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Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly.

Time to mark your European card ahead of the new season.

We finally get the better half of the Spanish Football Podcast to join us to answer the important questions.

And Bappé's arrived: so, who plays where in attack for Real Madrid?

Do Leverless Barcelona or perhaps Athleti have any chance of keeping up with them?

In Serie A, into won the league by 19 points last season, they haven't done a lot of business yet.

Is anyone set up to catch them?

I can't even bring myself to ask if this could be the year that Harry Kane finally, etc., etc., in the Bundesliga.

Bayonet have brought in Elise and Paulinia while Leyva Kuzen have kept their stars and their manager should be great.

And then to Baz's Belangerie, there's Jose in Turkey, someone desperate for us to mention, Carnarfon Carnarfan Town.

Your questions.

And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly.

On the panel today, Lars Siviton.

Welcome.

Hello, everyone.

Hello, Barry Glen Denning.

Hello.

Hello, Nikki Bandini.

Morning.

And Ted says, will Phil, Kitchener and Leaders, stay on for more segments than the usual part one Sid Low Performance?

Phil, welcome.

Thank you very much.

No, my own personal tribute to Sid is me doing just one segment and then heading off.

So there we go.

That's it.

Absolute disgrace.

What a disgrace the lot of you are.

You put English people in Spain to shame.

And I guess that is saying something, isn't it?

Let's start then.

Let's start then, Phil, with La Liga and with Real Madrid.

Anna Mbappe arriving.

That's obviously such a big story and presented in front of a packed burnabout.

And I just, it is really interesting when you look at all their attacking talent about who's going where.

It is.

It's a puzzle that I think Carlo and Chelotti will relish

trying to fix.

It's very exciting for La Liga to have a world superstar, arguably the best footballer in the world, come and join already the best team in Europe and Spain.

I just wonder for the competitivity of the league how good news it is because it does feel at the start of the season and I might look very silly at the end of the season.

But I don't think I will because it looks like Real Madrid are going to be far too strong for everybody else.

But we'll see.

Where is Mbappe going to play?

It feels like he has to play on the left because they've spent all this money they've spent seven years trying to get him here and then to play him somewhere that he doesn't necessarily want to play or feel comfortable would feel a little bit silly the only problem being that they've probably got the other best player in the world in that position as well so fitting him vinicius Jude Bellingham and Rodrigo into the attack.

It feels like Rodrigo is the one that's going to be sidelined here in terms of the starting 11.

Jude Bellingham, his position last season started off off as a sort of number 10 top of the diamond, but then it came back a little bit.

He was playing quite a lot as a sort of left interior midfielder.

So it feels like it's going to be Vinicius and Mbappe in a two up front.

And they've always got the option of switching to a three, bringing in Rodrigo or playing Bellingham a little bit further forward.

But yeah, they're going to have to figure it out.

But I think it has to be...

Mbappe starting from the left a little bit more.

And we saw it in the end of last season, trying Vinicius a little bit more centrally.

And he's going to have to get used to that, I think, as well.

Lars, is there any part of you that thinks Mbappe won't be like a huge success?

I mean, no, is the boring answer, but I do think like Anchilotti's attempts to downplay the positional challenge have left me like he's he'd be a great diplomat, Carly Anchilotti.

Like, I think he could convince many people of many things.

But when you sort of read quotes saying, he said at one point, he was asked, I've not thought about it.

I've spent no time thinking about it, which is like, yes, you have.

Like, clearly,

you very obviously have spent time thinking about this and we saw uh periods last season where mbappe was being played as a kind of striker at psg and there was a sense that maybe that's something that he wanted to try out maybe that was sort of getting ready for madrid type of project i don't i couldn't possibly say but what we did learn was that it didn't work that well he doesn't look that comfortable leading the line um and it puts them into a position with yeah they appear to have signed the best player uh possibly in the world to play in the exact same position where they have probably the second best player in the world.

That is this big Real Madrid energy over what's happened just there.

And I am, I completely concur with Phil that there seems to be a bit of a gap between them and Barcelona this season.

So it might not be super competitive.

But you are getting the popcorn now to just kind of see how the internal dynamics of that team will transpire over the course of the season.

I'm just curious for Phil, like, what the what there's been around this transfer in terms of like the pomp and circumstance because I still have this very vivid image in my head of when David Beckham went to Madrid and it was, you know, full stadium to greet him.

And I, the image I have, which I'll have forever, is that someone had baked, I think it was DB7 into a loaf of bread and was holding up this giant loaf of bread with

the number in it.

Otherwise, Dennis, where seven, then Indian, did he?

But yeah, the, I feel like that sort of megastar arrival.

I'm not sure if I'm backing out it just because I maybe wasn't paying attention to it, but I don't know if I've ever been aware of that moment happening yet.

Oh, yeah, there certainly was a massive presentation in the big shiny spaceship called the Burnabout now and it was spectacular.

And

what's also been quite funny is seeing a lot of prominent Real Madrid supporters who are in theory journalists but are generally Real Madrid supporters backtracking.

having absolutely slagged off Mbappe last summer.

I've been really laid into him.

Oh, we don't want you here.

If you don't want us, well, we don't need you.

This is Real Madrid.

You'll never play here.

You'll never...

Oh, you're here.

Okay.

We love you, Kylian.

Come on, then, babe.

Come on.

And it's genuinely been a bit like this because they were hurt.

And they are a proud bunch, Real Madrid fans.

Maybe the proudest of the lot.

And they have an ego.

So if you dent that ego, which Killin and Bappe did several times over the course of the last seven years, it's going to take something to

get you back

on the right track with them.

But at the moment, all is forgiven.

All is forgiven, Killian.

He hasn't even had to score any goals yet.

All is forgiven.

Kylian, more boring news further back up the pitch.

Real Madrid have lost Nacho and Tony Cruz.

So who will replace them?

Yeah, I mean, it's not boring news.

It's actually really important news for Real Madrid because Tony Cross did just an amazing footballing mic drop and going out at the top of his game, which is something that, you know, many players could have done, but have chosen not to.

I mean, Nacho.

could have done it instead of going off to Saudi Arabia.

But anyway, Tony Cross has decided to leave and it does leave a hole in that midfield for

Real Madrid.

We might see more of Luca Modric this season.

We might see more of Arde Güler perhaps playing in an interior midfield position because he doesn't really have much of a chance getting into the front three.

So maybe the idea is to bring him a little bit further back.

But yeah, it's a problem losing Tony Cross because I know he was 34, but he's just coming off the arguably one of his best seasons.

So that is a problem.

And you're not going to be able to find someone in the transfer market to replace Tony Cross.

Really, that just there isn't anyone, so they've got to figure that one out.

And Nacho, I was actually quite sad to see him go because, all right, they offered him a lot of money in Saudi Arabia.

They tend to offer people a lot of money in Saudi Arabia.

Fine, I get it.

But at the same time, leaving your, he could have been a one-club man.

He was still playing.

It's not, but he just wanted to feel important.

So I guess he left.

It's gone off to get loads of money.

So they have a spare

centre-back berth in that squad.

And they wanted Lenny Euro.

They were not prepared to pay what Manchester United were prepared to pay.

So, good luck to United.

And they're in the market for

someone else there.

But, yeah, losing Natchez is sort of emotionally important.

Losing the captain, someone who has been there since he was a child.

But in terms of actually affecting the squad football-wise, they should be able to cover that.

Yeah, a bit more game time for that up-and-coming prospect, Luca Modric.

It'd be nice to see him when he gets

this could be.

This could be his time.

Watch him for the next five, ten years.

Barcelona, meanwhile, not a lot of business.

I am lost, Phil, on how many levers they've pushed and if they have any more levers to push and kind of what's expected of them.

Yeah, I mean, they've basically sold off more or less everything.

I mean, okay, they could raise some more money, but as it stands...

They're almost in a worse position financially now than when Jan Laporte took over and it just feels like the culture of kicking the can down the road has continued and it's what got them in this problem in the first place and they're still still not out of it.

Remember they're going to be earning a lot less money from TV rights every single year for the next two decades.

I mean they pulled that lever, they used it to buy Raffinia and Jules Goode.

You know, it hasn't worked.

So yeah, they've been ominously quiet in the transfer market so far.

They desperately want Nico Williams.

They haven't got him.

They desperately want Danny Olmo.

They haven't got him either.

And these are two players with buyout clauses.

So the money's there.

They've got buyout clauses.

Sort it out with them and go.

And particularly Danny olmo who had a buyout clause that was lower up to a specific point i think was it the 20th of july that his buyout clause was a certain number and then it went higher well you've got a literally a date there get it done before that and they they haven't um you said they haven't brought anyone in there they haven't um they need to but people have got to leave as well which is again the problem i mean remember two years ago they desperately wanted frankie de young to leave

United wanted him and Frankie de Jong said, no, mate, I'm happy here.

I'm not going anywhere.

I've got a contract.

Thank you very much.

I'll stay.

So, yeah, they need to get players out,

get people off

contracts and raise some money.

They need loans.

They need loans to sign players, and that is the situation that they're in at the moment.

So, yeah, it doesn't look good.

It doesn't look good.

I was just curious, you mentioned Nico Williams.

I feel like, are you surprised that nothing has happened with him yet?

Because it's not like Bus are the only club who could have an interest after the summer.

I'm actually not.

I actually always felt, and maybe this was just a sort of romantic ideal in me, but I always felt that he'd give it one more year at Athletic.

He's playing with his brother.

They've got the Europa League.

The final of the Europa League is in Bilbao this season.

There is that emotional pull.

He's got such a close bond with his brother in Naki Williams, who's basically like, you know, like a father figure to him.

His family and friends are pressuring him to stay in Bilbao for an extra year.

So

I think he will stay for an extra year.

But yeah, he's hot property after, especially after the Euros.

I mean, we knew it was good before the Euros, and the Euros has just catapulted him to a next level in terms of people on the continent desiring his services.

And it's where could they even find the money for the release clause, as you say?

This is not an obvious thing.

I also just wanted to ask Phil, what do you think is like, in the grand scheme of things, the biggest sort of reverse ferret that's having to be done here?

Is it the Real Madrid people going, actually, Killian, you're great, you're fine, it's all good.

Or, intriguingly, is it the members of the Barcelona tribe who two years ago were very busy explaining to us why all this pilling of levers was actually absolute genius from Laporta?

And this is the sort of really smart, forward-thinking club leadership that will restore Barcelona to the summit of world football.

Has that ship started coming around as well?

Or are they, I mean, where are we with that?

Yeah, I think people are

beginning to realize that it hasn't worked out.

But, you know, the whole idea, it was just a gamble.

It was a gamble for Roshan Laporta.

He was spending this money now to try and achieve on-the-field success, to try and get more commercial revenue.

I mean, and it hasn't worked.

They are rebuilding the camp now.

When are we going to see them play in the camp now?

I don't think this season.

I mean, initially they said October, November, December, January, now February.

You know what it's like with builders.

And this is a big project.

There are a lot of builders here.

So I think it's going to take a good while before they come back.

And they're losing loads of revenue every match day that they're playing at the Olympic Stadium and not playing up at camp now.

They're losing loads of revenue, which they can't afford.

I don't want to be all doom and gloom for Barcelona because it's still Barcelona.

They still retain a good starting 11.

But boy, it's in stark contrast, really stark contrast to how Real Madrid are going about things.

And you can't sort of talk about one without the other.

That's the nature of the relationship in Spain between these two clubs.

I like just one bloke with a spirit level walking into the camp now.

I'm going to have to actually naw this.

Yeah, it might be a little longer.

I mean, you laugh.

A little bit longer.

We've found some mold.

We've found some damp around the back of the thing.

We have to just do, yeah, just fix the grouting.

I just have like a small question off like that same theme.

Like a normal club that is struggling for money starts to ask itself, do we have to make a difficult decision and sell a big asset?

And this is a club you just mentioned on it there.

They still have lots of time.

It's a club that has Gavi, has Pedri, has Laminamel.

These are players who you could raise a lot of money on if you wanted to.

Is that even a discussion?

Or is it just, no, absolutely not.

We're Barcelona and these are our assets for winning in the future?

Yeah, yeah, it's not a public discussion, but I think privately, I think they would be, how can I put this, willing to listen to high offers for someone like Pedri.

I think they would pragmatically understand that.

La Minhamal, no.

I think La Minhamal is untouchable.

He's the best thing about Barcelona right now.

That's what the main thing they've got going for them is La Minhamal.

So I think he's untouchable, but I think they wouldn't be averse to listening to offers for Pedri.

Meanwhile, Adleti, quite interesting conor gallagher i think is sort of feels so simeoni to me it's sort of it's not real and and then rumors this morning that julian alvarez might be uh going to athleti as well which is quite that's sort of a statement signing really certainly is um they've um they've uh obviously lost alvaro morata who's gone to milan where he's happy you know niki could tell us about him morata in in italy because he's not happy in spade he's basically become some figure of fun in in Spain and he knows it and he's off in search of happiness.

So good luck to Alvaro.

I genuinely hope he finds it because he is a good person and a good soul.

So they are rebuilding.

They've lost Morata, they lost Memphis de Pay.

They have lost...

four defenders, I think, as well.

So there's a rebuilding process coming on at Atletico Madrid.

They brought in Robin Leno Man, which is a terrific signing for them

at centre-back.

He's going to have to defend, but he's also going to have to help bring the ball out from the back as well, Robin Lenoman, because Mario Elamoso was very good at that and El Moso has gone.

Yeah, it's an interesting summer at Atletico Madrid because they are rebuilding and the summer, the signing of Julien Alvarez is a really massive one.

I mean, that is very, very, very exciting.

They've already brought in Alexander Sorlot, who was the second top scorer in La Liga last season from Villa Real.

So it...

Yeah, it feels like stuff is happening at Atletico Madrid and the transfer market is often

quite quiet in Spain because nobody's got really a lot of money.

So the fact that somebody is making moves and bringing in interesting players is really

quite good.

Will they be able to hold on to Samu Omorodin?

Yeah, I think

bringing in...

If they bring in Julian Alvarez, then something's got to give, someone's got to go, some money needs to come in.

And Samu is an asset that they have.

He's here,

he's been playing at the Olympics with Spain.

And

he is a really interesting forward.

I mean he's so he's so raw but he's got the ability to get in positions to score, needs to work on his finishing but you can see why teams in the Premier League are interested in him because he's got all the attributes to be a top striker so I think to fund this spending something's got a given and Samu is quite a quite a big asset.

Below them can you see Girona doing similar to last year or what are the other stories that we should sort of keep half on?

New.

I think it's all over for Girona in terms of, I mean it's the cynical, isn't it just we people got carried away with well not carried away but

I'll be honest with you it's Spain and you kind of know who's going to finish in the top four usually

at the start of the season and Girona very much were not in anybody's thinking so the fact that they broke into the top four were in the title race for a bit was tremendously exciting

City Football Group asterisk aside.

But yeah,

it was interesting to see them.

But then balancing Champions League football with losing some really key players like Savior's God, Jankuto Scott, Alice Garcia, Artem Dovik, they've all gone.

And yeah, they're bringing in players to try and replace them.

And their recruitment last season was exceptionally good, which is what led them to there.

But it feels very, very, very difficult to envisage them combining.

Champions League football with

a run in La Liga.

I mean, we saw it with Real Socedad last season, who are a much more established side.

They were in the Champions League.

They got out of the group stages for the first time in the Champions League, but that made their domestic form suffer.

And I think Girona won't be pushing for top four.

Let's put it like that.

What's going on at Gatafe?

I read somewhere they had to cancel friendlies because they don't have enough players.

What is going on with Gatafe?

You caught me out there, Buzz.

I don't know what's going on with Cafe.

What's going on?

Sid would know, for fuck's sake.

Sid would.

Don't worry.

I'll ring Sid after.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You're all good.

Finally, former S.

Banielle Stroker Martin Braithwaite is considering buying shares to take a controlling stake in the club.

And he just left there.

Is it because he wants to just carry on playing?

And the only way he can get in the team now is by owning the whole club.

I mean, I'm a big fan of that.

He's a very rich man, Martin Braithwaite.

A very, very rich man.

And not just from football.

I mean, not really from football at all.

Like, he's got a lot of external investments.

I think it's in property.

But in terms of, you know, you see those lists of rich footballers who have got rich, not from football.

He's right up there.

So it's not surprising that he wants to expand his portfolio because, yeah, he's a very wealthy man with uh with outside business interests yeah producer joys him and matthew flaminy what did flaminy make his what's flamini made his money in biochemistry like a biomedical biochemistry company that made something but yeah he's he's i i had i breakfasted with daniel agar once and he had a he was telling me about a sewage business he has with his brother i don't know how well that's going but maybe he'll be the next you know multi-trillionaire um as someone did say it should be called aga poo but i i didn't think of that gag at the time when i was sitting with him anyway Phil your work is done go off and do what you have to do lovely to have you on thank you gracias amigos bye-bye cheers de lago Phil Kitchenelida's there from the Spanish football podcast which is excellent and listen to it and that'll do for part one part two Nikki takes center stage we'll talk Serie Ah

hi pod fans of America Max here Barry's here too hello football weekly is supported by the remarkable paper pro now if you're a regular listener to this show you'll have heard us talk before about the remarkable paper Pro.

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Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly.

Just to let you know that we are on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube.

Instagram is guardian underscore football weekly.

Just search football weekly.

Baz is becoming quite the thing on TikTok.

It's exciting.

Synchronized dances coming soon, we all hope.

Any of you see?

I'm still not even sure what TikTok is.

That's just like, I think it's fascinating

of a minute where most people do the little dance.

You see people just doing a dance outside of, you know, on a skate park and then checking their phone.

And yours is just your hot takes on football.

We're doing great now.

I live near a skate park.

I can go to a skate park and dance if you want me to.

I spend so much of my life feeling like I'm quite old.

Then I come on here and I feel like I'm a child.

How are we going to keep the young audiences with this sort of chat?

You can only be who you are.

That's the point.

Seriya then, Nikki.

So look, Inter absolutely smashed the title last year.

I mean, they were so far out.

I was looking at the table yesterday going, was it really that easy?

Was it that easy?

And have they, do we expect more of the same?

Do I think they're the best team in Syria still?

Yes, because really not much has changed for them.

The signings that they've made so far, not splashy, but I think make them better.

Piotr Zhelinski was extremely good for Nappy a couple of seasons ago, didn't have the best last year.

Part of that with things going on behind the scenes with the club that

perhaps were harming his relationship with

the whole setup.

And Medi Tierami as well.

It's just another option up front that you've got that is valuable and is going to be useful.

And both of them signed without a transfer fee up front.

So good business.

And nothing major out so far, which is...

I guess against the trend of recent seasons when they have had to make big sales in the summer.

So far this summer, we haven't really had that big one.

So there's no reason to think that Intel should take a step backwards.

They've still got the same manager.

They've still got the core of the same squad.

I expect them to be a very good team again.

The question really is just whether or not someone else can get closer to them.

Are there reasons to think someone might?

Well, Napoli have Antonio Conte in charge.

Antonio Conte, this is what he does.

He shows up places and he wins things.

Not everywhere, just to you know, just to remind the Tottenham fans.

Not everywhere.

Everywhere but Spurs.

But there's big questions with Napoli, right?

We're still waiting for resolution of Victor Ossiman going somewhere.

I expect he is going to go somewhere.

It looks like Romney Lukaku is going to come back and be reunited with Conte.

Can Conte

do the magic he did with Lukaku at Intel, or has Lukaku reached a point in his career where that's no longer available to him, I suppose, that ability to

play in that way.

Still some questions for me as well about Kvitchk Varatskelia and how he's going to feel about the situation because he wanted to leave and was pretty open about it.

And Conte basically came in and said, no, that's not happening.

You can sell us the men.

I'm not having this player sold.

So he's been told

he's not leaving this summer.

How does that all play out?

Who knows?

I think the more obvious candidate to challenge them, if it weren't just for the fact that Antonio Conte has his special title-winning magic, the more obvious candidate is Juventus because they're the club that's gone out and made a big splash in the transfer market, signing Douglas Louis, easily the most expensive signing of anyone's made in Italy this summer.

And they've also got a new manager, Thiago Motto, who, as we all talked about a lot last season, performed some absolute wonders at Bologna to turn them into a Champions League qualifying team.

So

a lot of questions still with these teams.

Juventus, the midfield's going to look very different because Rabio's finally gone, but Kefrem Turam has come in, Douglas Weez has come in.

They're still working on trying to get Tianku Miners from Atlanta, which I think would be a huge signing.

He was so good last season.

So completely different Juventus team really at its core to what it was last season.

And

Motto, again, a great manager.

But does that necessarily close the gap on interim one season?

I think that's

a big question.

Milan as well, of course, worth saying, second last season, have a new manager as well in Fonseca.

So lots of teams who have reasons to think they've freshened up, but whether or not any of them is ready to do it, I'm not so sure.

Well, where's Roma in all of this, I guess, is the question.

We had a question from a listener about that, about like with Baldanzi coming in january suula coming in this summer a couple of other interesting moves could they be mourinho no longer there obviously a huge boost uh like

could they be a competitive for us this season i don't know i think this jury still out on danielle de rossi as a manager i think he's done lots of positive things i think that the the vibe shift from mourinho's final chapter to De Rossi was so good but how much of that is to to be clichéd about it, but still there's some truth in it, how much of that is just the new manager bounce, especially when there is that vibe shift from a very

negative mindset, it felt like in the last bit under Mourinho to a much more open and willing to let's go and have a go and play football mindset under De Rossi.

How much of that, that little bump at the end of the season was just down to him coming in and lightening the mood.

It's too early to say.

I think that there's some positive stuff for Roma and perhaps the biggest thing is that no one took Devala off their hands

when it was possible to do that for really not a lot of money.

I think there was a clause in his contract he could have gone for about 10 million euros this summer.

It really was an opportunity for someone.

But Devala is the same story as it is every season for me.

He's absolutely spectacular when he's on the pitch and he's just not on the pitch nearly as much as you need him to be.

So

Roma have a strong squad.

They have

a lot of players who are capable of doing good things.

Of course, they've lost Lukaku again, but you've still got Tammy Abraham.

They can score goals when the players are there, as you say, signs up Baldanzi.

I just don't know that I personally am yet convinced that DeRossi is a manager to put on a par with Tiagomota or Simone and Zaggy, who I think really have proved their chops.

Actually, is DeRossi like a story we would be more cynical of if it was in England and he was English?

Because he's like a guy who he's a Roma guy.

He's like Frank Lampard.

Yeah, because he's a Roma guy through and through, and he looks great in a suit on the sideline.

And when he's running around being passionate, and he has improved the vibe.

And if this exact thing was happening at a big club in England with a former player in a suit, I reckon I'd be sat here going,

because that's what I typically do.

But it doesn't feel that way watching the Dorossi thing.

I don't know.

Is there a sort of a romance that we're being blinded by?

A romance.

Come on.

How could I not go for the world's worst punch?

A lot of people, I think, have looked at it and gone, is it just Oligon and Solskjaer?

And I think it's fine to ask the question.

I think it's totally reasonable to ask the question.

The difference, I would say, is this.

De Rossi

has been

very,

I guess, attuned to everything that goes on at Roma, even when he wasn't there, because his dad has such a long...

decades-long involvement with the youth team, which he was running.

He's now moved a bit upstairs, but he's been very much

at the helm of that youth team for a really long time.

And as a consequence, De Rossi was someone who spent a lot of time, the younger De Rossi, spent a lot of time watching the youth team, spending time with youth team players.

It's one of the things that's been interesting to talk about these last few weeks with Calafiori moving to Arsenal.

De Rossi was the guy driving him to and from his physio appointments when he blew his knee out.

when he was just coming out of the Roma youth team.

He was the one who was visiting him in hospital.

He has been really close to that team, even when he was playing, when he was not at Roma.

He's always had close connections there and in fact one of the things you've heard from de rossi in the last bit is how angry he is that the club let calafiore go let fratiersi go yet let players who they had in their uh in their grips slip away from them for for relatively little does that give him a different edge i don't know does that mean he's a great manager of course not the management comes down to so much more than that but i think it's it's worth acknowledging that that makes his case a slightly different one.

On Napoli, and I know they had about 100 managers last season, so perhaps the question isn't quite relevant, but there is a huge move from Spoletti football to Conte football.

And I don't know if last year means that doesn't really make any difference, but I just wonder, is that squad set up to do Conte ball?

I guess we come back to

Lukaku as this embodiment of Conte ball to some extent.

He's the player he always wanted.

He got him.

You want a league with him.

They're still working on making it an Antonio-Conte squad.

The recipe of Antonio Conte at Napoli with the De La Ventis family and the explosiveness of all the characters there has always seemed to me like a dangerous one.

And we will see.

Or a really good one.

A really good one.

Right.

And Kvitsu Karatschelli is a fascinating case because Kvica Karatschelli is not a player you look at and think, there's an Antonio Conte player, is he?

He's not someone you think, but he's a phenomenal talent.

And I think that

it's a huge mentality shift between Spoletti and Conte.

Spoletti was very much about prioritizing freedom for his players at a certain point.

And Conte, as we have known all through his career, is all about automatisms.

We're going to do this movement over and over again until you know exactly where you're supposed to be and you're going to execute it.

And I think it's fascinating to me to see what comes of Kravat Skelet this season because I thought Kravatskelli was a little bit disappointing last season.

Not awful.

He certainly still had his moments, but I thought he didn't make the step on that I would have loved to see from him in his season after winning the league.

And I also feel like he slightly escaped criticism for that.

And I saw more people being critical of Ossiman, which to me is a bit baffling because I've seen people saying, oh, Victor Ossiman, one season wonder.

He scored 15 goals in 25 games last season.

He was just injured a lot.

Actually, his strike rate was still very good.

I honestly feel like, and this is a good thing in terms of making it exciting, I just don't know.

I just don't know with Napoli and Conte.

I just don't know with Giago Mott and Jamentis.

I just don't know with Paolo Fonseca and Milan.

There's a lot of, we're going to find out.

And the reason that you, or I at least think that Inter are still the clear favourites is because I do know.

I know it's Simon Enzagi's good manager.

I know they've got most of the same players and they've brought in players who I think are good.

So why wouldn't it be even better?

Can I ask you about Federica Chiesa?

Because I know you just love him as a player and sort of where you'd think he might end up and the sort of rumours surrounding him or if he might end up, you know, if he'll definitely leave, Juve.

Yeah,

it feels like he's leaving.

It feels like it's probably in the best interests of everyone that he does leave, that his career has not become what everyone wanted it to be when he got to Juventus, and certainly not the player that he was perceived to be right after the last Euros, Euro 2020, that of course happened in 2021.

I don't have a clear answer on where that might be, and it's not impossible that he stays still because there isn't.

It sounds like Roma wants him to replace Tammy Abraham, who they will probably sell to Milan.

Yeah, I mean,

it's all speculation at this point until it's a done deal, right?

And we're at that point in the summer still.

We're still,

well, a week and a half away from the season starting.

We're still nearly a full month away from the Trans window closing.

I feel like there's a lot of information going around that isn't all correct at the moment.

And so I'm reluctant to say this is definitely happening.

But yes, I think there's a very strong possibility that Kieza leaves.

I think that Roma have an interest in him, and I do think that that could be an interesting spot for him under the Rossi.

But I just don't know.

With your Arsenal Han, how excited are you about Kay Calefiore going there?

I really like the player.

I still don't quite understand the fit.

I think for Cale Fiore, what was really exciting about him this season at Bologna was seeing him take on that centre-back role that he's been compared a lot to John Stones.

He's made that comparison himself, saying that that's a model that he followed.

That centre-back who gets to play high up the pitch, sometimes who gets to be involved in attacks, sometimes who gets to support the midfield a lot.

That was something that really was where he came into his own.

And at Arsenal, I just don't quite see how he's a centre-back.

He's a left-back.

I can see him easily sorting into that team on the left.

And he's played there before, and that makes a heap of sense.

But does that take away some of what made him so exciting at Bologna if he's not doing that in the middle?

I just don't know.

I think he's a great footballer.

I think he's one of those guys who, when you see how he's developed, look at the steps he's taken, look at things he's talked about, such as when he was playing

in Switzerland, like actually like it was a really deliberate step because I just wanted to concentrate on football and not have any distractions like family or friends and just do that.

He really comes across as someone who's

getting better because he's set out to get better.

And I think that's something that's underestimated sometimes.

Like, he's not cruising, he's working really hard at being a better footballer.

How he fits into the team at Arsenal, yeah, I'm still curious, but I'm excited for it for sure.

One of the best moments of last season was Gasperini and the Europa League.

Like, I just think, I just think of just moments of pure happiness, was just him and his grin.

And I wondered if he should have just said, right, that's it for me.

You know, like,

football can't get better than this.

But how do you think they will go?

Well, General Cascamac has just torn his ACL, and that's a pretty massive blow.

Um, because he was huge in the last part of that season.

I think it's going to significantly impact how they

handle the next few weeks.

This transfer window.

I certainly expect they're going to go out and try and sign another centre-forward.

And who exactly that will be, we don't know yet.

There's been talk of Matteo Teghi, the

other Italy striker, who none of them covered themselves in glory this summer from Genoa.

But it's new news.

They've only just had this injury.

So

how they react to that is going to be a big impact.

They'll be competitive because Gasferini is a manager who has consistently shown that whatever you give him, he'll turn it into a competitive football team.

But at Atalanta, anyway.

But it will be as good as last season without Scamaka.

I think that's a big blow.

I really do.

Can I ask you about Como, who've been promoted from Serie B.

Osian Roberts, the former Wales assistant, was caretaker.

He stepped aside, so says Fabrogas can take over.

Looking at their signings, there's a real expendables vibe about it.

You know,

Varane, Dasena, Pepe Reina, Andrea Bellotti.

Oh, great.

I think they're quite well funded, but how do you think they'll get on?

Or is it a st a heartwarming story?

Or

should we be a bit cynical?

I don't know.

I think we can be a bit of both.

It's football, There's no heartwarming stories in football.

It's all money in the end.

Sure, but like a big house where they're all just living in como, just living it up and then they just go and play football once a week.

Sounds perfect.

Yeah,

I really,

it's going to be a fun story this season, of course.

Everyone's interested in it.

It's one of those stories that's not the easiest to cover because it's really bloody expensive to go to como.

The squad they've put together.

It's very much a very deliberate, we've got the money to do this and try to build a squad to stand pat and just consolidate and steady out of the season, bring in players who've been there and done it before.

Whether or not all of those players are up to it, I'm not sure.

It's been a while since Andrea Bellotti has really been a player who I've felt good about.

And I say that with goodwill towards him because he's always come across as quite a positive character.

But

yeah, Sesque Fabregas, the situation with the management last season was really interesting because it felt like everyone was sort of trying to say that they were the one who should really get the credit for it.

So now that it is being handed over to Sesque Fabregas, we'll see exactly what that looks like and how he is the manager as well i should very briefly say for any liverpool fans who felt a disturbance in the forest when when barry glandening said do sena it is not the former liverpool left back andrea dossena who is 40 oh i thought it was

i mean as i right okay

i'm slightly disappointed i mean that it would be

it would be i mean if it was that would be even better but no he is no longer i was about to say he's no longer among us but that

he's dead oh which he's not he's very much alive.

No, I just saw Docseno went, all right, I've never heard of him for a while.

Anything else, Nikki, we should keep an eye on before we move on to Lars's Deutsche Rundfunk?

Yeah, just to say quickly, the other team that has been half mentioned very briefly, Bologna, of course, they lost Tiaga Motta, they've lost Calafiori, they've lost Joshua Zerkse.

How do I, um, I'm sure some people are wondering how things look for them, and and not great is the answer, I think, at the moment.

I feel quite sorry for Vincenzo Italiano, who has taken Fiorentina to consecutive Europa Conference League finals, didn't manage to win either of them, now gets his break, I guess, to go and play in the Champions League.

And immediately it's say goodbye to your two

best players and good luck with that.

Of course, Lewis Ferguson also injured and won't be back for the start of the season.

So, yeah, a tough situation for them.

They have signed, I'm going to mispronounce it, I think it's

Delinga to replace Xerxe up front, very different kind of centre-forward, but scored a lot of goals in League One last season.

So, League One, legal.

I was gonna say, and uh, step up, just yes, it's different.

So, uh, so we'll see, um, on that front.

Um, but I think, Bologna, for those wondering, um, it doesn't look good on paper.

We'll see.

Fine.

All right, that'll do for part two, part three.

As I said, uh, Lars Ividson's uh Bundesliga Rundfunk and Baz's Belangerie.

Hi Pod fans of America.

Max here.

Barry's here too.

Hello.

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Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly out of the Bundesliga then.

Lars.

And Bayer Munich is really interesting, isn't it?

With Vincent company,

you know, they've brought in Elise and Paulinha.

There's obviously the Harry Kane question.

You know, is his back all right?

Will he just lumber around the whole season like he did the Euros?

What's your prediction for them?

Well, I'm glad that you, when you said the Harry Kane question, what you meant was the physical situation and not any sort of hex or hoodoo that may be sort of residing over the head of of mr harry kane because i do think i did see some of this on social media all the jokes about him not winning anything at which point i immediately get a little bit defensive on his behalf because he scored 36 goals in 32 games in the league last season which is a decent return for a forward kind of feel like he did a pretty good job There's a certain irony in Hua Polinia being brought in because Thomas Huchel seemed to spend most of his time at Bayern complaining about not having a defensive number number six, and then he leaves, and immediately Polinia

is

rocking up.

But that will definitely bolster that midfield, which was a bit of a weak point.

Olisa adds, obviously, we know from Crystal Palace what he adds, but it's a tough,

it's a big job for Vincent Company.

Because if anyone who thinks last season was a bit of a blip for Bayern after winning many, many years in a row, and that they should just be fine again this season, I would bait to differ a little bit because last season wasn't a total one-off.

They ended up on 71 points, but the season before last, they ended up on 71 points.

Now, those are the, you know, the difference, of course, was that Laborkusen were brilliant last season and Dortmund were not the season before that.

So there is a drift.

There's a drop in standards at Bayern that has been going on for two years.

And 72 points, the last time they were that low in the sort of points total was in the 2008, 2009 season when you had Jürgen Klinzeman as the manager and like Luca Tony up front.

And who can forget, Landon Donovan on loan.

You know, those were some pretty dark times for bayern munich and this is kind of the points levels we're at now so this is a team that has they have drifted and they've not been themselves and they there's a sense that maybe they need to be reinvented a little bit and that is a big gig for vincent company to be landed with uh having just been relegated with burnley i mean obviously he did very well to get them up in the first place but it's um it's quite the situation bearing in mind as well that they spent half the summer trying to hire managers and failing to hire managers and ending up with vincent company so obviously buying are a brilliant team and obviously buying could romp to a league title as they've done very often.

But it's just there's a sense that this is not obvious and automatic that Bayern will strike back.

Which kind of brings me to Leverkusen, where the biggest story with Leverkusen, I think, is not who has arrived, it's who hasn't left.

It's the idea that Xavi Alonso stays.

It's the idea that Florian Wirtz in particular stays.

I think many, many, you would expect when a German team not named Bayern Munich has that kind of incredible season.

The manager is usually off and the biggest star is usually off.

And that hasn't happened at Levakusen.

They've not made huge moves in the transfer market, but they've added little, like Alex Garcia from who was wonderful for Girona and midfield for them.

Make jokes about Javi Alonso hiring classy midfielders here, if you want.

They've also added a couple of guys from Rennes, Martin Therier, who's kind of a versatile attacker-type man and a young defender named Belochian, I think the pronunciation is.

So they've kind of done little moves in the transfer market to bolster the squad, but the key is that they haven't lost any of the big guys.

And they've done this incredible thing that we spoke about all last season.

They've gotten rid of the Nevercuzzan stigma.

They're now, not only did they win the league undefeated, but they kept having late wins.

Like this, the whole culture should be different now.

And there's no reason to think they won't be very, very strong again this season.

That is fascinating, isn't it?

That they, I mean, keeping Alonzo is the key.

And you wonder, you know, that is a sort of, and obviously, we don't have a Spanish expert on because it's now part three of the podcast.

But,

you know, Ancelotti, we don't know how long anchilotti will stay right and you sort of sense alonso could have gone to one of the others that he is a legend at and he's decided not to and you you imagine he's just that feels like where he could end yeah but what an incredible like

i mean i saw uh foolish people uh denigrate that decision and suggest that he was kind of bottling it in a way But on the other hand, what an incredible flex it is to like have the buyer job is right there for you if you want it.

The Liverpool job is right there for you if you want it.

It was like, no, actually, I quite like being in charge of the theme.

I'm in charge of, and I'm still, you forget how young he is.

And he hasn't actually been a manager for that long.

And he wanted to do more before eventually moving on, which I think is really cool.

I guess the other things in Germany we're looking at, we've had this conversation now, you know, Bayern, will they be back?

Levikus, like, we haven't mentioned Dortmund yet.

And that kind of seems like...

indicative of Dortmund also drifting a little bit.

Dortmund, who now have moved on from Ed Intersich, who was,

you know, he was one of their own.

You You know, he was a fan who used to watch from the stands.

He was someone who was liked within the club and in the hierarchy, but he then made the decision to step away.

He's been replaced by Nuri Shaheen.

He was managing in Alanyaspur in Turkey and then brought in halfway through last season as an assistant manager.

And I think it's always a little bit ominous for the head coach if someone who has been a full head coach themself is brought in midway through a season as an assistant.

That always has the whole sort of successor in waiting type of vibe to it.

And he is now stepping up.

Interestingly, on the transfer front dortmund of course as we know their model is typically to sound young players to kind of develop them and and sell them on they've signed valdemar anton and sero girassi from stuttgart anton is 27 and girassi is 28 so it's more of a case of like signing someone who can strengthen them now and and stuttgart deserve a mention because they kind of went on the radar last season like they finished second stuttgart finished second in the league it's like fully ridiculous and because obviously we were all talking about how great leverkusen are but stuttgart had an amazing season uh with Sebastian Honest doing a great job as manager, but they've now immediately lost, you know, probably their best defender and their top scorer with their second top scorer, Dennis Undow, being unloaned from Brighton.

And he's hoping to stay at Stuttgart, but the clubs haven't reached a deal yet.

So Stuttgart unlikely to be as good this season.

But kind of interesting whether Dortmund can actually reboot under a new coach, slightly different focus, trying to bolster, trying to challenge.

I'm not fully convinced, but it's, yeah, it's interestingly poised.

Lars, Edin Terzig's departure from Brossy Dortmund was very sudden and abrupt.

Do we know why he decided to leave?

Has he given a reason?

What he said after stepping down

after the after the Champions League finally, he said,

after the game at Wembley, I asked for a meeting with the club's senior management team because after nine years at BVB, including six on the coaching staff and two and a half as head coach, I feel that the club's new era should begin with a new man on the touchline.

So it was him, what he's saying publicly, at least, is that he felt, I've been here for a long time, I've done my best, but the club needs to go in a new direction, and

that should be happening with someone else.

And I haven't seen any sort of scandalous stories to suggest anything other than him simply feeling that this was the right move for him to do.

Obviously, Phil Krug's gone.

We know Marco Royce has played his last game.

Ian Mattson, actually, who was really really good for them, has gone to Villa, hasn't he now?

So there's quite a lot, you know, they seem like important positions for them to try and fill.

Yeah, and much Hummels has left as well, because that's obviously one of the little

frictions that were there with Tertisch was like Hummels, who didn't seem to respect him very much or get on with him.

So it was for a while, it was billed as like an internal power struggle between Hummels and

Tertis, but then Hummels departed, his contract wasn't renewed, and Terches decided to step down.

So they're moving forward without any of them.

I do think Fulkrug, obviously,

will be missed.

He's a good player, but for a German club getting 20, is it like 27, 30 million euros for a 31-year-old striker who's had a really bad knee injury not that many years ago,

I think they're quite happy with that deal.

I think that's one of those sort of things that is very much an English transfer.

There's no other, there's very few other leagues where you can get that kind of price for a player in that situation.

And again, like I said, they brought in Pascal Gross, had some experience and intelligence to the midfield.

And I do like that the Gurasi and Voldemar Anton transfers because that looks like Dortmund looking at you know domestically players who were really good who they could last season who you can bring in who will strengthen the team right now

rather than constantly looking for for for young players a new zalon a la bonjerie de barry bonjour sava barry glendening bonjour i mean my league uh question would always start with psg right how you know they've lost mbappe that is a big that is a big deal for them but what shape do they appear to be in yeah well

i suppose they've lost Mbappe,

but Luis Enrique was sort of preparing for that towards the end of last season when he didn't really pick Mbappe very often or restricted him to a few cameos off the bench.

And the presumption is that they will win the league easily.

But it being Paris Saint-Germain, there is always the potential for slapstick and disaster and underperformance.

Although Luis Enrique does seem to know what he's doing there, I suppose that

the interesting thing is if if they don't perform who

could potentially beat them to the title marseille is an interesting one they've been described as you know an absolute shit show marcellino famously uh quit as their manager after seven games last season because he said that he just couldn't deal with the fans they were so their behavior was so bad and the the manner in which they tried to intimidate him he he basically said look I this isn't worth my time I can't be bothered with these idiots and and left

so now Roberto de Serbi has taken over at Marseille it's quite an interesting appointment because he's gone from a club Brighton which you know you would say has quite a nice

easily pleased fan base in this you know very cosmopolitan city in England to Marseille where the fans are quite volatile and notoriously difficult to please.

Roberto deservedly isn't shy of sharing an opinion if he thinks

you know things aren't going his way.

So that could be quite a volatile relationship there.

Although you suspect he may fit right in at Marseille.

They're not in Europe, so they can focus solely on the league.

They've signed Mason Greenwood from Manchester United for about 23 or 24 million quid.

Pierre-Emile Hoiberg is gone on loan from Spurs.

Ishmael Kone is gone from Watford.

Centre midfielder.

I have no idea whether he's any good or not.

But so yeah, Marseille

will probably improve on last season performance.

But again, like PSG, there's always a potential for disaster there.

And Deserby and those fans, that could be a bit of a tinderbox.

And then Leon

finish,

Leon are in danger of looking like they might get relegated at one point last season, but they won 15 of their last 20 games under Pierre Saget, I think his name is, or Sage, spelt Sage.

I'm going to say Saget.

There's, yeah, I think high hopes that they could finish second behind PSG or even beat them to the title.

They've signed Musa Niakate,

Oral Mangala from Forest.

I think they were on loan there already.

Said Ben Rama from West Ham.

and

George Mikatudis, the Georgia superstar who you will remember from Euro 2024, our second favorite Georgian footballer.

When you said Said Ben Rama, I thought you said Saido Berohinho.

I was like, he was at West Ham.

I missed this.

A long way.

I don't know where he, I have no idea where he is.

Ben Rama is interesting.

Lars, were you about to jump in?

Well, just yes, anding Barry is enthusiastic for Leon because, I mean from the first of january onwards last season no team in france took more points than leon including psg so after they kind of got their act together under sagé which we're going with uh last season they were very good and they have a lot of good players you you mentioned the income like michael tadze going there is exciting but you've got old like azette who is still hanging around doing his things him and benrama and then young ryan shirky who is an incredibly talented guy who hasn't quite like been consistent enough but someone who has you know definitely an elite level talent.

And there's some

really interesting guys.

Ernest Newmar coming in.

He's a former sort of Nord Shalan right to dream a guy like similar background to Mohamed Kudus.

He was there on loan last season as well, but that's that's been made permanent.

Just a really interesting looking squad on paper who should never have been in the kind of trouble they were in last season, but once they snapped out of it, they kept winning games.

And so if you're looking for challengers to PSG, that's a very logical place to look.

Barrahino is a free agent, by the way, most recently at AEL Limassol in Cyprus.

Worth keeping an eye on Jose, obviously, who's at Fenabace and has brought in some excellent names.

Chenk Tosen, Alan San Maximam, Sonchu's in there as well.

So

we wish him the best of luck.

And really, we want him to cause huge amounts of controversy.

That's the niche that the Turkish League sits for us.

Osh says, quick mention for Carnarfan Towns game with Legia.

First time in Europe for Carnarfen, known as the Coffies, against the 16-time Polish champions.

First leg behind closed doors, but 900 in attendance.

Second leg sellout.

Roughly 150 to 200 Legio fans watching over a barrier.

They lost 5-0 at home.

Yes, they lost 11-0 on aggregate.

So it feels like their chances of getting through are slim now.

Billy says, Are you surprised as I am to see Bednarek has gone to the USA Sprint team?

Yes, Barry, you spotted this, didn't you?

Jan Bednarek.

I did.

I

took a picture off my TV and sent it on the WhatsApp.

As did Wilson.

Yeah, I mean, if no one else is finding that entertaining, the three of us still are.

So well done to Yannick Vestigaard for winning a silver for the USA.

Jim says, has Lars ever been to a Norwegian death metal festival?

I have not.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

And Rob says, no question, I need more Barry kitchen utensil talk.

I believe this was on the subject of wooden spoons.

You were inspired by Adrian Charles to buy a wooden spoon.

I don't know if you, I don't know if

that is the depth, is that the extent of your kitchen utensil talker?

If you have anything else, well, oh, here we go.

Having

been in the market for a decent potato peeler and a decent peppermill for years, like years I've been looking for a decent peppermill and a decent potato peeler.

I heard Comedy's John Robbins discussing

his peppermill on a podcast, so I texted him to ask what it was because he he held holds it in very high regard okay so he he told me the brand and i bought one and i have to say it is sensational and i also have discovered the the rolls royce of potato peelers the only problem being it's so good that i'm pretty confident at some point i am going to slice my own thumb off i mean i mean if i could add to this and i know the question wasn't for me but you know once you once you go to the micro plane your bog standard cheese grater is not it's just not getting it anymore really that is right really if i could encourage you to micro plane your cheese and anything else you want to grate really is tremendous i mean we should get paid for these sort of

this is becoming well i i deliberately haven't said

who makes the potato peeling or the peppermint but if they want to give me loads of money yeah i i will name them in a future part i think uh potato peeling tick tock is the way to go from here oh that's a really good idea yeah start doing some kitchen videos for me.

I feel like there could be a niche ASMR potato peeling.

I think it's worth looking into.

I mean, the way it just glides over the potato and it takes off such a thin sliver.

It is a game changer.

I mean, the risk that the look, I mean, it is a niche, and I don't want to take it from TikTok to OnlyFans, but it depends on how dressed Barry is for his potato peeling videos before we can start really coining it in.

Anyway, that's a decision for us in a production meeting, I imagine.

Uh, thank you both.

Uh, thank you both.

Thank you, Wall.

Thank you, Lars.

Thank you.

Thank you, Nikki.

Thanks.

Thanks, Baz.

Thanks.

We're doing an EFL pod tomorrow.

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