^ ^ David Seaman backs Arsenal to sign £40m England World Cup star

Arsenal legend David Seaman (Picture: YouTube)

David Seaman has backed Mikel Arteta to bring one of England’s World Cup stars to Arsenal this summer.

After topping Group L with seven points from a possible nine, Thomas Tuchel’s side play what they hope will be the first of several knockout games on Wednesday evening.

England’s last-32 opponents DR Congo finished third in Group K after beating Uzbekistan, drawing with Portugal and losing to Colombia.

Marcus Rashford looks set to have a key role to play for England in the knockout stages after a bright start to the World Cup.

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The 28-year-old Manchester United forward, who spent last season on loan at Barcelona, scored in England’s World Cup opener and was one of the more influential players in the win over Panama last time out.

While Rashford’s immediate focus is on England’s World Cup campaign, he will also have one eye on the summer transfer window amid huge uncertainty over his future.

The talented winger was hoping to earn a permanent move to Barcelona after helping Hansi Flick’s side win La Liga and go deep in Europe last season.

England World Cup star Marcus Rashford (Picture: Getty)

But the Spanish giants opted not to activate a £26m clause to keep Rashford at the Nou Camp after signing his England teammate Anthony Gordon in a £70m deal from Newcastle United.

Rashford will still be on the move this summer, however, as Manchester United are not planning to integrate him into Michael Carrick’s squad.

His next destination remains far from clear but several domestic and foreign clubs have expressed interest in signing Rashford.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have been linked with a move (Picture: Getty)

New Premier League champions Arsenal have even been linked with the Old Trafford academy graduate and club legend Seaman would be supportive of his arrival at the Emirates Stadium.

‘I would like that move because I still think Marcus Rashford has got a lot to offer,’ Seaman said on The Good, The Bad & The Football. ‘He’s still very dangerous when he’s on it.

‘But then, straight away, my head then goes, “Who’s he gonna replace?” We’ve got [Gabriel] Martinelli and [Leandro] Trossard.

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‘If they sign Rashford, they’re probably going to get rid of one of those two. But he is a real talent.’

Manchester United hero Nicky Butt has also backed Arsenal to sign Rashford, who is available for £40m to clubs other than local rivals Manchester City and Liverpool.

‘The only thing I worry about with Marcus is his attitude and at Arsenal he’s going to have to be part of a team,’ Butt said.

‘He’s going to have to work his b*****s off. When he knew he was leaving Manchester United he didn’t bother his a***.

‘For England, he could be our closest thing to [France superstar Kylian] Mbappe, but I think his body language doesn’t help. I don’t think he can’t be arsed but it looks that way sometimes.

‘But in terms of Arsenal signing him, I would do that all day long if I was in their shoes.’

Rashford is reluctant to join another Premier League club so could push for a move abroad after attracting interest from Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

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^ ^ Chelsea launch offer to sign La Liga star after Xabi Alonso approves transfer

Alonso is an admirer and wants him in west London (Picture: Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Chelsea have seen their opening offer for Rayo Vallecano left-back Pep Chavarria rejected.

Marc Cucurella’s move to Real Madrid has left a void to be filled at left-back with Xabi Alonso looking to La Liga to find a replacement.

28-year-old Chavarria has emerged as a surprise target for the Blues with Mundo Deportivo reporting he is a player Alonso himself has targeted as part of his summer rebuild at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have made an opening bid of €9million (£7.75m) plus add-ons, an offer that Rayo have rejected.

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Chavarria has not been capped at any level for Spain but enjoyed a sensational campaign with Rayo last season, helping the club reach the Europa Conference League final where they were beaten by Crystal Palace.

An eighth place finish in the Spanish top flight was enough to secure their place in the competition again next season.

Chavarria is thought to be keen on the move with Alonso’s former club Bayer Leverkusen also interested.

Chavarria starred for Rayo last season (Picture: Aitor Alcalde Colomer/Getty Images)

Geovany Quenda, Dastan Satpaev and Emmanuel Emegha are all set to join the Chelsea squad in the coming weeks in deals that were struck last year.

Targeting players who can make an immediate impact in the first-team, the Blues launched a shock bid for Granit Xhaka last week, offering £8million for the Sunderland midfielder.

Chelsea have also made a bit for Granit Xhaka (Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The offer was immediately rejected by the Black Cats who deemed the offer disrespectful, insisting the former Arsenal captain is not for sale.

‘Sunderland bought Granit Xhaka for £17m and he was one of the best players in this Premier League last season,’ Premier League legend Alan Shearer told Betfair this week.

‘He wasn’t just one of the best players at Sunderland, but in the Premier League. And Chelsea think they can come in and offer less than half of what they bought him for and think that’s acceptable?

‘I mean, that’s bizarre to me. I understand that he might want to go, but if he wants to go and clearly his agent has done some talking to Chelsea, then I mean it’s a pretty embarrassing bid when a year earlier he cost £17m and he’s been one of the best players in the league.

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^ ^ World Cup: Tim Ream On Leading The USA & His Hair Promise

What does it mean to captain the USA at a home World Cup?

Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith sit down with Tim Ream to talk about leading the United States, the responsibility of wearing the armband, the legacy this team hopes to leave behind and whether he'll keep his famous blonde hair if the USA win the World Cup.

The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell joins to look back on another day in the last 16 as Norway, France and Mexico all book their places in the quarter-finals, while Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé continue their tournaments with more goals. They also look ahead to England's knockout tie with DR Congo.

Plus, Rick and Lloyd discuss which celebrity they can replace on the 'star wall' in the pub.

^ ^ France star appears to ignore Didier Deschamps in awkward moment after World Cup win

Deschamps approached his player at full-time (Picture: FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)

Manchester City star Rayan Cherki appeared to blank France boss Didier Deschamps after Les Bleus’ thrilling World Cup win over Sweden.

The 2018 champions booked their place in the last 16 of the competition after a scintillating 3-0 victory over Graham Potter’s side on Tuesday night.

Already tournament favourites, France provided another statement victory with Kylian Mbappe scoring twice to take his tally to six with Michael Olise providing another mesmerising performance in the no10 role.

With Bradley Barcola also on the scoresheet and Ousmane Dembele scoring a hat-trick in the previous game against Norway, Deschamps’ side have the most complete attack in the World Cup with Desire Doue also part of the picture.

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It means opportunities for Cherki have been hard to come by. The former Lyon star has not started a game yet, coming off the bench in each of his country’s four matches to date to play a combined 51 minutes.

He and Crystal Palace star Jean-Philippe Mateta emerged off the bench with five minutes left to play against Sweden.

Footage shared on social media from full-time showed Cherki stood in the middle of the pitch away from the rest of his teammates, waving to the crowd when Deschamps began approaching him.

Cherki appeared to snub his manager.

After the head coach reached out to his player, Cherki appeared to brush his hand away. Deschamps made another attempt to approach him as the leaned down to tie his boot with the Man City star against shifting away.

After the game, Deschamps highlighted the unity within the squad as one of the driving factors behind their excellent start to the competition.

Rayan Cherki a complètement ignoré Didier Deschamps après le match contre la Suède 😳 pic.twitter.com/bNslVVdFKV

— Vibes Foot (@VibesFoot) July 1, 2026

There was also a touching moment in the game when Mbappe went straight to his head coach after scoring his first goal, swiftly followed by his teammates to embrace Deschamps. The 57-year-old missed the previous game against Norway after briefly returning to France following the death of his mother.

‘There’s a good connection,’ Deschamps said in his post-match press conference.

Cherki came on as a second-half substitute (Picture: FRANCK FIFE / AFP via Getty Images)

‘When we need to work hard with the ball, everyone is involved, including the forwards. That’s a very good thing. Obviously, it’s something that pleases me, and I’m proud of it. We need to keep it up.’

On Mbappe’s gesture, he added: ‘Obviously, on a personal level, Kylian’s gesture touched me deeply. He’s our captain. The group was united. They did what was necessary when I wasn’t there. It was better that I wasn’t there, for me and for them.

‘From the moment I came back, they knew I was with them. The team spirit doesn’t win matches, but it can lose them. Players might be disappointed because they’re not playing enough or at all; there might be frustrations, but the collective strength is paramount.’

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^ ^ ‘I like everything about it’ – Joe Cole talks up Chelsea transfer move for ex-Arsenal star

Granit Xhaka would bring invaluable experience and leadership to Chelsea, says Joe Cole (Picture: Getty)

Joe Cole says Granit Xhaka would be the ‘right character’ for the Chelsea dressing room and the club’s move for the midfielder is a ‘good sign’ that ‘positive strides’ are being made in the transfer market.

The Blues appear to have moved away from their purely youth-led transfer policy and have set their sights on Xhaka, with new manager Xabi Alonso believed to be at the heart of a bid to sign the 33-year-old.

Xhaka of course played for Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen, enjoying great success under the Spaniard as the pair won a historic Bundesliga title together after an undefeated 2023/24 campaign.

The former Arsenal captain returned to the Premier League to join Sunderland last summer, earning himself plenty more admirers with his outstanding performances for the Black Cats.

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Reports emanating out of Germany at the weekend indicated that Chelsea had reached a verbal agreement with Xhaka’s camp, with the Switzerland international keen to secure a switch to Stamford Bridge.

However, Sunderland are reluctant to lose arguably their most important squad member and Chelsea bosses know they have a battle on their hands in prising the central midfielder away from the Stadium of Light.

It’s understood Chelsea’s opening offer of £8million for Xhaka was swiftly rejected by their Premier League rivals. It remains to be seen if the Club World Cup holders will return with a follow-up bid.

Chelsea saw an opening bid of £8m for Xhaka rejected by Sunderland (Picture: Getty)

The midfielder is currently away on international duty at the World Cup (Picture: Getty)

‘Going after Xhaka is a good sign for Chelsea fans because it shows that the handcuffs of only signing young players and developing them are now off, ex-Chelsea and England winger Cole told Paddy Power.

‘It seems they’re making good positive strides. He seems like the right character for the dressing room.

‘He did a great job at Sunderland last year. He was brilliant at Bayer Leverkusen. He was even a leader at Arsenal.

‘I like the fact that they’re backing Xabi Alonso. I like everything about it.’

Xhaka enjoyed a brilliant debut season with Sunderland last term (Picture: Getty)

Though Cole doubts Xhaka would be a guaranteed starter at Chelsea, he is adamant the Swiss would bring invaluable ‘leadership’ to a dressing room which badly lacked experienced heads last season.

‘He played nearly every game for Leverkusen and Sunderland. Will he play every game at Chelsea?’ Cole added.

‘Will he still be a great leader if he isn’t on the pitch every game? I think he will. I certainly hope he will.

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‘He wouldn’t be starting ahead of Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez, who for me are two of the best central midfielders in world football.

‘We’ll see if he ends up signing, but I like the fact that if he does, it is for sure a Xabi Alonso signing.’

Should Xhaka join Chelsea, he could be set to join forces with Caicedo and Fernandez in the centre of the park – widely regarded to be among the finest midfield pairings in English football.

Fernandez is reportedly keen to follow Cucurella to Real Madrid (Picture: Getty)

However, there remains uncertainty over Fernandez’s future in west London, with the Argentina international opening criticising Chelsea’s hierarchy last season and reportedly pushing for a big-money transfer move to Real Madrid.

To rub further salt in the wound, Marc Cucurella has encouraged Fernandez to join him at Madrid having completed a move from Chelsea to the Bernabeu earlier this summer.

‘That’s not for me, what he’s done there,’ Cole said of Cucurella’s recent comments.

‘When you hear players doing stuff like that, I think it’s bang out of order.

‘He’s an intelligent man. He knows he’s poking the bear. There’s ways to handle yourself in these situations.

‘If you’re happy to sign a seven-year contract, you can’t then three years into the contract be openly flirting with another football club, regardless of who it is.

‘It’s not for me.’

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