03/04/2026

SPORTS FRIDAY | APR 3, 2026

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Tuchel cast doubt on Phil chances, England have a Kane problem Foden’s WC place uncertain

CHELSEA made a Premier League record pre-tax loss of £262.4 million (RM1.4 billion) for the year ending June 30, 2025. In a club statement yes terday, the club revealed they had spent more on agents’ fees than any other English club this season. The previous highest recorded pre-tax loss in the Premier League was the £197.5m (RM1.05b) posted by Manchester City for the 2010/11 sea son. Chelsea posted a profit of £128.4m (RM684m) in the previous year’s accounts but this was aided by the sale of the women’s team to Blueco Midco – a subsidiary company – for nearly £200m (RM1.06b). Chelsea said that the losses were due in part to increased operating costs in 2024/25 compared to the pre vious year. Revenue was £490.9m (RM2.6b), the club said, the second-highest recorded by the Blues, and included some of the money earned from win ning last year’s Club World Cup. Later Wednesday, a Football Association report into agents’ fees in 2025/26 had Chelsea leading the Premier League with a spend of £65.1m (RM347m) – well ahead Aston Villa’s £38.4m (RM204m). All together, English top-flight club spent £460.3m (RM2.45b) on agents’ fees. Last month, Chelsea admitted to breaching Premier League rules in relation to some £47.5m (RM253m) of undisclosed payments made under former owner Roman Abramovich.The Blues were fined £10.75m (RM57m) and given a sus pended one-year transfer ban by the Premier League. But, unlike other clubs, they escaped a points deduction – a move justified by the Premier League on the grounds Chelsea’s new owners, a con sortium led by US businessman Todd Boehly, had self-reported the informa tion that led to an investigation and had demonstrated “exceptional co operation” throughout. – AFP Chelsea announce record pre-tax loss

M ANCHESTER CITY midfielder Phil Foden is not guaranteed a place in England’s 2026 World Cup squad, manager Thomas Tuchel said. The 25-year-old has 49 senior caps but is out of form and has started only four of his club’s last 15 games. He last scored in the Premier League on Dec 14. “Well, it’s not a guarantee that he will come,” Tuchel said after Foden was substituted in the second half of England’s 1-0 defeat to Japan at Wembley on Wednesday. “Obviously he didn’t have a lot of minutes for City recently, then he came to

US before heading to their World Cup base in Kansas. “They will get a week off, the guys who are not involved in the Champions League final, and then we will go very early to the US to prepare us for the heat and the humidity. We will have an early camp that allows us a good mix between free time and also family-friends time, and football, to arrive with excitement when the tournament starts. “The season is a long, long season this year for the players, because some of them come from the Club World Cup, and it will not end in May. It will end, hopefully, in the middle of July.” England face warm-up fixtures against New Zealand on 6 June and Costa Rica on 10 June, before their first World Cup match against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June. With captain Harry Kane sidelined by injury, the Premier League player of the season in 2024 was handed a central role at Wembley but looked unconvincing as a false nine and registered the fewest touches of any England starter.

none more so than the No 10 role, where Tuchel has Jude Bellingham, Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer and Eberechi Eze to choose from, as well as Foden. But Foden’s chances would appear to be narrowing after enduring a hard night against Japan. Chances to impress in City’s remaining Premier League games may be few and far between, given how sparingly Pep Guardiola has chosen to use Foden since the turn of the year. “He tried everything,” Tuchel said, speaking to reporters after the defeat at Wembley. I would say he was excellent in camp but, yeah, he struggles to show it on the pitch. Obviously he didn’t have a lot of minutes for City recently. Then he came to camp with the brightest smile and was so good in training and I thought he will just surprise us and will

camp with the brightest smile and was so good in training. “And I thought he will

just surprise us and will play with the same verve and excitement but, yeah, he struggles to have the full impact.” There remain a number of positions still to be decided a n d

play with the same verve and excitement but, yeah, he struggles to have the full impact.” Asked whether he could take players who are out of form to North America this summer, Tuchel laughed. “I can,” he said. But when pressed if Foden’s

“In the absence of [Harry] Kane, we don’t have the same threat,” Tuchel admitted, who said this was normal. Top teams rely on top players and top nations rely on top players. If we put offensive players on the pitch we demand offensive actions, creativity, dribbling, shots and assists and we clearly didn’t have enough,” he said. So it wasn’t the worst thing in the world that against Japan, we got to see a glimpse of what Tuchel’s crisis-plan might be should he find himself without the country’s all-time record

struggles against Japan increased the doubt that he would make the World Cup squad, the manager replied: “Well, it’s not a guarantee that he will come.”

England will next convene at the beginning of June for what Tuchel has described as a

“relaxed” training camp in Florida, to acclimatise in the

goalscorer on the biggest stage of them all. The manager has to submit his squad for the tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico by the end of May. – Reuters/The Independent

England manager Thomas Tuchel (left) consoling Phil Foden after he was substituted during the International Friendly match against Uruguay at Wembley Stadium. – REUTERSPIC

SHORTS

“We played really well and we 100% deserve to be going to the World Cup. “What we’ve achieved for our country still hasn’t properly sunk in.” The gesture could leave Demirovic with a hefty bill of around € 300,000 (RM1.4m), with Stuttgart’s MHPArena averaging an attendance of just under 60,000 and charging around €5 (RM23.30) for a pint of beer. Stuttgart, third in the Bundesliga, host second-placed Borussia Dortmund on Sunday (12.30am Malaysian time). Gotze extends Frankfurt contract MARIO GOTZE, who scored Germany’s winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina, has extended his contract with Eintracht Frankfurt by two years until 2028, the club announced yesterday. The 33-year-old midfielder joined Frankfurt in 2022, having spent the bulk of his career with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. “Eintracht Frankfurt means a lot to me,” Gotze said in a statement, adding: “I know a football career is finite.

“The joy I get from football and from this club convinced me to extend my contract.” Against Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final, Goetze came off the bench two minutes before the end of regular time with the match goalless. With 113 minutes played, he chested an Andre Schuerrle pass and blasted a shot across the face of goal to secure Germany’s fourth World Cup. After a stint with PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, he returned to Germany to play for Frankfurt and has since made 148 appearances for them, scoring 12 goals. Gotze scored 17 times in his 66 Germany appearances, with his last cap coming in 2023. Dzeko’s twist of fate BOSNIA captain Edin Dzeko could only clutch an ice pack and watch as his teammates secured World Cup qualification, the 40-year-old declaring it must have been “fate” after a last gasp injury ruled him out of Wednesday’s penalty shootout against Italy. The game in Zenica ended 1-1 after extra

time, with Bosnia coming from behind against 10-man Italy in a match full of dramatic twists and turns, and Dzeko hit the deck in the dying seconds after a foul by Davide Frattesi. Home fans must have feared the worst when Bosnia’s all-time top scorer made his way to the centre circle for the coin toss holding an ice pack on his shoulder, and in the end the striker left the pre shootout formalities to a teammate. “I keep saying it must have been fate, for it to happen in the last second of the match, and then for me not to be able to take a penalty,” Dzeko said at a euphoric press conference yesterday. “Someone else stepped up instead of me, scored, and in the end we won. Who knows, maybe if I had taken it, “I wouldn’t have scored, so it all feels like it comes from above.” Dzeko is optimistic about his prospects of recovering in time for the finals. “We’re all relieved about the arm, it’s not the worst-case scenario,” Dzeko said. “Most likely it won’t need surgery. So I hope that in maybe a month, month and a half, I should be back.”

Drinks on me! BOSNIA’S World Cup playoff victory over Italy on Wednesday is set to leave VfB Stuttgart striker Ermedin Demirovic with an eye-watering bar tab after he promised to buy the club’s fans beer if his country qualified for the tournament. The 28-year-old forward made the promise before Bosnia’s playoff campaign, which ended with their shootout win over the Italians in Zenica. “I said I’d do it and I’m a man of my word. Drinks are on me,” Demirovic told Sky Sports when asked after the win if he would honour his promise. “It’ll probably be expensive but it’s something I’ll do with love after an achievement like this. Stuttgart, the drinks are on me.” Bosnia, who will be making a second World Cup appearance, will play in Group B at the June 11 to July 19 tournament, joining co-hosts Canada, Qatar and Switzerland. “It’s surreal, I’ve got no words and I’ve lost my voice,” added Demirovic, who started the match.