Shaun Maloney was made a sensational return to Wigan Athletic as manager, ten years after he won the FA Cup with the club under Roberto Martinez. Maloney has worked at Celtic under Brendan Rodgers before moving to the international stage as Assistant Manager to Roberto Martinez with the Belgium Men’s National Team. During that time,…

Talk of a global short shortage of goal-getters may well have been exaggerated if one dares to bask in the aura of a young striker making a name for himself in Ligue 1. Belgian Loïs Openda sent a shockwave through French football when scored and assisted another helping high-flying RC Lens to vanquish the behemoths…

The Olympique Lyonnais academy is renowned for producing brilliant technical players such as Nabil Fekir, Anthony Martial and the current Ballon d’Or holder, Karim Benzema. Now, it appears as though the French club have struck gold once more with an academy graduate; this time, a right-back by the name of Malo Gusto. The 19-year-old has…

Following the rise to superstardom of academy graduate Phil Foden, it appears as though Manchester City have unearthed yet another gem. Rico Lewis has quickly become an important part of Pep Guardiola’s setup for Manchester City and it appears the club have found a long-term replacement for the aging Kyle Walker within their own ranks.…

On the eve of the 2022/23 season few people, if anyone at all, would’ve earmarked Middlesborough’s Chuba Akpom to be leading the Championship scoring charts over halfway through the season. The 27-year-old forward, a graduate of Arsenal’s Hale End academy system, has scored 14 goals in 18 league starts and was the Championship Player of the…

“In this mood and this spirit, I think he is unstoppable.” Erik ten Hag eulogised over the growing influence of Marcus Rashford, who picked up the ball in his own half at the City Ground in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final and nine seconds later the net was rippling.   The winger…

Bournemouth ended their six-game winless run courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at the weekend. Whilst Jaidon Anthony’s first-half strike, their first league goal since the resumption of club football, backed up the faith that’s been shown in him in recent weeks, it’s merely small steps, but if Anthony and Bournemouth can strike up…

Finishing their last few seasons in and around the playoff picture before just falling away, Gary Rowett’s Millwall fell six points shy of that final playoff spot in the Championship last campaign — the Bermondsey-based club are certainly on the up after previous relegation near misses and stints in League One.   Heroic players from…

Countless boys in West Africa enroll in football academies, giving up on an education and splurging the family savings in their quest to establish a career at one of Europe’s top teams. Yet many of them are duped, taken abroad, and dumped by unscrupulous men posing as agents, according to activists. Tom Vernon, founder of…

Ibrahima Bamba is not a name many will be particularly familiar with. He is currently enjoying his first full season as a first-team player, having only made his first-team debut in February 2022. That said, the promising youngster has emerged as a key player for the Primeira Liga’s Vitória de Guimarães this season and is…