The Briefing: Ronaldo hints at retirement, transfer latest and more

Cristiano Ronaldo drops retirement hint

Cristiano Ronaldo has hinted that he will retire from football at the end of the 2026/27 season. The legendary Portuguese striker gave an exclusive to Vogue about his wedding to Georgina Rodriguez, where he outlined that his motivation is to leave a “spectacular legacy”.

The 41-year-old will want to bow out on a high and there is a specific milestone he’s hoping to reach before hanging up his boots: scoring 1,000 career goals.

At the time of writing, he’s hit the back of the net 976 times, as per BBC Sport, so it’s certainly achievable. Match last season’s 28-goal haul in the 2025/26 Saudi Pro League campaign, and he’ll write his name into the history books again.

Of the 976 goals he’s netted, 103 (10.6 per cent) have come in the Premier League, across two spells with Manchester United between 2003 and 2009, and again between 2021 and 2022.

Manchester United’s all-time Premier League top scorers

Player Goals Wayne Rooney 183 Ryan Giggs 109 Paul Scholes 107 Cristiano Ronaldo 103 Ruud van Nistelrooy 95

He’s Man Utd's fourth highest all-time Premier League goalscorer. During his first stint at Old Trafford, Ronaldo lifted the Premier League three times, the EFL Cup twice, and the Champions League and FA Cup once.

To reach 1,000 goals would be a fitting end to a trophy-laden career for one of the Premier League’s greatest ever players.

A weekend of departures at Spurs

Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham Hotspur revolution has gathered pace in recent days. Over the weekend, Cristian Romero, Spurs' club captain in 2025/26, left for Atletico Madrid, while Djed Spence moved to Inter Milan. Guglielmo Vicario is now set to follow Spence back to Serie A, with various outlets reporting he is set to join Juventus on loan.

Vicario’s impending exit marks a huge shift from their UEFA Europa League winning squad in May 2025. Spurs have changed manager three times in the 15 months since defeating Man Utd in Bilbao, while six of the 15 players used by then boss Ange Postecoglou have now left the club.

Son Heung-Min swapped London for Los Angeles, joining LAFC last August. Europa League hero Brennan Johnson moved across the capital to Crystal Palace in January, and has since joined Premier League rivals Everton with Dwight McNeil moving the other way, while Yves Bissouma left at the end of his contract this summer.

Could Bouaddi join Man City?

Numerous media outlets, including BBC Sport, report that Manchester City are in talks to sign Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi from French side Lille. The teenager shone for the Atlas Lions at the 2026 World Cup.

After the loss, Maresca confirmed that City will be busy in the transfer window before it closes. “We knew already before the game the things that we need to do [in the transfer window],” the Italian said. “It is not because we lost the game.

“We are quite clear. For sure, we are going to do something before the transfer window closes.”

Over the weekend, Lille head coach Davide Ancelotti acknowledged Bouaddi is in demand.

“Of course, there are negotiations. Many clubs are interested in him,” Ancelotti, the son of former Chelsea and Everton head coach Carlo Ancelotti, said. “He's a very, very good player and I hope he'll stay with us.”

Rogers names three Chelsea legends he looked up to

Morgan Rogers marked his Chelsea debut with a goal in their 3-1 pre-season win over La Liga side Real Sociedad. It took just 10 minutes for the Blues’ new boy to open his account following his arrival from Aston Villa.

“Chelsea is a club that wants to win things,” the 24-year-old told Sky Sports. “It's a club that I've always grown up watching win titles, win Champions Leagues and I want to be in teams that do that as well.

“The players - the [Eden] Hazards, the [Didier] Drogbas, the [Frank] Lampards coming through when I was growing up watching football. It's a massive team and they were always winning and competing for titles and I want to be in teams that do that here.”

Chelsea get their Premier League campaign up and running in a week’s time when they make the short trip across west London to take on rivals Fulham.

Alisson delivers verdict on Liverpool’s new signings

Liverpool fans watched summer signings Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo up close for the first time during their 2-0 win over Serie A side Como on Sunday.

Jacquet’s move to Anfield was confirmed earlier in the year, the Frenchman joining from Rennes. Araujo, meanwhile, arrived from La Liga giants Barcelona on a season-long loan earlier this month.

Each played 45 minutes on Sunday, with Jacquet on hand to score Liverpool’s second shortly before the break. Both will compete to start in front of goalkeeper Alisson, who delivered his verdict on the pair following the pre-season run out.

“Both of them played really, really well,” Alisson stated. “Jeremy had a great first half, great on the ball, great defending and controlling the space in behind and in front of him as well. A great performance.

“Ronald as well had a really good game in the second half. It is really good to have a strong centre-back to help the team in depth as well. That's what we need if we want to compete for trophies this season.

“That's what we want, that's the mentality of Liverpool players. Playing alongside Virgil (van Dijk) I think is a great thing for them as well."

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