The season draws ever closer!

0:00Get your tickets now for the dog stars. It's no surprise how fast civilization can disappear. Out there, just kill or be killed. Jacob Alordi. There are people out there. They need our help. Josh Brolin. Shoot first and inquire afterwards. Margaret Qualley. Ow! Okay, tough guy. And Guy Pearce. Arm up! The Dog Stars. Directed by Ridley Scott. In theaters August 28th. Get tickets now. Rated R. Under 17. Not admitted without parents.

0:38Welcome in to the latest edition of ESPN FC. I'm Dan Thomas, joined by Shaq Aislop. Kieran Gibbs is here as well. Of course, it's Community Shield this weekend, live on ESPN. James Oli joins us as well. James will kick things off by talking about Chelsea. Of course, they set up this kind of soft transfer deadline with regards to Enzo Martinez. That'll be it. If it wasn't done today, then it will never be done. Enzo Fernandez. It's Friday. It's Enzo someone. He's still at Chelsea. So is that it? He's not going to go to Manchester City? Well, if you believe what Chelsea say, then yeah. I mean, I think what they're trying to do and the reason why they've drawn this deadline when they have is, you know, to make sure this doesn't bleed into the season and kind of give Xabi Alonso the cleanest possible start to the campaign.

1:28Now, of course, we don't entirely know yet how Enzo Fernandes is going to react to this. because from what we've been told, he and his representatives were given the terms that Chelsea would accept for his departure back at the end of May. And the potential suitors, of which we only think there've really been two, Real Madrid, and they kind of ruled themselves out quite early last month. And then Manchester City have been told you've got to pay£120 million and meet certain payment conditions within that. And I suspect the bulk of that is up front and not reliant on add-ons. and if you reach that and you meet that price, then we'll allow him to leave.

2:06And they've decided to say, well, look, we're not going to let this run beyond Friday. And if no club is prepared to meet those terms, then that's it. We're drawing a line under it. But as I say, if Enzo Fernandez reacts negatively to this, and of course he's the one who tried to instigate this at the start of the summer by saying that he wanted to go. His agent was quite public about suggesting, I think to Mark, or it was the Spanish newspaper, that they were going to explore their options. And if he reacts badly to this and tries to force through a move and then City come in late in the window, perhaps when Rodri's gone to Barcelona, then Chelsea's position is going to be tested.

2:41But for now, they're absolutely adamant. This is it. He will not go. And he is a Chelsea player. Not just until January, by the way. They've ruled out a January sale privately as well. They're talking about this is it now until next summer. And then, of course, assess it again. The boys were talking yesterday, Kieran, and they're like 120 million, really, for Enzo? Yeah, it sounds excessive. I think he's a good player. But when you compare him to some of the midfielders that Man City have had over the last 10 years that have brought them so much success, I don't think you can put Enzo Fernandes yet in that bracket.

3:18I don't think he's done enough in a Chelsea shirt, if I'm honest. He's obviously a World Cup winner and he has the ability to be a world-class player. but the market is overinflated at the moment anyway and it always is off the back of a World Cup. So, listen, I think, would he go in and replace a Rodri? No. Very different type of player, obviously. Completely different. And obviously, I think Rinders looks to be on his way out as well. So, you know, it's interesting times at City but for this move, I wouldn't be happy. I wouldn't be unhappy as a City fan if they didn't sign. How are the Chelsea fans fit?

4:02We know supporters in general are fickle. If Enzo comes in, starts the season, brilliant for Chelsea, all of this is forgotten. But Xhaka, as a teammate, how much does this bother you? Is this an issue? From a Chelsea perspective? Yeah, you see a teammate off 13. I don't think it bothers Chelsea's players that often. You're kind of used to these things happening. More times than not, especially when you've got World Cup winners and the talents of both Enzo Fernandes and Enzo Martinez on your books, how you cope with that. You know there'll be comings and goings. That's just kind of part and parcel.

4:39I just continue to add that, as I said yesterday, 120 million just seems over the top for Enzo Fernandes. I stand by that. Whether Chelsea are willing to be flexible on that, again, time will tell. Where do you stand on Chelsea as a whole this season, Kieran? I quite like that. No one's asked my opinion, but I'm going to give it to you. Tell us what you think, Dan. You can speak from experience. How much of a difference does it make that you don't have any European football? That Xavi Alonso can pretty much focus on just getting his team ready, getting the best out of this side every weekend in the Premier League.

5:16It's a huge, you have to call it a huge advantage in terms of load of a team. But at the same time, when you are performing well in Europe, sometimes that confidence carries into your domestic league. So, you know, I didn't play outside of Europe as a player at Arsenal. But certainly when I was at West Brom, it feels like it's just a completely different world. You have much more time to recover. Tactically, you can do more on the field. And honestly, Chelsea have done some shrewd business this summer so far. What do you like? What do you like? I love Danny Welbeck in there. Of course you do, he's your old boy.

5:55He's a good friend of mine as well. I have to give him a shout-out. Jordan Henderson, even though he's probably not going to play much. I think Danny's going to have more of a say than probably what people think. And knowing him personally, he's always wanting to prove a point. So I think he's going to have a big impact at Chelsea this year. But, yeah, I'm more optimistic than I was for Chelsea than the last few years, I think. whilst they still have huge problems from the top, at least they have someone that's very, very competent in Xabi Alonso. What sort of impression has Alonso made so far, James, from what you're hearing?

6:37Yeah, a positive one. I mean, look, he obviously follows someone in Liam Rossini who, look, I don't want to speak too disparagingly about him because I think he's a good guy, but I'm not sure he ever really commanded the respect of the dressing room. whereas obviously Xabi Alonso comes in with a much different profile as a coach, much better reputation clearly as a former player as well. And I think he's come in with a clear game plan that has been backed in the market so far and is giving Chelsea a bit of identity. Clearly he's got to hit the ground running. Everybody knows that Chelsea don't have European football this season and need to make a serious play.

7:12I don't think anybody's expecting them to win the Premier League but certainly Champions League qualification is the minimum aim and as far as I know from a few conversations I've had, he's impressed people with his ideas, the clarity of thought and I think the training sessions have been particularly innovative and exciting for the players as well. So, look, I mean, everybody buys into it in August, right? I mean, ask me in November and we'll probably have a clearer idea of where he is. We saw Enzo Morescu speaking ahead of the Community Shield, speaking about what Manchester City are going to do over the next couple of weeks.

7:43What can we expect with regards to that transfer activity, James? with City? With City, well, I mean, they're in a situation where I think they probably would have liked to get the Enzo Fernandes deal over the line. I think that interest is genuine, but they don't know what's going to happen with Rodri. I think the Rodri one is a really difficult one for them because he's clearly the best player in the world in his position, but also they know they're going to lose him for nothing in a year's time. Do they say, well, look, they've set quite a high asking price for or Rodri for Barcelona, who are getting incrementally closer to that.

8:21And if you're Enzo Marescu, you probably think, well, look, I'd actually quite like Rodri for one year. Obviously, I suspect he will be given time. I think everybody appreciates that he's following one of the greatest, if not the greatest manager in history in Pep Guardiola, and he's going to need everybody on board for that. But if you're Enzo Marescu, you're sitting there thinking, well, actually, I need this guy who's, as I say, obviously elite on the pitch, but also an absolute leader off of it. And they're clearly reshaping their midfield with Elliot Anderson coming in. If Fernandez was to come in as well and what that would look like and how they're going to really sort of reshape the engine room, it really creates a lot of uncertainty for a manager who, let's be honest, was appointed really as the continuity candidate, right?

9:04He was the kind of idea, the guy, the idea of him essentially was he's worked under Pep. His football is quite similar to Pep. He knows some of the players from, or certainly a lot of the staff, from when he was there a few years before. Obviously, he left to start managing Leicester and then Chelsea. And he knows the league, so he's got that advantage. But he needs that group and that buy-in straight away. And if he was to lose someone like Rodri, particularly this close to the season, with obviously a week to go, it would be a significant setback for him. Yeah, you've been there. You've played with big leaders within a dressing room, Kieran.

9:37How important, considering the transition we've already seen from City, that Pep has left, that you keep someone like Rodri for what they do off the pitch as well as on it. Yeah, I completely agree with James. I think there has to be some carryover when you're doing these transitions, especially at this level, especially when you're competing against a team like Arsenal at the moment who just look like they're just going from strength to strength. So it will be a huge loss. It will be a huge loss, actually, if they lose him with the other. Losing someone like Pep after so long, it's a new era for the club.

10:17So I would have to say that I don't expect City to be near the conversation if Rodri leaves, to be honest, next year. Meanwhile, of course, City are taking on Arsenal this weekend in the Community Shield. We heard Arteta speaking ahead of that game. James, inevitably, has asked about transfer activity. what did he say about it? Well, I mean, he made the right noises, you know, that they've obviously been in the conversations for a number of players and they are actively at the moment with Gerald Quonsa and Esre Quonsa, the two England internationals, of course, engaged in Thomas Tuchel's squad for the World Cup, particularly of focus for them at the moment.

10:59But I thought it was really interesting, actually. It was the piece I did for the site in the end about how he expressed his surprise about the size of some of the transfers that are going on this summer. Of course, there's four players who've moved for£100 million or more. One of them was Morgan Rodgers, who was a player that Arsenal were after for several months. And they were trying to lowball Villa for a long time. They didn't feel that the£117 million price tag was a fair reflection of Morgan Rodgers' talent. No disrespect to him. He's obviously had a fantastic season. He's a great player.

11:29But they felt there was a premium attached to that. And of course, Chelsea came in and said, bang here's the money and it was you know pretty much guaranteed I don't think there's a lot if any performance related payments within that um and Arteta talking to us today was sort of saying well look you know I've been surprised you wouldn't have bet on these kind of players going for these kind of prices so look I mean there's still time of course um you know they've they've got what two and a half weeks and I think everybody knows Arsenal need to strengthen it's they they're in this sort of curious position, Arsene, I think that most people have them as title favourites.

12:03And yet I think everybody knows that they need to improve their squad. I think particularly in the forward line, of course, they were linked with Vinicius Junior. They were sort of there waiting in the wings, if you like, if he couldn't have negotiated a new deal with Real Madrid. And they're kind of doing something similar now with Bradley Barclay at PSG. And Andrea Berta, the sporting director, has this modus operandi where he will negotiate multiple deals at the same time and sort of put Arsenal in the position to go and pull the trigger on the one they want to do and that's great and it has worked for them in the past but if you keep putting yourself in those positions then you don't get that big deal over the line it does start to ask a few questions of how you're approaching it so I think that they still need one or two more really and I think if they got if they got a defender in maybe if I think for me personally Kwanza a little bit more than Kwanza if I had to pick between the two and then they need a they need a I think a top class winger and maybe maybe a centre forward we can have the Victor Jokeres debate again if you want I think we've probably had it 20 times during the course of last season but I think they I think they need to bolster that forward line if they get those two in then I think they're I think they're they're clear favourites but you just got that sense from Arteta today that he talked a big game after the Champions League final about how they needed to be ambitious that needs to be bold and brave in the market.

13:21And we haven't quite seen it yet. Bruno Gimoresh shining, I think, is a very good one. But they have more to do. Konza or Kwanza? I mean, it's really close. I think if you're looking for a like-for-like with Saliba, I would actually say Kwanza more. Really? Because I think he's got more the physical presence. He's more of an engaging centre-back that can then recover if there's a mistake. and I think Kwanzaa is more of someone who likes to see the game in front of him and be less aggressive to the ball. And, you know, we have that with Gabriel. So I would say Kwanzaa is a young guy, less experienced in the Premier League.

14:05And obviously, you know, they're going to need someone that's going to come in and be ready made. I think Mali Salmon has really impressed me over the preseason. but being 16 you can't ask him to come in. How old are you, Kieran? You were young there when you were? I was 17 but I wasn't thrown into... He was mature. He was a mature 17. Yes. But you've got to be careful with the young ones. But no, you've got to be careful with the young ones because I always get haunted with players like Jack Wilshere who came in in 2010 and had to play 40 games and then you can get run into the ground and you get injury problems.

14:47So these players have to be eased in at the right time. 16 is not the time to come in and cover the world's best centre-back. Yesterday we talked about the rules changes that are going to be implemented this season. A lot of them are about time-wasting. Some suggesting that Arsenal's tactics last season triggered that. Xhaka said that. I'm not done. This is what Arteta said. When the rules change, everything changes. The game evolves, so we'll see a change there as well for sure. Brilliant. Great. Thanks for that, Miguel. Kieran? I'm in favour of the changes. They're good, aren't they? We were talking about them yesterday.

15:22It works in the World Cup. Everything moving quicker. Yeah. Anything to do with speeding up the game. Is that going to hinder your boys, considering the time you wasted last season?

15:33One season of it. One season of it, and we get absolutely peppered. I can't believe it. But no, listen, I think anything to do with speeding up the game, especially with VAR at the moment, when it comes to that slowing down the game, we have to find these ways to keep the flow of the game. I think it's really important. I'm a big fan of these. Let's stay in North London, James. Dangerous times, isn't it, for Spurs fans? Because some of them seem optimistic.

16:04Yeah, that's the hope that kills you, isn't it? No, I mean, they've obviously, they've splashed the cash, haven't they? And they've done what I think, you know, you've got to put this in the context of the last, you could say, 20-odd years, where Tottenham fans have been desperate to see their club be aggressive in the market and not have their transfer approach be sort of proportionate to their income or to their wage bill. You know, it's been very aggressive. I mean, you can see the huge sums there. I mean, the idea that Spurs would spend 100 million quid on a midfielder even two years ago, you'd have been laughed out of town for even suggesting it.

16:42So, look, I mean, they've addressed key areas of the team. I think they know, they obviously, you know, they've narrowly avoided relegation last season. They know their miles off it in terms of the squad. And clearly, it's not just in terms of quality. It's the mentality of this squad as well. They need to reshape the leadership group. They need to find a core group of players who want to play for that club. you know Christian Romero of course is not in that graphic because he's now finally agreed a deal to go to Atletico Madrid and one of the things that Roberto De Zerbi was trying to do at the end of last season was really sort of begin to foster that togetherness and I remember being at one of those games near the end of the season where there were players like James Madison who you know weren't available, Vicario the goalkeeper who was out injured and he had them just behind the dugout and it was sort of trying to make them part of the squad when they couldn't be part of the team and yet Christian Mera the club captain was up in the stands miles away from the rest of them and he just sort of thought what kind of message does that send about where Romero is and how fractured this dressing room is and that that's a massive problem for Tottenham and it was spending the money is one thing and they need to show that intent you know obviously there was a we could get into the whole conversation about how the club was almost sold um under Daniel Levy and these owners are now there and they've got a club that they didn't expect to have and what are they going to do with it.

18:01And I think they've had to show that intent to the supporters that they can talk about in statements, you know, that yes, we're committed and we're long-term investors and long-term custodians or whatever, but you really need to show that in the market. And to be fair to them, they have done that so far. I still think it's incomplete. I think if you look at that squad at the top end of the pitch, it's still quite weak. But, you know, we look at that squad two months ago and we just said central midfield is a major problem and they have addressed that area. I think Van Hecker is a very good signing for them at centre-back as well.

18:31The fact that they've managed to keep Van de Ven, not many people saw that coming, I'd say, at the back end of the season. So you start to look at the spine of the team, and they've clearly backed Kinski, and he's had a lot of criticism for what happened at the Let's Go Madrid game last season, but they backed him in goal. They've got that core now of those centre-backs and those centre-midfielders. Solanke, I think, is decent up top. I think the wide areas are the problem. them if they can have a positive next couple of weeks they're talking about Savino maybe Cody Gakpo as well if they can get those two in you do start to look at Spurs and think well we can think of them like we used to think of them which is top six maybe top four let's see how they go but there's an awful long way back and I think what had happened really at Spurs is coming back to that culture point is that a rot had really set in you know they'd accepted losing they'd accepted losing and it started in the second half of that season where they ended up winning the Europa League where they said well look actually the Premier League doesn't really matter that much because we're tailoring everything to Europe and to sort of and the guys in the studio obviously you'll know far better than me but to turn that tap back on and suddenly say no the standards are high every week and every game matters and we won't let standards drop that's Dezerbi's biggest task really but signing those big players and making those statements in the market will obviously the only help.

19:48You've got mates in this Spurs squad. Kareem, what are they saying to have a season? They're optimistic. They're optimistic. I mean, as James said, off the back of last season, I think they had no choice, really, but to repay something back to the club. And they've gone out and spent big money on, again, ready-made players. So I think it's a genuine attempt to reset the level of the team. But yeah, I mean, obviously with James Madison and coming back as well. He had a really difficult year. I'm sure he's firing to go. And I think that they look better than what I thought that they were going to be at this stage.

20:30Yeah, I'm surprised that they've gone big, 190 million on two midfielders. I'm surprised they've gone that big. But like I said, they had no choice. What about Florian Balogun? You talk about lack of attacking options. Could he be one, James?

20:49Yeah, it's difficult to know the level of truth in that at the moment. From what I've been told, I think there is a degree of interest, but it's not close. There's nothing imminent. I'm going to play this back to me tomorrow when he signs and he's doing the shot unveiling. But as far as I know, there's nothing kind of active there. I think maybe towards the end of the window, as Spurs narrow down their options, if they feel he's viable, he could be a good fit. quite how that would go down in the red half of North London. Kieran, you probably know better than me. You don't see it too often, do you?

21:25No, no, but still, Monaco, Spurs. Thank you very much. James, can I ask you a question? Go on. Are your candlestick holders the same size? They were when they started. No, but the one on the left looks bigger than the one on the right. Look at it. All right. put them together we're going to do this let's do this yep alright here we go ready okay what do we reckon oh I'm holding him even now higher higher higher higher higher the actual holders there you go I should have done I should have done the whole show like this shouldn't I yeah exactly museum of illusions I did that in New York don't bother waste the money thank you very much James much appreciated just a reminder James will be with us throughout the whole season and it all starts this weekend Arsenal taking on Manchester City in the Community Shield.

22:18That's live, 9.30 Eastern on ESPN Plus and ESPN2. And the game kicks off at 10 on ESPN. Rich Eisen here. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire costs time and money, but the right one helps your business grow. The challenge? Finding that person without sorting through resumes. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro comes in. It screens candidates so you can focus on conversations with qualified talent. With Hiring Pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash eisen.

22:55Terms and conditions apply. As you know, managing maintenance, repair, and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Granger has your back. From professional-grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by.

23:28Hey, Chicago. Class it up with Crocs. You know back to school is coming in fast. So why wait to find your new Fave footwear? Step into a local Crocs store and step into your new look. Try it. Style it. Make it yours. Because the right pair doesn't just show up, it shows off. First day fits, handled. Walk out ready for whatever's next. Visit your nearest Croc store today.

23:59La Liga kicks off this weekend, kind of, because there's no Real Madrid or Barcelona. There's a staggered start. They will start the weekend after. to all starts with Alaves against Getafe, Sevilla against Ravel Cano on Saturday. Sid Lowe is here. Sid, I imagine you have some opinions on this.

24:23Can we hear... Let's try that again, shall we? Which opinion would you like me to have? No, no, you just tell us. What do you think about this staggered start, Sid? I think the thing that's so frustrating about it was that it really wouldn't have been that difficult to have just waited a week. just wait a week you know that you've got a whole load of players who are going to reach the World Cup semi-finals which is ostensibly the reason why you wait I think even within that you could say well why is it the Atletico Madrid start on Wednesday and Barcelona and Real Madrid start a full week later you've staggered the games all across it on top of this you've had the extra problem of course which is that this weekend the Celta de Vigo Osasuna game has been postponed because of a problem with a pitch which basically means that the opening weekend of the season has got only five games in it of those five games where should we be focusing Sid I suppose Well you should be Focusing on me Obviously Daniel I'll be at Sevilla On Saturday night Against Rai Viagano Oh what a treat Fantastic Thank you very much Sid and his beautiful tan Is that it for Sid?

25:19No no It's more a red face Daniel You've caught me Halfway through the holidays I've not quite finished yet So I'm not the I'm not the finished article Where are you? I'm on the east coast of Spain Where the eclipse Was very impressive Or it would have been If it hadn't been That really big cloud Oh I love it Oh fantastic let's talk Barcelona as we have quite a lot over the last couple of weeks with Alex Kirkland who said yes as you were off looking at the eclipse obviously the plan is to bring in Julian Alvarez, what if that doesn't happen and why did they let Ferran Torres go without the knowledge that the Argentinian was actually going to join well I think the answer to the second question is that really and truly the two things weren't dependent, I think even if they'd recognised and accepted that that Fran Torres was, sorry, rather that Julian Alvarez wasn't going to come.

26:09And of course, they're going to keep fighting for that. And they're going to hope that they can, they can get that deal over the line. Is that Fran is in the last year of his contract. Part of the clause of the original signing meant that it would have cost him an extra, cost him an extra 8 million euros to be able to keep him beyond this contract and extend him for another year. He wanted more first team minutes, although I'm not convinced that he's going to get them at Paris Saint-Germain. He wanted a higher salary. And the bottom line is that they looked at this and thought, given the costs involved, is this the player that we want?