Advertise on podcast: The Athletic Football Podcast

Ian Irving & The Athletic's Adam Crafton discuss stories including Arsenal agreeing terms with Manchester City to sign Gabriel Jesus. They are joined by Correspondent James McNicholas to explain what the deal means and our Investigations Writer Joey D'Urso on his piece that looks at the impact & fallout of Arsenal's Visit Rwanda sponsorship. Dom Fifield talks about the news that Petr Cech has left his role as Chelsea technical advisor and reports that owner Todd Boehly met with super agent Jorge Mendes with Cristiano Ronaldo’s future on the agenda - amongst other things of course. Then Matt Slater will be with us to tell us what he learned from his trip to Switzerland to watch the two men who used to run football stand trial.

The Athletic's senior writer Dom Fifield and England correspondent Jack Pitt-Brooke, join host Ian Irving to discuss the impact of a winter World Cup on this summer's transfer window... Why Premier League stars like Gabriel Jesus, Marcus Rashford, Conor Gallagher and countless others might be inclined to 'side-step' or even stay put before November's curtain-raiser in Qatar? The 'unique opportunity' for heads of recruitment to get creative in the loans market and what free-agent Gareth Bale might do next. Plus, the panel also discuss Chelsea Director Marina Granovskaia's exit and the news that co-owner Todd Boehly will fill the role himself on an interim basis!

Ian Irving is joined by The Athletic's Football Correspondent David Ornstein, Manchester City writer Sam Lee & Chelsea writer Simon Johnson to discuss Chelsea's interest in signing Manchester City & England forward Raheem Sterling. We learn how Chelsea's confidence in capturing Sterling has grown, why City are open to letting Sterling leave this summer & consider whether this could see a new trend in the Premier League's top clubs selling players to domestic rivals.

Host Ian Irving is joined by The Athletic's England and Spurs reporter Jack Pitt-Brooke to reflect on a historically bad evening for Gareth Southgate's England against Hungary - Is his relationship with the supporters now broken? David Ornstein is on hand for a mid-week transfer window round-up with Kalvin Phillips to Manchester City, Man United's offer to free-agent Christian Eriksen and Spurs' surprisingly ambitious approach to the market, all on the agenda - Could Conte's Tottenham actually be the biggest threat to both Liverpool and City next season? Plus, Everton writer Greg O'Keeffe details how a consortium led by former United and Chelsea Chief Executive, Peter Kenyon, have proposed a shock takeover.

Ian Irving is joined by The Athletic's David Ornstein & Adam Crafton to detail Liverpool's move for Darwin Nunez plus other transfer lines involving Manchester United, Tottenham on the day Manchester City announce Erling Haaland signing. Also what next for Mauricio Pochettino as he agrees to leave his managerial role at PSG. And our Italian football writer James Horncastle joins the pod to discuss his brilliant piece on the redemption of AC Milan.. With maybe a lesson or two in there for some top English clubs.

Troy Townsend, head of development at Kick It Out, sits down with Kelly Cates and Geoff Thomas to discuss the death of his son Kurtis in a car accident in 2001 and how he and his family coped with the tragedy. Troy is father to six children, including Kurtis and current Everton midfielder Andros, and in this conversation he speaks honestly and emotionally about his relationships with them, and how over twenty years later he is still learning to deal with grief.

In 2016 former Tottenham, Liverpool and England midfielder Paul Stewart made the decision to open up about the sexual abuse he suffered from a youth-team coach when he was a young footballer. For more than 40 years, Paul had done whatever he could to suppress or even erase the thoughts and images that haunted him. In this episode, Paul discusses how it has impacted his life and how he's trying to prevent it happening again. Before you begin this podcast we want to let you know that this episode contains detailed discussion of child sexual abuse and trauma. If you’re a victim of sexual abuse of or have been affected by it and would like to talk to someone confidentially you can call 0808 800 5000,

The Athletic Football Podcast will return on Monday 13th June, but in the meantime we wanted to give you a taste of our new series 'The Moment with Kelly Cates and Geoff Thomas' Kelly and Geoff are joined by Gary Lineker who opens up about his son George's battle with leukaemia as a very young baby, as he reflects upon those days spent with George in hospital in 1992 and the lasting impact they made. Check out the rest of the series, including interviews with Troy Townsend, Luke Chadwick and more, by searching for ‘The Moment’ in your usual podcast provider

Dan Bardell is joined by The Athletic's Adam Crafton & Oliver Kay to reflect on the chaotic scenes which delayed the start of the Champions League final. We hear first hand accounts from fans who travelled to Paris and were caught up in distressing situations. Meanwhile the panel discuss the news that Liverpool forward Sadio Mane is expected to leave Liverpool this summer & Manchester United have announced Ralf Rangnick will not be staying at Old Trafford as a consultant despite his previous agreement with the club.

Hosts Dan Bardell and George Elek are joined by bet365's Steve Freeth to preview the Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid... Do Madrid dare lose this following Mbappe's public rejection? And if Liverpool were to fail, does a season which at one point looked truly historic, become forgettable? Is Mo Salah is really out for some 2018 revenge, why Liverpool's left flank will decide this match and we'll hear from Michael Owen - who sat down with The Athletic's Liverpool correspondent James Pearce earlier this week - to talk about the number 9s: Sadio Mane & Karim Benzema. Later, our trio cast their minds ahead to the start of the next Premier League season and make some early (bold) predictions!

Mark Chapman & The Athletic's Matt Slater host a roundtable on the reasons and ramifications of La Liga filing a complaint to UEFA, the French administrative courts and the European Union over Kylian Mbappe's decision to renew his contract at Paris Saint-Germain despite Real’s attempts to sign him. Their guests are Christian Nourry Managing Partner at RETEXO a sports analytics firm that uses data to match owners to prospective football clubs & works with clubs to market their players more effectively to clubs seeking players with similar characteristics plus David Diaz, a partner at Baker McKenzie Madrid who has extensive experience in sports law in football. He regularly advises Spanish and foreign clubs on the legal aspects of their operations. He also has extensive experience in advising foreign investors with a potential interest in the game. The panel also touch on the takeover of Chelsea - is it a deal that makes financial sense? 

Hosts Dan Bardell and Flo Lloyd-Hughes are joined by Adam Crafton and Dermot Corrigan of The Athletic, as well as, French football writer Tom Williams, to analyse the wider impact of Kylian Mbappe's decision to stay at PSG... The panel detail the eye-watering finer points of Mbappe's new contract, explore Madrid President Florentino Perez' "obsession" with the Frenchman and the state of La Liga, having missed also missed out on Erling Haaland to another 'new money' club in Manchester City. Plus, is it a good idea for Mbappe to have power over big club decisions, who Real Madrid could turn their attention to next and if their Champions League final against Liverpool this weekend just became crucial.