GIANLUCA NANI has returned to Watford as Sporting Director, replacing Cristiano Giaretta.

CHELSEA’S Under-12s won the annual Christmas Truce Tournament for the third straight time as clubs from England, Germany, Belgium and France came together for a flagship commemorative event.

NOWADAYS it's shape, not formation, that matters - and tracking data models make it possible to identify and analyse team shape. In this article, Stats Perform's Jon Manuel uses such a model to look specifically at inverted full-backs in the Premier League.

BIRMINGHAM CITY have brought in two performance consultants linked to Tom Brady to work with their performance and medical teams and “write a philosophy from scratch”.

CHRIS WILDER has brought long-time lieutenants Alan Knill and Matt Prestridge with him to Sheffield United, with Keith Andrews joining as a newcomer to his backroom staff.

NEW Bayern Munich Sporting Director Christoph Freund says “soft skills are absolutely crucial in our assessment of players” and that the club “gather a lot of insight into the players off the pitch.”

PLAYERS employing their own external support staff is one of the hottest topics in elite football. Martin Buchheit says we have to accept that different teams must now work together around players - and explains how they can do so effectively.

WOLVES Sporting Director Matt Hobbs has been handed a one-game suspension and fined £4,000 for calling referee Anthony Taylor “absolutely f****** useless” after the 2-2 Premier League draw against Newcastle United at Molineux on October 28th.

TIM HARKNESS is leaving his role as Chelsea’s Head of Sport Science and Psychology after 14-and-a-half years. The South African has been one of the great survivors at Stamford Bridge, working under a dozen different managers during a period of considerable change.

PERFORMANCE pioneer Tony Strudwick highlights eight key challenges that face the football practitioner of the present and future.

BRISTOL CITY are the leading team in England’s top two divisions this season when it comes to fielding homegrown players. The CIES has ranked teams around the world according to the percentage of domestic league minutes played by ‘club-trained’ footballers during the current season.

ENGLISH football has agreed ‘in principle’ to make reporting of diversity data compulsory from the start of the 2024/25 season, according to Football Association CEO Mark Bullingham.