pulling out of the game after receiving racist and misogynistic abuse.
“I think we covered it last night, I took questions on it … the situation is the situation … but Bunny’s back with us today, she’s OK, she trained with the team,” Taylor says. “I don’t really want to give any more airtime to this horrible issue. There’s no place for it in any walk in life, in anything that we do.”
On the victory that sets up a League Cup final with Chelsea, who they will also face in the Women’s Champions League, Taylor says: “Last night was a really good performance, perhaps better than I expected – I think we were dominant, we were the better team. I think we stepped up when they equalised, the mentality was really strong.”
Next up for City is a home Women’s FA Cup tie against Leicester on Sunday. “I think we’ve stood up to the challenges of this season well, we’re in a Cup final which is amazing, and have a chance to reach a quarter-final on Sunday.”
Aston Villa signed Donyell Malen from Borussia Dortmund for an initial £20m among five new January additions, but the forward has been omitted from their squad for the remainder of the Champions League.
UEFA rules state that clubs can only register a maximum of three new players for the knockout stages … and those spots have gone to Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Axel Disasi. Andres Garcia – who arrived from Levante in January – also misses out.
Unai Emery said: “It wasn’t a good decision that I had to take but I spoke with Andres and I spoke with Donyell to tell them the decision.”
ifa’s International Transfer Snapshot.
According to the report – composed by the Miami-based Fifa Legal & Compliance Division – a total of 5,863 international transfers were recorded in men’s professional football in January. This is the highest-ever figure for any January window and almost 20% higher than the previous record from January 2024.
A total of $2.35bn was spent by clubs on international transfer fees, which is also a new all-time high for any January window. The amount is 57.9% higher compared to January 2024 and 47.1% higher than the previous record from January 2023.
New records were also set in both categories in women’s professional football. $5.8m was spent by clubs on international transfer fees, the highest ever in any January window and more than twice the previous record (+180.6%) from January 2024. Some 455 international transfers were recorded in the women’s professional game, up 22.6% compared to the previous record from January 2024.
In men’s football, clubs in England led the way by spending $621.6m on transfer fees. The top five was completed by clubs in Germany ($295.7m), Italy ($223.8m), France ($209.7m) and Saudi Arabia ($202.1m). Meanwhile, clubs in France received the highest amount in transfer fees ($371.0m), followed by clubs in Germany ($226.2m), England ($185.2m), Portugal ($176.4m) and Italy ($162.0m).
Brazil came out on top for the most incoming transfers (471), followed by Argentina (265), Portugal (207), Spain (200) and England (190). The country with the highest number of outgoing transfers was Argentina (255), with Brazil (212), England (211), the United States (188) and Portugal (170) rounding out the top five.
Clubs in England were the top spenders in women’s football too ($2.3m) and they also made the most incoming transfers (39). Meanwhile, January 2025 was the first-ever transfer window to witness transfers with fees of more than $1m in women’s professional football.
withdrew from Thursday’s League Cup semi-final, which City won 2-1 at Arsenal, to look after her mental wellbeing in the wake of the abuse. On Tuesday City said: “Discrimination of any kind, either in stadiums or online, will not be tolerated and has absolutely no place inside or outside the game. The club offers our full support to Bunny following the disgusting treatment she’s received.”
Time to get out the rattle, the Bovril and the whippet. It’s the FA Cup.
Who is Nico Gonzalez? Good thing we have Will Unwin to tell us what’s what.
Why did Ruud not stay on as interim and wait for Ruben Amorim to come in for the summer?
Who can stop Liverpool?
Let’s start with last night. Well done, Liverpool. Though perhaps the key quotes comes from Ange Postecoglou.
Ange Postecoglou continues to live under immense pressure; a route to silverware now closed off, his team struggling in 14th place in the Premier League. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance to take the opportunity which is probably more disappointing,” the Spurs manager said. “I would have liked us to play more like who we are. There is a lesson in there for us that if we veer away from that it almost becomes impossible for us.
“I think they understood the opportunity. When the reality of it out there hits you, it’s a bit different to maybe what you envisioned in your head. Our intent was to play the same way we play every week. We were trying to put pressure on them and unsettle them but it never really materialised. We didn’t have conviction when we had the ball either, which allowed them to get control of the game.”
Further bad news: Ange has to given another press conference today.
Good morning, football. Sore heads all round after a week of Carabao. How sore is Daniel Levy’s head. We await news of Ange Postecoglou, though surely he will be given Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Aston Villa. Lose that, and, well, let’s see.
It’s the FA Cup fourth round, and that means there’s football spread around the weekend, starting with Manchester United hosting Ruud van Nistelrooy and Leicester. Those who like their romance will be looking to Leyton Orient v Manchester City as Saturday’s early kick-off. Saturday-night special: Brighton v Chelsea. Plymouth v Liverpool on Sunday is followed by Frank Lampard’s Coventry taking on Ipswich. We go as far as Monday night: Doncaster Rovers v Crystal Palace.
Plus, the Women’s Champions League draw. That’s at midday UK time.
All that and plenty of news flying around. Join me for the morning load.
Source: theguardian.com
