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Everton are expected to start discussions with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford about a new contract that they hope will allow him to stay there for the rest of his playing career.

Since leaving Sunderland for £30 million in 2017, he has made 322 appearances, breaking the British record for a keeper.

Before the takeover was finished in December, Everton had endured a turbulent few seasons.

Despite managerial sackings, financial rule violations, and points deductions, Pickford has had a significant impact in keeping Everton’s Premier League status.

With James Tarkowski and Jarrad Branthwaite signing a new five-year contract in July, manager David Moyes sees Pickford as crucial part of his side.

In terms of England keepers, Pickford has won 76 caps, coming in behind only Peter Shilton.

Pickford has reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 finals.

Although it is disputed, James Trafford’s transfer from Burnley to Manchester City may have eclipsed Pickford’s record signing fee.

The Women’s Super League returns on Friday with Chelsea seeking to win a seventh successive title – will anyone stop them?

Sonia Bompastor’s side finished 12 points clear of Arsenal last season, but with a busy transfer window behind them the Gunners will hope to be closer challengers.

London City Lionesses are embarking on their debut campaign in the top-flight, while there have been a number of managerial changes over the summer, including at Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham.

Some of our pundits and presenters predicted their top three for the 2025-26 campaign, making their picks made before deadline day.

Having won six WSL titles in a row, it’s hard to look past Chelsea.

I was concerned by injuries in their frontline – Mayra Ramirez will be out until January following hamstring surgery, while Lauren James is also missing for a few weeks.

But they spent big money to bring in United States forward Alyssa Thompson on deadline day to sort that issue.

Arsenal have always been capable of winning the title but have lacked consistency and were miles off it at the start of last year.

They will be very close this time around off their back of their Champions League success but they need to turn that belief into ruthlessness.

Manager Renee Slegers has proven her pedigree and if anyone can get that out of them, it is her. But I think Chelsea still have an edge.

Under new manager Andree Jeglertz, Manchester City have made it clear they want to be challenging for the title and returning to Champions League football.

They have fallen behind in recent years with their lack of silverware but when they have a fully-fit squad, they have played some of the best football.

I need convincing they can compete with Arsenal and Chelsea but I see no reasons why they can’t qualify for the Champions League.

While Manchester United have added some quality in Sweden internationals Julia Zigiotti and Fridolina Rolfo, plus England midfielder Jess Park in the transfer window, they lost Grace Clinton and look short in depth in areas.

I hoped to see more ambition over the summer to prepare them for Champions League football, especially when you look at the business done by other clubs around them.

Perhaps a wild prediction to place a newly-promoted side so high up in the table but London City Lionesses are not your average club.

They broke the world-record transfer fee to bring in France international Grace Geyoro for £1.4m on deadline day, having triggered a release clause of £430,000 for young Spanish international Lucía Corrales earlier that day.

Their squad is full of players with Champions League and WSL experience. On paper, it is one that could challenge the top four.

Another club who have shown ambition in the window is Everton under new ownership The Friedkin Group.

They will be playing at Goodison Park this season which can only be a good thing and under manager Brian Sorensen, they have a clear identity on how they want to play.

Brighton made strides last season under manager Dario Vidosic and they have added more talent in the transfer window.

But the loss of experienced England international Nikita Parris was a blow and I still think they need time to allow their relatively young squad time to progress.

It’s been a very unsettling six months for Liverpool since the departure of former manager Matt Beard.

They fell behind in the summer when Gareth Taylor’s appointment as permanent head coach was delayed by contractual issues from his time at Manchester City and that meant they were scrambling around for new signings to add depth.

In the end, they did some good business on deadline day, bringing in Risa Shimizu on loan from Manchester City and making Alejandra Bernabe’s move from Chelsea permanent, giving them much-needed depth in full-back areas.

It’s hard to judge where Aston Villa are at because they were so disappointing last season but I don’t think they will have the same struggles this time around.

They have made some shrewd signings in the transfer window with England youth international Lucia Kendall among a group of talented youngsters.

Rehanne Skinner did a good job last season at getting the best out of her squad and West Ham showed more consistency.

It was a better transfer window for the club too as they managed to keep hold of their big-name players, such as top-scorer Shekiera Martinez.

Plenty of Tottenham fans are concerned about their squad going into the new season and I can see why.

It was a disappointing transfer window with defender Toko Koga and forward Cathinka Tandberg the only additions.

New manager Martin Ho is a highly-regarded coach and had a successful time at former club Brann but he has his work cut out this season.

Like Tottenham, the depth in Leicester City’s squad is a concern .

They sacked manager Amandine Miquel just 10 days before their WSL season opener against Manchester United.

A flurry of late arrivals in the final 48 hours of the transfer window has helped them but I don’t think there is enough quality in the squad to compete consistently.

Raheem Sterling’s performance in the Euro 2020 final was widely regarded as England’s best player just four years ago.

However, he was a bench more for Manchester City the following season and was later sold to Chelsea, their first major signing since their new owners.

This action hasn’t been successful.

Sterling, age 30, will now spend a season at Chelsea in exile, which will likely contribute significantly to the impasse.

Sterling relocated his young family while signing a five-year, £35,000-per-week contract in 2022.

Todd Boehly, who at the time served as Clearlake Capital’s sporting director, made the $ 50m transfer out of a statement of intent.

Sterling’s issue has been that the club’s leaders are no longer in charge of such a significant deal.

Boehly had less of an impact, but Thomas Tuchel served as Sterling’s head coach.

Sterling spent his first two seasons playing for the club, which included 81 goals and 81 assists as Chelsea finished 12th and then sixth, followed by Graham Potter, Frank Lampard, and finally Mauricio Pochettino.

However, when Chelsea realized Sterling’s first-team position was no longer necessary two years into his contract, Enzo Maresca, the new manager, made the decision to leave.

The earliest we can expect to see the England international play first-team football once more is in January, unless the Blues and Sterling reach a resolution regarding a severance package for the £30 million contract.

That scenario seems to have a small chance.

The London club is currently reportedly reluctant to offer any additional funds. He doesn’t seem to be willing to let Chelsea get away with their agreement.

Both positions have some comprehension.

Sterling will continue to play for Chelsea’s “bomb squad,” which currently includes only Axel Disasi and David Datro Fofana.

After the international break, Sterling is eager to learn more about how his future at Chelsea will look in isolation.

Chelsea’s bomb squad life is not particularly lavish. It is a lonely existence because the first-team facilities are only used sparingly.

Why hasn’t a pedigree member of Sterling’s family found a new home?

Unquestionably, the financial aspects are significant.

Sterling should either be left at Chelsea or should it be his responsibility to give himself the opportunity to prioritize playing first-team football?

Depending on who you speak to, the response is different.

You could assume Sterling had a vision for Chelsea as a potential remedy.

According to sources, Sterling’s emphasis was on the club, with the club’s stated desire to move him on during the transfer window.

Due to his lack of action under Mikel Arteta and the growing evidence that Arsenal would not look to make the loan deal permanent last season, Chelsea has not been in the position to take the blame at the last minute.

You would understand if Sterling thought Chelsea should not prioritize his future.

He prefers to reside close to London. Sterling wants to avoid further dithering his family life because his son Thiago attends Arsenal’s academy.

Sterling, however, did not enter the transfer window with an open mind. He was agreed to take into account any opportunity Chelsea presented, as long as it was beneficial to both parties.

Sources claim that Chelsea brought Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus to the top of the table. Sterling’s desire to remain close to his family predominated, despite his interest.

The London clubs that were sounded out included Fulham, Crystal Palace, and West Ham, but those options never materialized.

Chelsea understand Sterling’s disapproval of his decision to move his family for a second time in three years.

However, Chelsea believed Sterling’s wages limited the choices they had, especially given his desire to remain close to London.

However, it is important to point out that Sterling’s wages are not the be all and end all because he has rejected much more lucrative moves to the Saudi Pro League in the last year. This is a fact that needs to be taken into account.

Indeed, his sudden arrival at Arsenal last season served as a warning.

Given that everything happened on deadline day, he had little time to think about the decision.

It didn’t go as well as he had anticipated, and Sterling was eager for more reflection before any potential moves this summer.

He is said to keep reporting to training and acting professionally until a solution is discovered, according to sources.

Sterling finds himself in the same spot after the window has closed, and Chelsea continues to pay his wages.

Due to injury, England’s defenseman John Stones has withdrawn from the squad for the next two World Cup qualifiers.

The 31-year-old, who arrived at the training camp with a “muscular issue,” which has not improved, is not in his best interest, according to manager Thomas Tuchel.

This season, Stones has started each of Manchester City’s three Premier League games.

Tuchel stated, “He left camp this morning with minor issues and didn’t advance as we thought and hoped he would.”

“Everyone else is here,” the saying goes. We trained 21 players yesterday and 21 players today, so we can hopefully have 21 more available tomorrow.

Other centre-back options for Tuchel include Marc Guehi, Dan Burn, Ezri Konsa, and Jarell Quansah.