It is a title, ultimately as irrelevant (but trendsetting) as the Supercup. Every year at Bayern Munich, the so-called “winners of pre-season” are crowned. Who triumphed over the past five years? And what happened next for them?2021: Stanisic causes a stir for the first timeAfter the summer’s major tournaments, several key Bayern Munich players missed the start of pre-season in 2021, as usual. That opened the door for two talents to step into the spotlight under new coach Julian Nagelsmann: Josip Stanisic and Tanguy Nianzou.Then 21 and a product of the club’s academy, Stanisic had already made his first-team debut the previous season. He then benefited from an injury to Benjamin Pavard and even started at right-back in the Bundesliga opener against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Stanisic made more appearances in the weeks that followed, but Pavard took back his regular place once he had recovered. Stanisic initially stayed in the rotation before returning to Munich in 2023/24 with a completely different standing after a loan spell at Bayer Leverkusen.Nianzou had joined from Paris Saint-Germain in 2020 as one of the most promising defensive talents in world football. After a debut season disrupted by injuries and suspensions, the summer of 2021 looked like his moment. But the strong pre-season turned out to be only a brief flash in the pan. Nianzou moved to Sevilla FC in 2023, and since this summer he has been playing for Lille OSC.IMAGO2022: Sabitzer and Gravenberch only burn brightly for a short time”If you want, you can call him the winner of pre-season,” said Nagelsmann in August 2022, and by “him” he meant Marcel Sabitzer. The Austrian midfielder had disappointed in his first season at Bayern Munich and was already seen as a candidate for sale. But in the 2022 pre-season he suddenly hit form in the absence of the injured Leon Goretzka. Sabitzer’s revival did not last. He quickly faded into the background, joined Manchester United on loan in winter and then moved permanently to Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2023.Nor was Sabitzer the only midfielder to catch the eye in the summer of 2022. New signing Ryan Gravenberch also showed strong early form. Like Sabitzer, the then 19-year-old Dutchman benefited from Goretzka’s injury. In the end, though, Goretzka “outlasted” not only Sabitzer but Gravenberch as well. Frustrated by too few opportunities, he left after just one season in Munich for Liverpool FC, where he developed into a top player.Club FriendliesBayern MunichFCB15 Aug 202621:30RB LeipzigRBLMeanwhile, Pavard’s future was up for debate at Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022. The bosses were reportedly considering a sale, but Nagelsmann argued for him to stay. At right-back, the Frenchman beat new signing Noussair Mazraoui to a starting place and had a good season. The following summer, by then with Thomas Tuchel in charge, Pavard himself pushed for a move. In the end, he got it and joined Inter Milan.IMAGO2023: Laimer instead of a “holding six” and Tel as Kane stand-inThe summer of 2023 revolved around the Harry Kane saga and Thomas Tuchel’s desire for a “holding six”. Away from those two storylines, two winners of pre-season emerged.First came Mathys Tel. While Munich waited for Kane to sign and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting recovered from his knee joint problems, the then 18-year-old Frenchman became the first-choice striker in pre-season. Once Kane arrived, Tel naturally dropped into the background. In the following season, though, he established himself as a very prolific joker.At the same time, Tuchel was pushing hard for the signing of a “holding six”, while free transfer arrival Konrad Laimer kept producing one strong friendly display after another. “The discussion about the six does not arise for me at all, because I believe Laimer is a transfer from whom we will get very, very, very much enjoyment,” said club patron Uli Hoeneß. In the following season, Laimer played plenty of minutes in defensive midfield as an important rotation player before fighting his way into a starting spot as a flexible full-back.Also in the summer of 2023, a home-grown talent made a splash: Frans Krätzig. Although he had never been regarded as a so-called super talent, Tuchel surprisingly took him on the Asia tour. The 20-year-old left-back impressed in his appearances and scored a wonder goal against Liverpool FC. But he was denied the really major breakthrough. After spells at Austria Vienna, VfB Stuttgart and 1. FC Heidenheim, Krätzig now plays for RB Salzburg.IMAGO2024: Serge Gnabry? A starter instead of a candidate for sale In 2024, Irankunda took on Krätzig’s role from the previous year. The then 18-year-old Australian scored goals, did somersaults and was already being compared to Xherdan Shaqiri. But it would not be enough for a competitive appearance in the following season. He is currently on the verge of a €15 million move from Watford FC to Sporting Lisbon, with half of the fee set to flow to Munich thanks to a sell-on clause.Two long-serving key players could also call themselves “winners of pre-season 2024”: Joshua Kimmich and Serge Gnabry. During his difficult time under Tuchel, Kimmich had at times been considered a candidate for sale. New coach Vincent Kompany wanted no part of that and immediately restored him as the undisputed leader in midfield. It is a role Kimmich still fills to this day.For Kimmich’s best man Gnabry, the summer of 2024 went just as well. Plagued by numerous injuries, he had missed large parts of the previous season and ultimately Euro 2024 on home soil as well. But at the start of pre-season he looked in top shape and then made the most of his head start over team-mates who had been on holiday longer. Talk of a departure, which had previously been mooted, soon vanished, and Gnabry operated as a starter in the early weeks under Kompany.Elsewhere, Tel put together a second strong pre-season in a row. This time, though, he did not make use of his head start. After a sobering first half of the season without making any impact, Tel left for Tottenham Hotspur in January 2025.IMAGO2025: Gnabry does it again – Karl hits top formLike the previous year, Gnabry was again among the big winners of pre-season. His momentum from the summer of 2024 had faded over the course of the season before he hit top form again 12 months later. Because Jamal Musiala was out for a long time with his serious fibula and ankle injury and Thomas Müller was not given a new contract, Gnabry initially had his starting place at No 10 secured. In spring 2026, an adductor injury slowed him down, which also cost him participation at the World Cup.Then there was Goretzka. Despite effectively having already been written off, he suddenly had serious hopes of a starting place again after a strong pre-season, but then lost the duel with Aleksandar Pavlovic and ultimately left on a free transfer. He still has no new club.Seventeen-year-old Lennart Karl surged forward and laid the foundation for his breakthrough in the months that followed. Stanisic also became a winner of pre-season for the second time after 2021. This time it had lasting consequences: across the whole season, he was part of the extended core of regular starters.IMAGO2026: Bischof as the leader of the young starsTom Bischof has been the most eye-catching player of this year’s pre-season so far. At 21, he was the only established outfield player to start training on time and fit. At that point, all his team-mates were either still on special World Cup leave or dealing with various knocks. That also applied to two-time pre-season winner Gnabry, who is currently working on his comeback and therefore missed out on his personal “treble”. Meanwhile, Bischof is emerging as the leader of an improved youth selection and is now eyeing the starting place of his mate Pavlovic. Among the club’s own talents, two in particular have impressed: 16-year-old striker Bastian Assomo (two goals in four friendlies) and lively left winger Maycon Cardozo. Will one of the two be the next Lennart Karl?Next up is Saturday’s friendly against RB Leipzig, followed by the dress rehearsal against 1. FC Heidenheim on 18 August. The first competitive match of the season comes on the 22nd, the Supercup against Borussia Dortmund.

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On 1 October, the FIGC will have to indicate to UEFA the five candidate cities, and the project for Milan’s new stadium is behind scheduleMilan risk missing out on a place among the host venues for Euro 2032, the tournament jointly staged by Italy and Turkey. It is a scenario few supporters would even want to contemplate, but it cannot be ignored.According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the dossier linked to Milan is causing real concern within FIGC circles and, at least for now, does not guarantee the Lombardy capital one of the five spots reserved for the Italian cities hosting the tournament.

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3 files besiege EnzoEnzo Maresca has spent this summer confronting the hardest question in the game: how do you follow one of the greatest managers football has ever seen?
The Italian has taken charge of Manchester City in succession to Pep Guardiola, returning to the club where he served as the Spaniard’s assistant during the historic 2022-2023 campaign that delivered the treble.
Guardiola walked away at the end of last season having won 17 major trophies, six of them Premier League titles, plus the Champions League.
His first pre-season in charge is drawing to a close. Maresca sat down with five British journalists travelling with the Manchester City party in the South Korean capital, Seoul, to discuss the challenges that lie ahead.

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Steven Bergwijn can be signed from Al-Ittihad for very little, Voetbal International reports. The 28-year-old forward is available “for a fraction of the purchase price”.He joined from Ajax in the summer of 2024 for a fee of around €21 million. Bergwijn proved very important for Al-Ittihad in his first season, but a departure now appears to be one of the options.With his contract running until mid-2027, he would leave on a free transfer next season if Ittihad do not sell him.A return to Europe could put Bergwijn back in contention for the Netherlands national team, it is said.After breaking through at PSV, Bergwijn earned a move to Tottenham Hotspur. He never quite found his best form in England, before Ajax paid as much as €32 million to sign him.Then-head coach Maurice Steijn even made the 35-cap Netherlands international captain of the Amsterdam club.

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The former goalkeeper takes stock of the situation of the goalkeepers at JuventusLuca Marchegiani, the former Lazio and Italy goalkeeper and current Sky pundit, has had his say on Juventus’ goalkeeping situation.Marchegiani said: “Di Gregorio was written off far too soon and blamed for everything. With all due respect to Suzuki and Vicario, they do not seem ready for Juventus to me, even though I think very highly of the Italian for the way he has tested himself in the Premier League.”

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A painful matterBarcelona have expressed their full solidarity with the Colombian people following the devastating earthquake that struck the country with a magnitude of 7.4 on the Richter scale, causing severe human and material damage that has placed the South American nation in an extremely delicate situation.The Catalan club posted a message via their official account on the platform “X”. It read: “All our support and solidarity with the Colombian people after the earthquake. All the strength to those affected, their families and the emergency teams working there.”This is not the first time the club have stepped up in the wake of a natural disaster. A few years ago, following the devastating floods that swept through Valencia as a result of Storm DANA, Barcelona contributed through their foundation to funding the renovation of the Benetússer municipal sports centre, the Catarroja municipal sports centre and the El Terrer municipal stadium in Paiporta.

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After a month since his signing was announcedJosue Caicedo has finally landed in Catalonia. The 18-year-old Ecuadorian full-back touched down a full month after Barcelona Atletic officially confirmed his signing, the delay caused by the bureaucratic problems that kept him from joining the reserve team’s training sessions. The reserve side wrapped up their pre-season camp last Sunday at the Vall d’en Bas ground in Girona.Barcelona Atletic announced the deal on 13 July, a loan with an option to buy worth 2.5 million euros from Ecuadorian club LDU Quito that could turn mandatory if a series of conditions are met. Red tape then scuppered his plans, stopping him from flying out of Ecuador and linking up with his new teammates on the scheduled date of 20 July.Caicedo wasted no time spelling out his ambitions on arrival at Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport. “I am grateful to all the people here. I want to be a champion and stay here. My dream is to make my debut in the first division with Barcelona,” he said, laying bare his hunger despite his tender age.Physically and technically, the Ecuadorian has plenty to offer. He stands out for his attacking threat, his agility and his sharp reactions, qualities he shares with his favourite player at the club. As he told the media waiting for him in Barcelona: “My role model at Barcelona is Balde.”He also admitted he had not “been able to speak with Deco” yet, though he had kept himself “training” through the month of waiting, unable to join the reserves while the paperwork dragged on.Club FriendliesBaselBAS16 Aug 202622:30BarcelonaBARYoung he may be, but Caicedo already has senior experience behind him. He played 8 matches for LDU Quito’s first team, racking up 344 minutes, and the promising defender made his Copa Libertadores debut on 26 May against Bolivia’s Always Ready. That early continental exposure only adds to his stock.Barcelona rate the youngster highly. The club’s hierarchy know, though, that he will need time to bed in and adapt to the Catalan style before he can push for a first-team spot and chase down his dream of playing in the first division.

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Fifteen years of resilience and battling on the touchline, and now Diego Simeone breaks his silence. The Atlético Madrid boss reveals the other side of his legendary journey: the joy of the beginnings, the weight of expectations and the pressure of competing with Spain’s two giants.Simeone spoke in a lengthy interview with the French magazine “France Football”, carried by the French newspaper “L’Équipe”. Longevity at a single club, he says, demands constant renewal: “I have had to rebuild the team on many occasions, relying on the abilities of the players who joined us, and this is essential to remain for many years.”

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Our expert shares Arsenal vs Como predictions & betting tips as the Premier League winners play their final friendly before the Community Shield.Cesc Fabregas returns to his former employers on Wednesday night. His Como 1907 side face the Gunners in a pre-season friendly at the Emirates.Best bets for Arsenal vs ComoOver 3.5 goals at odds of 2.25 with StakeArsenal to win and Both teams to score at odds of 2.70 with StakeViktor Gyökeres anytime goalscorer at odds of 2.25 with StakeOur analysis: Form of both teamsScore prediction: Arsenal 3-1 ComoGoalscorers prediction: Arsenal: Saka, Gyokeres, Nwaneri – Como: DouvikasArsenal bring their pre-season campaign to a close against Como at the Emirates on Wednesday. A familiar face returns with the visitors. Cesc Fàbregas, who made 303 appearances for the Gunners, is now the Serie A side’s head coach.Mikel Arteta’s side opened the summer with a 4-1 win at Girona, but they have since lost twice. The Gunners went down 3-1 to Real Betis in Dublin and 3-2 to Borussia Dortmund on Sunday. Defending has been a concern, with William Saliba resting a back problem and Jurrien Timber still weeks away. Most engaged fans are already checking the Stake registration to stay ahead of the curve. Arteta works with a full squad from Monday as his World Cup contingent returns four days before the Community Shield.Como arrive off the best domestic season in their modern history. They finished fourth in Serie A to secure Champions League football for the first time. Their summer has been quieter: a 3-1 win over Al-Ula and a 1-1 draw with Villarreal at their own Como Cup. That was followed by a 3-2 victory against Famalicão. Udinese away follows on 22 August.Probable lineups for Arsenal vs ComoArsenal expected lineup: Kepa, Mosquera, White, Gabriel, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Ødegaard, Havertz, Dowman, Gyökeres, TzolisComo 1907 expected lineup: Butez, Van der Brempt, Valle, Ramon, Kempf, Perrone, Caqueret, Kuhn, Paz, Rodriguez, DouvikasHuge value on four or more goals at the EmiratesEvery Arsenal friendly this summer has sailed past this goal line. It’s a similar story for Como, with all but one of their friendlies featuring four or more goals. Four goals were scored in their draw with Paris FC, and five arrived in their win over Famalicao. Arsenal thrashed Girona 4-1 and lost 3-1 to Real Betis before Sunday’s 3-2 Emirates Cup defeat to Borussia Dortmund. That’s 14 goals across three matches, with none producing fewer than four. The defending is the reason: Arteta called the display against Betis “below the standard”. There was further comical defending against Dortmund. It doesn’t help that Arteta is without Saliba and Timber, two stalwarts of Arsenal’s title-winning backline last season.Arsenal vs Como Bet 1: Over 3.5 goals at odds of 2.25 with StakeGunners to win, minus the clean sheetBack-to-back pre-season defeats mean the champions badly want to respond before Cardiff. This is a friendly where Arteta gets his reinforcements back. Arteta works with a full squad from Monday, as the World Cup winners and England contingent return. The current Stake promo code is an essential tool for any fan following this development. They will bring serious quality to a front line already featuring the impressive Tzolis, Dowman and Nwaneri.Arsenal should have too much. Yet, they’ve conceded in all three friendlies. Fàbregas sends out technically brave sides, comfortably building through pressure. We can back a home win, with Como netting at a modest probability of only 34.84%.Arsenal vs Como Bet 2: Arsenal to win and Both teams to score at odds of 2.70 with StakeGyökeres to notch his second pre-season goalThe Swede is off the mark. He converted from the spot on 69 minutes against Borussia Dortmund. The goal arrived after a frustrating afternoon that included hitting the bar and firing a free-kick over.The chances are clearly there, and he has led the line in every pre-season fixture. That’s why another start seems highly possible, with Arteta likely to ease his returning internationals in gradually, most engaged fans are already checking the best football betting sites to stay ahead of the curve.Como could lack sharpness after nearly two weeks without a competitive match. That should give Gyökeres opportunities to build momentum ahead of the 2026/27 campaign. Arsenal vs Como Bet 3: Viktor Gyökeres anytime goalscorer at odds of 2.25 with Stake

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Borussia Dortmund are determined to sign Said El Mala. However, if the transfer does not go through, Giannis Konstantelias of PAOK Saloniki is apparently the alternative. Bayern Munich also once made an offer for the now 23-year-old.For weeks, Borussia Dortmund’s decision-makers have kept schtum over their long-standing and very strong interest in Said El Mala of 1. FC Cologne. The two clubs have been locked in tough talks for some time. It would take something extraordinary for BVB not to get the deal for the 19-year-old over the line.Still, years of footballers’ interviews have taught us one thing: never rule anything out in this business. That brings us to Giannis Konstantelias. The 23-year-old from PAOK in Thessaloniki is said to be Dortmund’s Plan B if the El Mala move does not happen.”A bit of pace and a bit of one-on-one dribbling are certainly elements we are looking out for,” BVB sporting director Ole Book recently revealed, at least in terms of the player profile being sought. That makes perfect sense because nobody in the current squad offers those qualities. Karim Adeyemi had, after all, been moved on to Barcelona.Getty ImagesCrazy transfer saga involving Giannis Konstantelias and VfB StuttgartKonstantelias has exactly those attributes. His strengths are close control, dribbling, outstanding technique and a good view of the game between the lines. The Greek is two-footed, secure in possession and can play as a classic No. 10 or out wide.For Book to contact PAOK, the Greek champions of 2024, if interest in Konstantelias unexpectedly became serious after all, would almost be a miracle. The 18-time international has already come close to leaving several times. So far he has made 189 competitive appearances for his boyhood club, scoring 44 goals and providing 26 assists.Europa League QualificationAnderlechtAND14 Aug 202602:30PAOK Thessaloniki FCPAOClub FriendliesBorussia DortmundBVB15 Aug 202623:30RomaROMIf it comes to that, Book would do well to ring his counterpart Fabian Wohlgemuth at VfB Stuttgart. Exactly a year ago, the Swabians’ board member for sport went through a true odyssey in trying to lure Konstantelias to the Neckar and failed.Getty ImagesPAOK’s “pistol president” forbids Konstantelias transferThat was not through any fault of his own. Ivan Savvidis blocked it. The Russian-Greek businessman has been PAOK president for nearly ten years. By way of reminder: Savvidis is the man who, in March 2018 during a heated match between PAOK and AEK Athens after a disallowed goal, stormed onto the pitch in a rage with a pistol in his belt to confront the referee. The Greek championship was then suspended for three weeks, and four years later the 67-year-old received a 25-month suspended sentence.Savvidis did not want to let Konstantelias go under any circumstances, but the player’s desire to leave and the prospect of receiving the targeted €20 million transfer fee from VfB softened his stance. He had not reckoned with PAOK’s highly emotional fans. They went, and this is putting it mildly, up in arms and heavily criticised the club’s approach in wanting to let the best player in the squad leave in the very season of the club’s 100th anniversary.Then, at the gate at Amsterdam airport shortly before departing for Stuttgart, Konstantelias received a call from Savvidis. The message: transfer off, come straight back to the training camp in The Hague. A few days later, Konstantelias and Savvidis posed for a photo with thumbs up and lavished praise on each other in statements that appeared staged because Konstantelias had extended his contract until 2029.Getty Images”Like watching Neymar”: Giannis Konstantelias shone from an early ageLast season, Konstantelias then followed that up with 14 goals and nine assists in 40 matches. He seems to have shaken off the transfer saga straight away and increasingly grew into the team’s leader. PAOK captain Dimitris Pelkas wrote in his Instagram story: “A little magician among us.”Failed transfers are nothing new to Konstantelias. Three years before making his debut in an international competition in September 2021 and being described in Greek media as an “18-carat talent”, Konstantelias spent time on trial at Barcelona. The Catalans offered €500,000 for the then only 15-year-old. Bayern Munich and Fulham also submitted offers, while Ajax and Chelsea also showed interest.PAOK insisted on a seven-figure fee. Nobody wanted to pay that, so Konstantelias stayed with the club he joined in 2013. He had arrived from amateur club Agia Paraskevi in Konstantelias’ home city of Volos. There, he had already left people stunned as a child. Alexandros Malakasiotis, the club’s academy director at the time, said of him: “A player like him does not come along every day. Not even every 50 years. He has unique gifts. To me, he is a phenomenon. When he is one-on-one, it is like watching Neymar.”IMAGO”Can do magical things”: This is Giannis Konstantelias’ role modelKonstantelias once described the Brazilian as “my biggest role model” because: “I find his style of play more attractive than that of anyone else.” He described his own game as “creative, I always want to provide that little extra in the final third of the pitch”.He very nearly got the chance to do that in the season after the title won on the final matchday at Red Bull Salzburg. Konstantelias was 21 at the time and his Austrian team-mate Stefan Schwab told kicker about him: “He is an attacking type of player who can basically play in any system. He has superb technique. He has pace, is good on the ball, can beat players, can bring other players into the game. He is an exceptional player, he can do magical things. He absolutely has the quality to play in a top league.”Yet, as you might expect, the move did not happen despite multimillion offers from Salzburg. PAOK have only let Konstantelias leave once, and only for 162 days at that. He spent the second half of the 2021/22 season on loan at Belgian club KAS Eupen, among others under German coach Stefan Krämer.Getty ImagesGiannis Konstantelias: BVB’s Plan B, interest from Juventus TurinOn paper, that spell does not look particularly impressive, with just 157 minutes played and no start in eight appearances. But the brief experience abroad was hugely important for his development. After that, Konstantelias increasingly became PAOK’s rising star.Now it is summer again. Once more, plenty of rumours surround the midfielder, with one strong lead pointing to Juventus Turin. Perhaps Konstantelias will soon become the traditional club’s record sale. That ranking is led by Stefanos Tzimas, who moved to 1. FC Nuremberg in 2025 and from whom PAOK earned just under €22 million in total.Konstantelias has clearly grown used to the fuss around him. Will a move happen this time? Either way, he is not letting his unclear future affect him, as he is currently proving: in three Europa League qualifying matches, he has already scored three goals and set up one more.Giannis Konstantelias: His professional career at a glancePeriodClubMatchesGoalsAssistssince 2021PAOK18944262022KAS Eupen800

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