The Athletic FC Podcast

Hosts Dan Bardell and George Elek are joined by bet365's Steve Freeth as the Premier League returns... The trio assess Crystal Palace's summer overhaul ahead of Saturday's London Derby with Tottenham and ask if Dan James and Marcelo Bielsa are a match made in heaven? Plus, Newcastle's chances of spoiling Ronaldo's return to Old Trafford and Villa's slow start to the new campaign. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Chapman & The Athletic's Matt Slater are joined by Barry Hearn, a man who is a legend in the business of sport, to share what he has learnt in a 40 year career promoting a range of sports including football, boxing, snooker & darts.In a wide-ranging discussion, Hearn compares the running of football clubs to other industries. He also spoke about the pros and cons of gambling sponsorship and how boxing much embrace the evolving new audience that has been attracted to the sport by the likes of social media star Jake Paul & KSI. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosts Dan Bardell and Flo Lloyd-Hughes are joined by The Athletic's Manchester United correspondent, Laurie Whitwell, to discuss 'Article 48' and the 3 o'clock blackout in English football that will prevent many Premier League fans from seeing Cristiano Ronaldo's second debut on Saturday... An outdated idea or a vital one, given the effects of the pandemic on football's landscape? Plus, how illegal streaming and a growing disparity between the biggest clubs, and the rest, may have accelerated the need for compromise?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Chapman is joined by The Athletic's George Caulkin to talk Newcastle United after the club released a lengthy statement attempting to defend their approach to the summer transfer window. George also shares his experience of being at Wembley to watch England amongst the fans.The Athletic's Everton writer Greg O’Keeffe has the latest on the future of James Rodriguez under Rafa Benitez.And The Athletic’s Norwich City writer Michael Bailey will tell us how Daniel Farke has been getting on with his lengthy international break to do list… Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosts Dan Bardell and George Elek are joined by bet365's Steve Freeth to assess an important victory on the road for England. The trio wax lyrical about Raheem Sterling's strength and leadership, as well as, an amazing year for Leeds' Kalvin Phillips and more... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Chapman & The Athletic's Matt Slater follow the money spent during one of most interesting transfer windows in years. To help them make sense of the numbers - over £1 billion in the Premier League - they are joined by Tim Bridge, a director in Deloitte’s Sports Business Group.We are then joined by someone whose job it is to make the deals happen - football agent Erkut Sögüt, whose clients include Mesut Ozil. Erkut explains what it has been like to work in this window and why the importance details in player contracts have come into stark focus. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosts Dan Bardell and Flo Lloyd-Hughes are joined by The Athletic's Spanish football correspondent, Dermot Corrigan, to assess the fall-out from Real Madrid's failed pursuit of PSG forward Kylian Mbappe... Dermot explains the origins of Real President Florentino Perez' 'obsession' with Mbappe, as well as how PSG could afford to reject £180M! Plus, the impact of La Liga's salary cap, the chaos in Barcelona and how well Atletico's Saul Niguez will fit in at Chelsea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Chapman is joined by The Athletic's David Ornstein, Adam Crafton and our Manchester United writer Laurie Whitwell to take you inside the remarkable 24 hours that saw Cristiano Ronaldo go from the verge of joining Manchester City to completing a sensation return to Manchester United.We hear how the like of Sir Alex Ferguson and Rio Ferdinand played a role in turning the tide, we have insight into how Jorge Mendes put the deal together, plus discussion of where this leaves Manchester City after a summer of missing out on top targets in the no.9 department.All this plus updates on Kylian Mbappe's potential move to Real Madrid in the last two days of the window, Chelsea's pursuit of Jules Kounde which now looks unlikely, and we have news of an off-field depature at Anfield as Liverpool's sporting director Michael Edwards looks set to leave the club at the end of his contract. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosts Dan Bardell and George Elek are joined by bet365's Steve Freeth to preview another big weekend of Premier League action... Will Arsenal's renewed self-confidence make a jot of difference against Manchester City? And could Cristiano Ronaldo really be about to sign for the 'noisy neighbours'?Plus, why both Leeds and Wolves' bad luck could all be about to change and who'll come out on top in the heavyweight match-up: Virgil van Dijk v Romelu Lukaku! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Chapman and The Athletic's Matt Slater take a trip north of the border as they are joined by Hibs owner Ron Gordon, who has a fascinating story. Arriving in Edinburgh via a life that started in Peru, passed through Laos with the CIA, before becoming a successful media entrepreneur in the US, he joins us with insight into why he bought the club, the challenges of trying to compete with Celtic and Rangers and his thoughts on the growth potential for Scottish football as a whole.We're also joined by the Rochdale chairman Simon Gauge after a tumultuous few months that has seen the club trying to fend off a hostile takeover by two businessmen, but with the takeover having fallen apart we get an update into exactly what went on and have a wider discussion about the threats many EFL clubs face from potential new owners and the challenges the EFL has in trying to adequately assess the suitability of anyone wanting to buy a football club.And staying with the subject of ownership wrangles, Swindon Town have also been the subjected of a protracted row over who owns the club so we speak to newly appointed CEO Rob Angus for the latest and get some insight into what it's like to go from working in banking to all of a sudden being charged with running a League Two football club. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.