Deal could rise to £35m and includes buy-back clause Liverpool still keen on signing Guéhi as a replacement Jarell Quansah has completed his move from Liverpool to Bayer Leverkusen in a deal worth up to £35m. The 22-year-old enjoyed an impressive European Under-21 Championship campaign as part of Lee Carsley’s triumphant England side but found opportunities limited at club level under Arne Slot last season. The homegrown central defender started four Premier League games, 13 in all competitions, as Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté established a title-winning partnership. Continue reading...

The narrative arc of women’s football in Switzerland is a familiar one: from apathy to hostility to mockery to inertia to change. And now one of the biggest sporting events held in the country In 1957 the Swiss newspaper Sport published a short editorial under the headline “Women’s Football?” Furious that a women’s friendly between Germany and the Netherlands was being hosted in Basel, the writer mocked: “This event is not about football, but rather should be classified as an exhibition or circus performance.” On Wednesday evening, in front of a sell-out crowd, Switzerland will play their opening game of a home European Championship that will be one of the biggest sporting events held in the country. Sport newspaper, sadly, will be unable to chronicle the event, having folded in 1999. Life moves on you pretty fast. Continue reading...

A lack of goals while narrowly avoiding a qualifying playoff shows they are not at their best, but Vivianne Miedema will surely make an impact This article is part of the Guardian’s Euro 2025 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 16 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two teams each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 2 July. Continue reading...

England, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands are the teams to beat but the tournament in Switzerland will be incredibly tight You only have to wind the clock back two full major-tournament cycles, to Euro 2017, and there were no fully professional women’s leagues in Europe. Thanks to increased investment in the women’s game, there are now more than 3,000 full-time female players across the continent, and that professionalisation is why my overriding feeling about this summer’s Euros is that the quality is going to be so much higher than we have seen before. And it will be so tight. In Spain, England and Germany there are three strong favourites who are all capable of going on to win it and I would add the Netherlands to the top four. I was so impressed when we [the United States] played the Dutch in December. They will need everybody fit but, on their day, they are a top side. Beyond that, this tournament is going to show the prowess of the Nations League, which was introduced since the most recent Euros, and the impact that tournament is having on equality. Continue reading...

Lee Carsley wants his team to play without inhibition against Germany in the European U21 Championship final on Saturday It turns out that behind the quiet demeanour, Lee Carsley is much more confident than often comes across. After England Under-21s lost to Germany in their final group match of the European Championship last week – a result that meant both teams progressed to the quarter-finals – the manager sought out his opposite number, Antonio Di Salvo. “He said that they would see us in the final,” revealed the German. Superb victories against a highly fancied Spain and the Netherlands mean Carsley has an opportunity for revenge, having inflicted Germany’s last defeat in this age group on England’s way to winning the title in Georgia two years ago. The trouble is that Germany have since gone 20 matches unbeaten and possess the tournament’s outstanding player so far, Nick Woltemade of Stuttgart. Continue reading...

FA backing manager regardless of results in Switzerland Wiegman and 2022 Lionesses to get Wembley statue Sarina Wiegman has the backing of the Football Association to stay in charge of England until at least 2027 regardless of how her team perform at Women’s Euro 2025. The defending champions are in the so-called group of death alongside France, the Netherlands and Wales and the FA’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham, was asked whether Wiegman would continue even if England exited the tournament early. “We’re delighted that Sarina’s in place until 2027 and I don’t see any scenario changing that,” he said. “She is the most successful coach in women’s international football today.” Continue reading...

England’s Under-21 Euros star could seek a move from Anfield with former club Fulham among those interested At 5ft 7in, Harvey Elliott has never been one to stand out in a crowd. But there was only one player everyone wanted to talk to on a balmy evening in Bratislava after the forward’s match-winning display against the Netherlands. Two brilliant goals from Elliott ensured England will face Germany on Saturday night as they try to defend the European Under-21 title they won in 2023. The Liverpool player’s only regret was his ill-advised knee-slide celebration on a “ridiculously dry” pitch for the first of those. Continue reading...

Burnley sign Netherlands left-back Quilindschy Hartman from Feyenoord on a four-year deal.

‘We’ve got so much quality,’ says England manager England will play Germany in Saturday’s final Lee Carsley is confident that England’s Under-21 side have the belief to make history by winning a second European title in a row after Harvey Elliott’s double against the Netherlands secured a place in Saturday’s final. A superb piece of improvisation from the substitute Noah Ohio had cancelled out the Liverpool forward’s opener in the second half but it was Elliott who had the final say five minutes before the end to take his tally in this tournament to four goals. Having arrived in Slovakia without several of the players who helped them qualify and one of the youngest squads in the tournament, England now have an opportunity to match the achievements of Dave Sexton’s teams in 1982 and 1984. But Carsley, who spent six months as interim manager of the senior England team before returning to his post with the Under-21s when Thomas Tuichel was appointed, insisted that they will not be overawed by the occasion when they face Germany, who beat France 3-0 in the other semi-final. “We’ve got so much quality,” said Carsley. “But more importantly, we’ve got a squad that believe that they can win. There’s more belief, which is important if we’re going to go that one step more, which is generally the hardest step now – getting over the line. But I’m so proud of them and hopefully everyone has enjoyed watching us during this tournament.” Continue reading...

England 2-1 Netherlands: Elliott 62, 85; Ohio 72 Defending champions to face either France or Germany There is something about Lee Carsley and this competition. Just when it looked like England were heading for a nervy period of extra-time in their semi-final against the Netherlands after Brighton’s James Beadle had been embarrassed by Noah Ohio’s brilliant equaliser, a stunning winner five minutes from full-time by Harvey Elliott – his second goal of the evening and fourth in total in Slovakia – means the dream of winning successive European Under-21 tournaments is alive and well. It is a reflection of what a cool customer Carsley is these days that while other members of the England bench looked shellshocked after Ohio had come off the bench to cancel out Elliott’s opener, he refused to panic. But while the Liverpool forward was the toast of Bratislava as England’s place in the final against either Germany or France was confirmed, his manager greeted the full-time whistle by gently embracing his assistant, Ashley Cole. The job is clearly not done yet as Carsley attempts to emulate the feat of Dave Sexton’s sides in 1982 and 1984. Continue reading...

From an Alpine gem in Lucerne to Zurich’s poptastic athletics arena, we run the rule over the Swiss venues ready to welcome Europe Capacity: 34,250 Opened: March 2001 Home team: FC Basel Basel trivia: In 1938, the chemist Albert Hofmann discovered LSD in the city. Women’s Euros 2025 fixtures: Group A: Switzerland vs Norway, 2 July, 8pm (all times BST) Group C: Germany vs Denmark, 8 July, 5pm Group D: Netherlands vs France, 13 July, 8pm Quarter-final: Winner Group D vs Runner-up Group C, 19 July, 8pm Final: 27 July, 5pm Continue reading...

Sophie Ingle says she will be ready to play in Wales' Euro 2025 opener against the Netherlands after nine months out injured.

Head coach feels he is in good position to take team all the way again after returning from heady stint with senior side It is no surprise to hear that the past two years feel like something of a blur for Lee Carsley. After leading England Under-21s to their first European title in a generation in 2023, the former Everton midfielder finds himself back in the semi-finals on ­Wednesday evening having spent almost six months in interim charge of the senior side. “I was actually thinking about this the other day and how fast things have moved,” said Carsley as ­England prepare to face the Netherlands. “I definitely need a bit of reflection time, but it’s been so exciting. It put us backwards a little bit in terms of coming back to the 21s, in terms of the amount of monitoring that we would have been doing with the players, missing out on the three camps, which obviously I’ve done with the senior team. Continue reading...

Manchester United women will face Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in the second round Champions League qualifying.