 Champions League defeat to Man City in 2022. At Aris, he will now be team-mates with former Manchester City prospect and Watford midfielder Tom Dele Bashiru.

Representing Spain at youth level, he made 17 appearances across Under-21 and Under-23 sides, but is yet to make a single first-team cap for the World Cup winners, with his reputation making it unlikely he ever will.

With no European football on offer for the Chelsea in 2026/27, all eyes will be on the domestic competitions as former Liverpool and Real Madrid star, Xabi Alonso undertakes his first season in Premier League management at the helm of the Blues.

This summer’s transfer window has seen the London club break the record for the highest transfer fee for an English player, with their £117 million move for Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, whilst also adding 21-year-old Marco Palestra to Alonso’s side.

From iconic vacant numbers, to potential switches for established stars, the final squad list can sometimes provide an indication of how the Blues’ squad is shaping up – here are the Chelsea squad numbers for 2026/27.

Goalkeepers

Chelsea’s Spanish shot-stopper, Robert Sanchez, looks set to retain his No.1 shirt, after the former Brighton man featured in all but three of the Blues’ 38 league games last season. Filip Jorgensen, who joined Chelsea from Villarreal in July 2024, is expected to start the season as Sanchez’s back-up.

Defenders

REUTERS/David Klein

New signing Marco Palestra, who joined Chelsea from Atalanta for a reported £47m, will start his first Premier League season wearing his side’s No. 2 shirt, whilst fan favorite stars such as Levi Colwill, Reece James and Malo Gusto all appear to have retained their previous shirt numbers.

Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile and Trevoh Chalobah are amongst the names tipped to feature in Chelsea’s season opener against Fulham, with Axel Disasi, who only joined Chelsea in 2023, set for a move away from the London-based club.

Midfielders

Chelsea vice-captain, Enzo Fernández, will remain in the No.8 shirt, having led his side to an FA Cup final last season, with an impressive tally of 26 goal involvements across his 61 competitive appearances for Chelsea in 2025/26. The Argentine will likely be deployed alongside Moisés Caicedo in Chelsea’s engine room, with the Ecuadorian also retaining his shirt number from last season.

Omari Kellyman will hope to break into the starting XI under Xabi Alonso, despite his lack of top-flight experience, whilst Roméo Lavia, who has struggled immensely with injuries over previous seasons, will hope to play his way back into contention in the No.45 shirt.

Forwards

All eyes will be on new signing Morgan Rogers, who will be sporting the same No.17 that he donned for England’s National Team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Rogers will join up with his close friend, Cole Palmer, who will, once again, pull on the No.10 shirt for Chelsea.

Whilst the future of striker Liam Delap is up in the air, he currently remains as Chelsea’s number nine, with Pedro Neto, Joao Pedro and Estevao also retaining their previous shirt numbers.

Available Numbers

As one of Chelsea’s – and the Premier League’s – greatest-ever defenders, it’s somewhat surprising that nobody has opted for the No.3 shirt that was made famous by Ashley Cole through his eight-year stint at the club.

Similarly, no player has opted for the vacant No. 26 shirt that was so famously worn by Chelsea legend, John Terry, in what is likely a move to avoid comparisons to the Premier League great.

Whilst some cultures view the number 13 as unlucky, Michael Ballack put that theory to bed after raising numerous trophies whilst sporting the number for Chelsea from 2006-2010. However, so far, the No.13 remains unclaimed.

A little under a month has passed since the USA were brutally dumped out of the World Cup by Belgium, and the USMNT have finally made a decision on the future of Mauricio Pochettino. The Stars and Stripes were left black and blue after a 4-1 defeat in the Round of 16, having entered the tournament with high hopes of making a deep run on home soil.

That early optimism came thick and fast, and it was easy to see why. For the first time since 1930, the side had started their campaign with back-to-back victories, and while a 3-2 defeat to Turkiye offered the first glimpse of their fragilities, the USA were riding the crest of a football fever wave. It was not until their humbling exit at the hands of their first real test that the summer’s highs came crashing down, giving way to a sobering-yet-devastating low.

With the host nation seemingly unable to stomach the manner of their exit, fingers were pointed in every direction, with Christian Pulisic among those to shoulder the most blame. Meanwhile, Donald Trump also found himself in the firing line after his intervention to overturn Folarin Balogun’s red card so that he could play sparked political uproar.

Mauricio Pochettino’s Future as USMNT Boss

Phil Noble via Action Images via Reuters

All of that arguing after this summer’s showpiece tournament has completely taken away from the fact Pochettino, the former Tottenham and Chelsea manager, has done a commendable job stateside. While his predecessors have struggled to get the USA any further than qualification, ‘Poch”s charisma and tournament know-how was a saving grace.

Because of his now-underappreciated success over the last few months, the 54-year-old is nearing a contract extension that would see him manage the Stars and Stripes for the next four years. The Athletic reported the news of the deal on Wednesday morning, 23 days after their World Cup Round of 16 exit.

Telemundo’s Andres Cantor first mentioned on Tuesday that talks were “going well and the intention is to be able to announce it soon” ahead of friendly matches in September and October.

The deal would take him through the 2028 Copa America and 2030 World Cup – assuming he doesn’t try to bolt for a European club job before then, with his signature drawing interest from Premier League clubs such as Manchester United over the last 12-18 months.

Pochettino is the Right Man for the USA

Pochettino led the USMNT to their first knockout-round victory at a World Cup since 2002 with their win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the new Round of 32. Heartbreak in the next round led some to wonder whether Pochettino would return after the team failed to break through the same barrier that halted them in 2010, ’14 and ’22.

But, interestingly, the federation allegedly offered a contract to him before the tournament even began. That’s despite finishing fourth in the 2024–25 Concacaf Nations League and missing out on the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.

This summer, he vindicated that trust, though, as he broke US records for the most World Cup wins (three) and most goals scored (11) by a national team manager. It really felt as though his footballing identity had made a sustained impact on the side across June and July, and his reign should still be in its early days.