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Liverpool manager Arne Slot blasted Hugo Ekitike for a stupid sending-off after tapping home a winner against Southampton in the League Cup on Tuesday and then removing his shirt in celebration. The Frenchman, who replaced record signing Alexander Isak at half-time, had been booked already for kicking the ball away in frustration and the second yellow five minutes from time left Liverpool defending a 2-1 third-round lead with 10 men.Liverpool captain Andy Robertson told said it was a stupid thing to do when on a yellow card and Slot doubled down afterwards. “I think it’s also stupid if you haven’t had a yellow card yet,” he said.“Maybe I’m a bit old-fashioned, maybe a bit old school, but I did score a few goals – not at this level – as well and if I maybe outplay three players, which I never did, and then hit it in the top corner, then maybe you can say ‘oh, this is all about me.’“But if I had to score a goal like he did tonight, I would have turned around and walked up to Federico Chiesa and would say ‘It’s all about you, Federico. Great assist, great run and I didn’t have to do a lot’. It was stupid, not smart in every sense... he’s now suspended for Saturday and that is far from ideal.”Ekitike later apologised on Instagram: “The emotion got the better of me tonight,” he said. “My apologies to all the Red family...”League leaders Liverpool, with a 100% record so far this season, have a tricky away trip to unbeaten Crystal Palace next in the league. Slot fielded a completely changed starting lineup on Tuesday from the side that played Everton on Saturday, with Isak starting and scoring his first goal for the club.“It wasn’t our best performance, which probably has a lot to do with players that haven’t played for a long time or for the first time,” he said. The manager said Isak would get increasing game time, with Liverpool trying to build him up faster than usual, but did not expect him to be fully up to speed until after the next international break.Club World Cup champions Chelsea suffered an early scare at third tier Lincoln City but came back from a goal down at half-time to win 2-1 with teenager Tyrique George equalising in the 48th and providing the assist for Facundo Buonanotte’s 50th-minute winner.League One (third tier) Cardiff City provided the upset of the eight games on the programme by beating top flight Burnley 2-1 at Turf Moor. Premier League bottom side Wolverhampton Wanderers won their top flight clash 2-0 against Everton, who had James Garner hit the bar with a second-half free kick and Jack Grealish coming off the bench.Paraguayan midfielder Diego Gomez scored four, including a 24-minute first-half hat-trick, as Premier League Brighton & Hove Albion thumped third tier Barnsley 6-0 at Oakwell to reach the fourth round for the fifth time in six seasons. Second tier Wrexham gave their Hollywood owners another home night to savour by beating Reading 2-0, with Nathan Broadhead scoring both – his first for the Welsh side who go through to the fourth round for the first time since 1977.Premier League Fulham beat fourth tier visitors Cambridge United 1-0 at Craven Cottage with Emile Smith Rowe scoring the 66th-minute winner. Championship side Swansea City and fourth tier giantkillers Grimsby Town are already through to the fourth round along with Premier League Brentford and Crystal Palace.

The Premier League’s record transfer summer has had an acute impact on Germany, where even Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich have felt the impact of English football’s growing financial muscle.Other than Liverpool signing Alexander Isak from rivals Newcastle, the top four most expensive Premier League arrivals this summer Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Nick Woltemade and Benjamin Sesko all came from the Bundesliga.A total of 380mn euros (£300mn, $446mn) plus bonuses was paid out on that quartet alone, with the two most expensive moving to the same club: Liverpool.Premier League clubs spent more than three billion euros this summer, a record for a transfer window. The shifting sands have led to debate about whether to pursue major structural reforms in Germany, like abolishing the fan-loved 50+1 rule, which restricts outside investment and ensures member control.Others, however, suggest that clubs could take advantage of the Premier League’s wealth, potentially uprooting Germany’s well-established footballing hierarchy.Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn, the club’s former goalkeeper, slammed German football administrators on Monday, saying that clubs and the league were content to play second fiddle.Kahn called for changes in structure and in attitude.“For many, this is normal now. For me, it’s a signal. The league is playing too safe and has forgotten how to take risks,” Kahn wrote on his personal LinkedIn account.“(The question is) whether we want to remain a league that creates talent and loses it – or whether we want to create the conditions for talents to stay here.”Kahn did not directly call for the abolition of the 50+1 rule, but said that structural restraints meant “bold decisions don’t emerge”.Under the 50+1 rule, German clubs must be majority owned by club members mostly fans thus restricting external investment. The only two clubs which have an exception to that rule, Bayer-owned Leverkusen and Volkswagen-owned Wolfsburg, have won league titles in the past 20 years. Double winners in 2023-24, Leverkusen lost eight members of that team this summer, with five moving to the Premier League.Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes told DAZN this season: “when a domino falls in England, it will fall here. As a club you have almost no choice but to let the player go.”As Europe’s largest nation and a traditional football powerhouse, some view the rivers of Premier League gold as an opportunity.This summer, Borussia Dortmund, Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Stuttgart each sold at least one player to the Premier League for a fee of more than 50mn euros.Rolfes said the “key factor in offsetting the Premier League’s economic advantage” was the “professionalisation of youth academy programmes”.The wealth available has the potential to change a German club’s fortunes.In 2024, Porsche paid 100mn euros to take a minority stake in Stuttgart, providing the side with financial security. Stuttgart qualified for the Champions League in 2024, the first time in 15 years, and won the German Cup a season later. In August, Stuttgart received 85mn euros for Woltemade, who arrived on a free a season earlier.One of Europe’s biggest clubs, even Bayern have not escaped the ripple effects. Despite courting Wirtz and Woltemade, both players moved to the Premier League.Earlier this season, Bayern sporting director Max Eberl said “certain things weren’t possible during the transfer window because we want to be very financially prudent.”Asked at a press conference on Friday to assess the appeal of the Premier League this transfer window, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany gave a one-word answer: “money”.In Germany, Bayern’s woes are unlikely to win them too much sympathy. The growing financial might of the Premier League presents a real challenge to Bayern’s status as the league’s apex predators. Winners of 34 German titles no other side has hit double figures Bayern have built their success on the back of plucking their rivals’ best, particularly in recent seasons.This summer shows competition from the Premier League is making that more difficult.

Alexander Isak was on the brink of a British-record £125mn ($169mn) move to Liverpool from Newcastle Monday on a frantic final day of the Premier League transfer window.The Sweden striker is understood to have arrived at Liverpool’s training ground Monday as a protracted saga neared its end.With the Premier League window due to shut at 1800 GMT, there were a number of big deals yet to be done as clubs scramble to strengthen.Sky Sports reported that Newcastle had agreed a deal to sign Brentford forward Yoane Wissa, while Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was set for a move to Manchester City after being told he was surplus to requirements at Paris Saint-Germain.Struggling Manchester United were understood to have agreed a deal to sign Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens from Royal Antwerp for an initial 21mn euros (£18mn, $24.6mn) as they seek to address their goalkeeping problems. But most eyes will be on the expected finalising of Isak’s move to Liverpool.The 25-year-old has made clear his desire to leave Newcastle even though he has three years remaining on his contract. The Anfield club had a £110mn offer for the forward rejected last month and since then he has not trained with or played for Newcastle.Isak is set to become Liverpool’s eighth first-team signing of the summer window, and his purchase marks the second time that they have broken their own transfer record following the capture of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial fee of £100mn.Arne Slot’s side, who beat Arsenal 1-0 on Sunday to maintain their perfect Premier League record this season, are also reported to have agreed a £35mn deal to sign Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi.Once the Isak and Guehi deals are completed, Liverpool’s summer spending will reach an eye-watering figure of around £450mn, although there have also been significant departures including Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Trent Alexander-Arnold.Newcastle last week signed German international striker Nick Woltemade for a club-record fee reported to be worth up to £69mn.That paved the way for the potential departure of Isak, who scored 27 goals for Eddie Howe’s team in all competitions last season. The Magpies will have further strengthened their attack with the arrival of Wissa, who on Sunday urged Brentford to “keep their word” and allow him to leave.Now it appears that the DR Congo forward, who scored 19 Premier League goals last season, has his wish, giving Saudi-owned Newcastle extra firepower as they prepare for their Champions League campaign.Donnarumma, who won the Champions League with PSG in May, is poised for a move to City, with the Premier League club understood to have agreed a fee of around 35 million euros.Ederson, City’s long-serving Brazilian goalkeeper, is understood to be on the radar of Turkish side Fenerbahce. Man United have endured poor starts to the season from goalkeepers Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir.The club had been linked with Argentina stopper Emiliano Martinez, who was not included in Aston Villa’s matchday squad for their 3-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday.But the 20-time Premier League champions appear to have opted for the potential of Lammens over the experience of the World Cup-winning Martinez.United are also understood to have agreed to sell Brazil winger Antony to Real Betis. Villa were reported to have agreed a loan deal for United winger Jadon Sancho and have also signed former Old Trafford defender Victor Lindelof on a free transfer. Sancho has flopped since making a £73mn move to United from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 and spent last season at Chelsea on loan.Villa are also expected to tie up a loan deal for Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott. Chelsea signed Brighton winger Facundo Buonanotte on a season-long loan.The 20-year-old spent last season on loan at Leicester, scoring five goals in 31 Premier League appearances.Tottenham have reportedly agreed a season-long loan deal to sign PSG striker Randal Kolo Muani.