Archive June 1, 2025

In Game Six of the Eastern Conference finals, the Indiana Pacers defeated the New York Knicks 125-108 to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000.

Pascal Siakam recorded 31 points and three blocked shots in Indianapolis on Saturday, continuing his impressive form to earn the title of MVP of the series.

The Pacers won the series 4-2, and Siakam scored more than 30 points in three of those victories.

The NBA Finals, which begin on Thursday, will pit the Pacers against Oklahoma City Thunder, who recently won the Western Conference.

After a bad game five, Siakam, a nine-year veteran who won the title with the Toronto Raptors, “we wanted to bounce back,” and I have faith in my teammates to the fullest. We always find a way to get where we’re going when we’re down, which we did tonight.

Siakam said, “That year was my third year, I was this young kid,” recalling his time as an NBA champion. I anticipated returning it would be simple.

Because I am aware of how difficult it is to get here, I now appreciate it even more.

Coach Rick Carlisle of Indiana said, “So deserving. The guy has been a consistent force all year.

Obi Toppin added 18 points off the bench while Tyrese Haliburton added 21 points, 13 assists, and three steals for the hosts.

It’s a special feeling to work with this group, Hamilton said. Last year, we were on the same page, but we were not. We fought our tails to return to this place.

As the Knicks struggled after conceding 18 turnovers, OG Anunoby led the team with 24 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns added 22.

The Pacers led 25-24 in the first quarter before increasing their lead to four points by the second half.

One season may have just finished but the football does not stop, with the Club World Cup beginning on 14 June and a new mini transfer window now open.

Before the competition officially begins in the United States, all clubs have been given a 10-day window to sign players, not just those competing in the revamped tournament.

The market then closes again and reopens from 16 June.

Before the Club World Cup, Real Madrid already made the most of the opening window by acquiring Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The Reds ‘ own attention will be on a new Premier League campaign that is just 75 days away.

Which clubs will be able to spend the money on squad building this summer, and who is walking a tight profit-sustainability path?

PSR limits clubs to losses of £105m over three years, with that amount reduced by £22m for each season a club are outside the top tier of English football during the cycle.

Some costs, such as those associated with the women’s soccer team, the academy, the community, and others, are not included in the calculations.

While Arsenal have not lifted a major trophy since winning the FA Cup in 2020, last term marked the third consecutive season in which they have finished runners-up.

The Gunners also advanced to the semi-finals of the Champions League and Carabao Cup, and the pressure is mounting.

With a £51m move for Real Sociedad and Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi in the pipeline, manager Mikel Arteta seems intent on addressing his side’s shortcomings early.

A source of contention among supporters should also be that he has plenty of money available to him to finally bring in a prolific center-forward to help Arsenal win in competitions.

Record revenues of £616m in 2023-24 are likely to be exceeded thanks to the expanded Champions League format and extra broadcast revenue, while the sales of homegrown duo Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Nketiah in the past 12 months brings about £50m of pure profit.

Arsenal, the most profitable club in Premier League history, could easily spend more than $ 200 million in the window without having any PSR concerns, Maguire claimed.

Aston Villa’s situation appears less hopeful now that they haven’t qualified for the Champions League.

The club made a loss of £206m in the two years to 30 June 2024 and, with the £100m departure of Jack Grealish in 2021 dropping away from their PSR figures, backing Unai Emery will be far from straightforward.

The success of last term’s passage to the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite club competition, along with Douglas Luiz, Jhon Duran, and Moussa Diaby’s sales, undoubtedly contributed.

But the Midlands club has spent more than £900m since returning to the Premier League in 2019, exceeding Uefa’s 70% revenue to wages ratio every season.

Without any outgoings, Villa appears to be in the low end of the £50-100 million spending range, according to Maguire.

Meanwhile, Newcastle look well equipped after reaching the Champions League at Villa’s expense.

Liverpool should be even stronger this time around thanks to Arne Slot’s leadership of the Premier League title last term.

With Federico Chiesa the only incoming transfer for a modest £10m last term, they have already signalled their intent this summer by signing Netherlands international Jeremie Frimpong, with Germany midfielder Florian Wirtz a £109m target from Bayer Leverkusen.

Since 2019, Liverpool haven’t been among the top ten parties to spend money on player signings, but their business model is a classic example of being smarter than bigger, Maguire said.

“Contract extensions for Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk are arguably worth far more to the club than a huge investment in untried new players – they certainly have the capacity to spend £200m but whether that fits with their model is another matter”.

The depiction of a financial crisis at Manchester United appears to have been overstated by part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe about 40 miles across the M62.

United had the highest EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) profit of any Premier League club, as well as the second highest revenues in 2023-24.

Despite their poor pitch performance, the club’s day-to-day operations only add to its appeal at the turnstiles to sponsors and broadcasters.

Despite missing out on Champions League football and the additional riches it provides, by losing to Tottenham in the Europa League final, Wolves forward Matheus Cunha is seemingly set for a £62.5m move to Old Trafford.

Although United wanted to purchase 30 million Ipswich forward Liam Delap, they chose Chelsea, and their next move may depend on how many players they want to sell out.

Chelsea’s ability to maintain their lavish outlay on players comes with an asterisk attached.

Delap will join midfielders Kendry Paez and Dario Essugo, winger Estevao Willian, goalkeeper Mike Penders, and defender Mamadou Sarr when the Blues start pre-season with a value of around £1.4 billion.

Sporting winger Geovany Quenda, 18, is already signed on for the following year.

However, the Premier League’s decision to sell their women’s team to parent company BlueCo for £198.7 million, a move that ultimately resulted in the wider business making money, may determine how they will bolster their ranks.

“If this is accepted by the Premier League, then Chelsea would have significant spending flexibility and another £200m is a possibility”, added Maguire.

“They may have to sell before buying,” he said, “because it is excluded, things will be much more difficult.”

The cloud hanging over Manchester City is in the shape of 115 charges of alleged Premier League financial rule breaches.

The club is confident that they will be fully exonerated despite the fact that the outcome could result in a fine, a transfer embargo, a wage cap, or a points deduction.

“City could spend a further £200m this summer unless there is a negative result to the charges”, added Maguire.

With an 11, 379-capacity capacity at the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth have the lowest matchday revenue in the Premier League.

Yet they have recruited shrewdly and the big-money sales of Dominic Solanke and Dean Huijsen during 2024-25 means they could easily part with £100m to bring in new signings.

According to Maguire, Brentford are among the best-run companies in the league, and their strategy of “spotting players that other clubs have not taken into account, such as Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, is likely to pay more dividends because they are attracting attention from clubs with big budgets,” adds Maguire.

“The Bees have no PSR concerns and could spend up to £200m, but are unlikely to break the bank for the sake of it as this is not the way that owner Matthew Benham conducts affairs at the club”.

In addition, another club on the south coast, Brighton, is in poor health as of the start of the transfer window.

The Seagulls have earned £200m in profit over the previous two seasons and could repeat last summer’s heavy spend of more than £200m if necessary.

However, CEO Paul Barber has already stated that they will likely stick to their tried-and-true strategy of bringing in players from unfamiliar markets.

Having been in the Championship for two years out of the past three, Burnley may need to be conservative with their PSR loss limited to £61m.

The Clarets are the only Premier League team to have made a single player purchase before exceeding the £20 million mark, aside from Sunderland.

The Black Cats ‘ return to the top flight via the play-offs comes with the knowledge they will be able to reinforce significantly for the step up in class that awaits.

With Sunderland in good financial shape, Enzo le Fee’s loan move from Roma in January featured an obligation-to-buy clause, which could help the French midfielder kick-start a recruitment drive.

“Since being relegated from the Premier League in 2017, Sunderland have not spent more than £10m in a single year on player signings, despite receiving parachute payments, and they have only made losses of £18m in the last two seasons”, added Maguire.

Leeds, who came out on top of the second tier, are in a less fortunate position.

“They will have to box clever in terms of recruitment”, continued Maguire.

“One marquee signing is certainly possible, especially with some players out of contract, but the chances of a series of big names is less likely”, added Maguire.

“Unless there are exits, a spend of £50-£100m is the ballpark.”

Fulham will likely find themselves with a little more in their budget, although the fact that their wages to revenue ratio is at 85% is a cause for concern.

A £100-150 million additional player investment is possible, according to Maguire, who has owned Shahid Khan extensively in the past and who has worked under manager Marco Silva to woo new players.

Elsewhere, Nottingham Forest’s qualification for Europe next season is great for fans, even if the Conference League may not necessarily swell their accounts.

Teams in that competition only receive 9% of the prize money, compared to a champions league team’s 74%, in comparison.

The club have a top-10 wage budget, after establishing themselves back in the Premier League, and funds to meet the extra demands of a first European adventure for 30 years.

Tottenham will be able to grow, but they will still be owed more than £330 million in unpaid transfer fees, the majority of which will be due in the summer of 2025.

This may prove the biggest constraint to spending for their Champions League campaign next season.

After finishing 14th overall, West Ham boss Graham Potter is unsure of what needs to be done this summer.

The Englishman has already said he wants to trim and lower the age of his squad and should have room to manoeuvre if the owners elect to back him.

Over the past two seasons, Wolves have suffered significant losses, but successful player sales have helped to offset these losses.

For the third year running, we’ve been looking at which football stories engaged our audience the most during the season across the BBC Sport website and app.

The average length of a story was based on the amount of time it took to read it thoroughly, as well as a quality ratio, which prevented the list from becoming one with only our longest pieces.

For the first time, rather than a single list, we’ve grouped the content into different strands to make it easier for you to pick out the pieces of most interest, but each list is in no particular order.

We’ve added a separate list at the end to show our most-read content for this season, so you can see which matches have been the most popular. We’ve also omitted content that has since been dated by news events.

‘ I was close to dying in car crash ‘

West Ham forward Michail Antonio reflected on his nearly fatal car crash in a March interview with the BBC.

‘ The cash came up to my torso ‘ – tales of a match-fixer

Moses Swaibu was one of Crystal Palace’s brightest prospects as a youngster, but he ended up working for a shady company based on money, danger, and fixing rather than football’s spotlight.

The air crash and the underdogs – a triumph for Zambia’s lost generation

A two-decade story that both revealed a nation’s soul and delivered triumph as unanticipatedly as it did disaster.

‘ I’d still be playing in the Premier League if I had behaved ‘

Before his off-pitch behavior attracted more attention than his talent on it, Nile Ranger was a £10, 000-a-week Newcastle United “wonderkid” with the world at his feet.

‘ I was effectively homeless after getting sacked ‘

Casey Stoney, the ex-england captain, describes how she and her family have rebuilt after being fired by the San Diego Wave.

The life, loss and legacy of Kevin Campbell

The former Arsenal and Everton striker’s tragic passing is discussed by Wayne Rooney, Andrew Cole, Tyrese Campbell, and others.

‘ I signed Barcelona deal – then had a stroke at 24 ‘

Six months after joining the England squad that won the World Cup final, goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck suffered a stroke.

The man who saved Wembley Stadium

How Arthur Elvin transformed from a tobacco kiosk worker to restoring Wembley Stadium’s historic site after 30 years of operation.

‘ Being misunderstood when you’re younger is so difficult ‘

Lucy Bronze, a defender for Chelsea and England, opens up about her autism and ADHD diagnosis for the first time.

‘ I want to be the best player in the world one day ‘

Why and how Martin Odegaard struggled at Real Madrid before joining Arsenal.

The Norway international arrived in Spain as the wonderkid everyone wanted, but he left more than five years later having made just 11 appearances.

The prince who remained in power.

As the world’s most expensive player returned to his boyhood club Santos, BBC Sport looked back at Neymar’s time with Barcelona and PSG.

How Thomas Tuchel transitioned from a barman to a three-lion.

The new England manager has been set the challenge of winning the World Cup in 2026, but how did he get to this point?

Sampdoria’s rise and fall

After a golden age in the 1980s and 90s, Sampdoria have now been relegated to Serie C for the first time – where did it all go wrong?

Virgil van Dijk’s creation

BBC Sport looks at how the 33-year-old centre-back recovered from early setbacks to become one of the best in the world.

Paul Mullin’s whereabouts?

He has been Wrexham’s leading scorer for the past three seasons but could not find a way into Phil Parkinson’s promotion-winning squad.

How Bordeaux, the French giant, came to be in the fourth tier

After handing in their licence as a professional club, the French side geared up for a “chaotic new reality”.

“Manchester United’s struggles are difficult to watch.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer met up with BBC Sport in Istanbul shortly before his Besiktas side faced Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.

How Scott McTominay rose to fame at Napoli

Former Manchester United midfielder, Scotland international, Napoli title winner, Serie A’s Most Valuable Player. Scott McTominay is him.

‘ Controversial but a winner ‘ – who is Evangelos Marinakis?

What’s the future of football, Corner Chicken & Rory Delap 2.0?

New tactical ideas still flood into the league but nothing has emerged as the next great theory. Still, that did not prevent us from considering what might occur…

Embracing the chaos – breaking down Bournemouth’s rise

BBC Sport examined how the Cherries have handled the situation as Bournemouth battled for a European place in the Premier League this year.

Why Pep Guardiola’s tactics stopped working

In light of the rise in quick-fire football, BBC Sport examines why the Manchester City manager’s possession-focused tactics no longer work as well.

How Arne Slot has reinvented Liverpool since Jurgen Klopp

Since the current Reds manager’s arrival, BBC Sport has a closer look at some of Liverpool’s subtle tactical adjustments.

Arsenal’s ‘ dark arts ‘ – was there a case to answer?

We examine the tactics employed by Arsenal in their fiery meeting in light of claims made by Manchester City players Kyle Walker and John Stones to be “dark arts.”

How the role of a goalkeeper changed

The modern keeper has evolved from playing a crucial role in a team’s attack to keeping the ball out of their net.

Four tactical lessons we learned from Thomas Tuchel’s first games

Despite disappointing victories over Albania and Latvia, England’s manager has indicated that a more in-depth tactical plan is in the works.

The slow death of the screamer

Inside Erik ten Hag’s tumultuous time at Manchester United

With the beleaguered club calling time on the Dutchman’s reign as manager, Simon Stone looked back at yet another troubled period for the club.

Why do Chelsea keep a large number of young players in stock?

A Uefa report says Chelsea have spent almost £1.7bn in transfer fees in the five-year period to 2024. They continue to spend, though.

How does Daniel Levy run Tottenham – and would he ever leave?

BBC Sport examined the club’s management and potential future as Spurs struggled in the league and the chairman faced criticism from fans.

Could Wrexham really reach the Premier League?

Will the Hollywood-owned club, which has received three successive promotions, reach the top?

‘ A calamitous season for club at a crossroads ‘ – what next for relegated Leicester?

The Foxes made a full comeback from their 2023 defeat in the Premier League. This time their short-term future is far less certain.

Why are Newcastle United considering stadium options?

As talk about a stadium move for the Magpies intensifies, BBC Sport looks at why the club are weighing up the options.

Self-doubt, mistakes, and significant changes at Manchester City are the subject of an internal crisis.

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague takes a look at the issues affecting Pep Guardiola’s side – and the potential solutions.

Marcus Rashford and Manchester United’s agonizing divorce

After 20 years at Manchester United, the forward left for Aston Villa, leaving many questions and few answers.

Four crucial concerns must be addressed by Everton’s new owners.

The Friedkin Group have taken over Everton – what are the key areas they need to immediately address at the club?

When Ramon Diaz assumed the role of Oxford United’s fourth-tier icon.

Premier League ticket price rises: How much do clubs make from fans?

Football fans can have a tribal feeling. But when it comes to ticket prices, there is unity.

Who is the most valuable t-shirt that football players swap out for?

Shirt swapping has long been a tradition in football, but what exactly do players do with the shirts they acquire?

When a manager moves back to his former club, does it work?

After David Moyes returned to Everton, BBC Sport looked at whether managers have enjoyed success in their second spells at clubs.

What does the rainbow gesture in football mean when there isn’t unity?

What does the rainbow armband controversy tell us about football &amp, LGBTQ+ rights?

Liverpool may have won the league, but they must rebuild with significant signings.

Arne Slot’s side must still rebuild with major signings despite winning the title, says BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty.

Did Dan Ashworth have to pay the price for the subpar performances of Manchester United?

BBC sports editor Dan Roan and chief football news reporter Simon Stone look at what led to the sporting director leaving his role after just five months.

What is required to pass the agent exam at Fifa?

BBC Sport’s Nick Mashiter sets out to pass Fifa’s agent exam – and speaks to those in the industry about what it takes to enter their world.

What’s happening to Jack Grealish, exactly?

After the highs of winning the Treble, Jack Grealish has fallen out of favour at Manchester City – but what has gone wrong?

What happens when managers publicly criticize their own players?

After Ruben Amorim publicly criticised Marcus Rashford, BBC Sport looks at other examples of managers calling out their players.

Why does “The Godfather” of PSR want clubs to spend more money?

Based on the number of unique visitors to each football story this season, these five pages were the most popular across the BBC Sport website and app.

1. Europa League final: Tottenham 1-0 Manchester United (21 May)

2. EFL Cup final: Liverpool 1-2 Newcastle (16 Mar)

3. FA Cup final: Crystal Palace 1-0 Manchester City (17 May)

4. Premier League: Everton 2-2 Liverpool (12 Feb)

5. Premier League: Liverpool 5-1 Tottenham (27 Apr)

The following selections are based on both editorial and viewing data:

Sir Alex

Phenomenal talent, unwavering passion and a will to win. Friends and foes on the incredible career of Sir Alex Ferguson – Britain’s most decorated football manager.

How to become a champions league champion

Locker room tales from Real Madrid’s revolution, Liverpool’s 2019 title run and Jose Mourinho’s triumphs reveal what it takes to be crowned kings of Europe.

Which football-inspired ball is the best for a flight test?

Nedum Onuoha tests the different types of footballs used in the men’s top-flight.

The Big Interview features Alexander Isak and Alan Shearer.

Newcastle United’s star striker Alexander Isak sits down with club legend Alan Shearer.

Anthony Elanga at Nottingham Forest on the verge of greatness

The following selections are based on a mix of listening figures and editorial selections:

The Manchester City Charges are playing football on trial.

Clive Myrie tells the football story of the century: the Premier League v Man City.

Giants in the sport

How Sir Alex Ferguson’s working-class origins shaped British football’s most successful manager.

Desert Island discs

Football manager Gareth Southgate shares the soundtrack of his life with Lauren Laverne.

The Tooney and Russo Show

England goalkeeper Mary Earps takes over the reins as the host to ask your questions.

Confessions of a Match Fixer: Sports Strangest Crimes

Moses Swaibu has the makings of a top-flight footballer – until temptation comes his way.

How Ronaldo, Firmino, and Toney are assisting Saudi teams to dominate in Asia

Are Saudi Arabia clubs now starting to dominate in Asia? Investigates World Football.

Match of the Day: Top 10

The Champions League XIs Alan and Micah choose.

In Focus – Gary Lineker speaks to Arne Slot

Since taking over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer, the Liverpool manager discusses his accomplishments so far.

That Season When: Blackburn won the League

Kelly Cates recalls Blackburn’s famous title victory in 1995 with the aid of Sir Kenny Dalglish, Chris Sutton, and Alan Shearer.

72+ with Aaron Paul &amp, Jobi McAnuff – The Neil Warnock Special