On the day before the Women’s Super League deadline, London City Lionesses signed Paris St-Germain midfielder Grace Geyoro for a £1.4 million world record deal.
Lucia Corrales, a teenage Spain international, was paid around $430,000 to bring her in from Barcelona, along with the release clause.
When the clubs confirm Geyoro, London City will have made 16 permanent signings during a busy summer, when wealthy American owner Michele Kang showed she was willing to invest in her side.
Following London City’s late move for the France international in the window, Geyoro’s anticipated arrival adds more stardust to an impressive squad.
The agreed fee is lower than the £1.1 million ($1.5 million) that Orlando Pride paid last month to Tigres UANL for Mexico winger Lizbeth Ovalle, which was the highest sum ever paid for a player in the women’s game.
The 28-year-old Geyoro, who has 103 caps for France, was a key player for PSG and has since spent much of her senior career there, gaining valuable experience in the Champions League.
She scored twice in France’s four matches at Euro 2025 and reached the quarter-finals, making her one of the most exciting midfielders in Europe.
Corrales, 19, signs for London City on a four-year deal after making her full debut in Spain in March but being dropped for Euro 2025.
Corrales made her Liga F and Champions League debuts in the 2022-23 campaign before going on loan at Sevilla last season. She was one of the first female graduates of Barcelona’s renowned La Masia academy.
Images courtesy of Getty
Statement signings raise questions.
London City are the first women’s football team to join the WSL without any affiliation with a men’s club and point to a potential new direction in the sport.
The club operates in female sports markets and attracts independent sponsorships with Kang as president.
The Lionesses were able to create a new structure with a board full of facilities designed specifically for women’s football.
Kang benefited from investing in player salaries and transfer fees as a means of negotiating.
Moving to Geyoro is a remarkable statement of intent, as they broke the second-tier transfer record last year when they signed youngster Izzy Goodwin from Sheffield United for a six-figure fee.
A top-notch midfielder like Geyoro will elevate the team and make other teams notice how committed London City is to the market.
PSG, one of the other clubs owned by Kang, is weakened by the addition of its weakening factor, which is a significant rival to Lyon.
Expectations and pressure are likely to rise for London City manager Jocelyn Precheur, who previously worked with Geyoro at PSG.
Since joining the club in 2024, he has dealt with a high player turnover, and he is aware of the club’s unmistakable ambitions to win the Champions League.
London City Lionesses are a powerful addition to the WSL, a side who threatens to disrupt the regular order, for the neutrals.
The Women’s Football Weekly podcast returns for another season featuring Ben Haines, Ellen White, and Jen Beattie. On the Women’s Football Weekly feed, you can find interviews and additional content from the Women’s Super League and beyond as well as new episodes that are available every Tuesday on BBC Sounds.
After an 18th-century painting was recovered from one of their properties, authorities in Argentina have opened a criminal investigation into the daughter of a former Nazi official and her spouse.
The investigation, which will focus on Patricia Kadgien and Juan Carlos Cortegoso, whose father was the fugitive Nazi officer Friedrich Kadgien, was announced by the prosecution on Thursday.
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In the late 1970s, the elder Kadgien passed away. After leaving Germany at the end of World War II, he spent his final decades there.
He is said to have brought valuable artworks, including those by Dutch artist Jacques Goudstikker, with him.
According to the meticulous records he maintained, Goudstikker had amassed a collection of nearly 1,400 pieces.
But Hermann Goring, a Nazi official, sought to seize the artwork for himself, made use of it. Goring’s financial advisor was the older Kadgien.
Giuseppe Ghislandi, an Italian portraitist well-known during the Baroque and Rococoque eras, is unknown how Kadgien acquired the painting Portrait of a Lady.
The large portrait of the Contessa Colleoni holding a book and gloves hasn’t been seen in a while. Only black and white images of the artwork, as far as researchers were aware, managed to survive.
As the Holocaust erupted in Europe, Goudstikker was forced to sell a large number of his works to Nazi officials.
The art dealer fled a genocide that would cost at least six million Jews, as well as millions of prisoners of war, dissidents, LGBTQ people, and those with disabilities in May 1940. He would ultimately pass away in a fall on board the SS Bodegraven.
Since then, Goudstikker’s heirs have been pursuing the recovery of his collection.
At a press conference in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on September 3 [Christian Heit/AP Photo]
Portrait of a Lady, which was initially lost, suddenly reappeared last month as a result of online sleuthing.
The late Kadgien’s dealings with the Nazis were the subject of a real estate listing that Algemeen Dagblad had recently discovered for his daughter Patricia Kadgien.
Portrait of a Lady was depicted in a listing that was arranged above a couch of green velvet.
The journalists released their findings on August 25, and shortly thereafter, police in Argentina raided the Mar del Plata residence.
However, it was impossible to locate the painting. Authorities instead reported finding other 19th-century paintings that they thought might be Nazi-looted artwork.
Where Portrait of a Lady was once taken, a tapestry was discovered hanging. Meanwhile, it appeared as though the real estate listing had been deleted.
Since then, Patricia Kadgien and her sister have been searched for several properties. The painting’s recovery was finally announced on Wednesday.
On September 4, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, Patricia’s husband, appears at a hearing [Jose Scalzo/Reuters].
However, during the hearing on Thursday, it was revealed that Kadgien, 59, and Cortegoso, 62, were being sued for trying to cover up their relationship.
Despite being “aware that the artwork was being sought by the criminal justice system and international authorities,” prosecutor Carlos Martinez claimed the couple had hid the painting. He claimed that that was a form of obstructing the justice system and concealing.
According to Martinez, “they only turned it in after a number of police raids.”
Patricia Kadgien and Cortegoso were briefly placed under house arrest on Monday, but that was changed to a 180-day travel ban and a requirement that they must obtain court approval before leaving.
This week, a couple’s attorney reportedly requested that the couple sell the painting, but that request was turned down by the couple.
Meanwhile, Martinez informed journalists on Thursday that Goudstikker’s heir Marei von Saher had already reached out to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to arrange the return of the painting.
He explained that the Buenos Aires Holocaust Museum’s Portrait of a Lady request had been made by the prosecution.
Inter Miami forward Luis Suarez has apologised for his behaviour after spitting at a member of the Seattle Sounders’ coaching staff following his side’s 3-0 Leagues Cup final defeat.
“It was a moment of great tension and frustration, where right after the match things happened that shouldn’t have happened, but that doesn’t justify the reaction I had,” he wrote on Instagram.
“I was wrong and I sincerely regret it.”
The incident happened shortly after the full-time whistle, following a melee involving both sets of players and sparked by the Uruguayan.
Moments later, the 38-year-old was involved in an altercation with a Sounders staff member and was held back by team-mate Oscar Ustari before appearing to spit in the coach’s direction.
“I feel bad about what happened, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to acknowledge it and apologise to everyone who felt hurt by what I did,” added Suarez.
Speculation has circulated about the extent of any punishment he may face but Suarez added he wants to aid Inter Miami’s push to make the MLS Cup play-offs.
“We know there’s still a lot of the season ahead, and we’re going to work together to achieve the successes that this club and all of its fans deserve,” he wrote.
Suarez is no stranger to controversy.
The former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid striker has been involved in several controversial incidents during his career.
In 2011 when at Liverpool, Suarez was given an eight-match ban after being found guilty of racially abusing Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra.
Luis Suarez, an Inter Miami player, apologized for his behavior after spitting at a Seattle Sounders coach following their team’s 3-0 League Cup final defeat.
He wrote on Instagram, “It was a very high level of tension and frustration,” where things started to happen that shouldn’t have, but that doesn’t justify my reaction.
“I regret it sincerely and have been wrong.”
Following a melee between the two players and the Uruguayan, the incident occurred shortly after the full-time whistle.
The 38-year-old was involved in a fight with a staff member for the Sounders moments later, and teammate Oscar Ustari held him before obstructing the coach’s spit.
Suarez remarked, “I feel bad about what happened, and I didn’t want to miss the chance to apologize to everyone who felt hurt by what I did.”
Suarez added that he wants to help Inter Miami’s push to reach the MLS Cup play-offs despite speculation about the potential punishment he might receive.
We are working together to achieve the successes this club and all of its fans deserve, he wrote.
Suarez has never been in a row.
The former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid striker has participated in a number of contentious incidents throughout his career.
Suarez was found guilty of racist abuse of Manchester United full-back Patrice Evra at Liverpool, and he was given an eight-game suspension in 2011.
Go Kyoung-min, a nurse at Severance Hospital in Seoul, discovered a new sense of balance in her life in the first half of this year.
Go frequently felt bad about not having enough time with her children because of work because she was the mother of twin daughters born in 2021.
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However, Go was able to spend more time with her family, attend daycares she had previously missed, and rely less on her in-laws for childcare after choosing the four-day workweek that her employer offered.
Severance is the first hospital in South Korea to offer a four-day workweek to its staff in an effort to improve their work-life balance.
Some hospital employees are permitted to take three days off per week in exchange for a 10% salary reduction under the program, which was introduced in 2023 following a labor-management agreement.
Staff members alternate between six-month rotations and return to a five-day week.
In a report about the trial released last month, the Korea Worker Institute-Union Center claimed that the program appeared to have improved nurses’ health and wellbeing, improved the quality of medical services, increased organizational efficiency, and reduced turnover rates.
According to the report, there was a decrease in turnover among participating nurses who had no more than three years of experience, from 19.5% to 7%.
During the trial, the average sick leave for employees decreased by one day, while the average sick leave for wards increased by 0.7 days on five-day weeks.
Go claimed that having a four-day workweek helped her be more focused and compassionate with her patients as well as improving her work-life balance.
“I work in a critical situation on the pancreatobiliary ward.” The workload is thus increased. I think I can spend more time listening to patients and giving them more responsibility, she said, according to Al Jazeera.
When their grandparents picked them up from daycare, my children were content, they used to think they were lucky. But they anticipated my presence once more when I did it.
On August 11, 2025, Go Kyoung-min (left) discusses the results of a pilot work-day workweek at the Severance Hospital in Seoul, South Korea. [Courtesy of the Severance Hospital Labour Union.
In a nation known for its long working hours, where being late is frequently seen as a sign of good behavior, Go’s experience is unusual.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), South Korean workers worked an average of 1, 865 hours in 2024, which is higher than the OECD’s 1, 736 hours average.
They put in 248 more hours than their Japanese neighbors, who were in the opposite situation.
Shorter work hours are becoming more common in the private sector as longer workdays become a commonplace.
For the past several years, some businesses, particularly IT companies and startups, have been trying four-day or four-and-a-half-day workweeks.
Samsung Electronics, SK Group, and Kakao, one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates, have started programs that offer employees regular breaks of a full or half-day.
Lee Jae-ho, 42, a father of two who works for Kakao VX, a sports and health technology company, has benefited from one of these programs, which gives him one free day off each month and places him on rest for an additional 1.5 hours.
According to Lee, having fewer days off does not necessarily mean less efficiency.
According to Lee, “When I have a Friday off or work shorter hours, I adjust my schedule in advance,” reducing my workdays’ productivity.
I can recharge, have dinner with my family, and work on my growth and interests.
Since Lee Jae-myung’s victory in June as president of South Korea, the push to reform the workplace has gained momentum.
By 2030, Lee pledged to introduce a four-and-a-half day workweek and reduce working hours below the OECD average during his campaign.
Lee reiterated at a press conference in July that working fewer hours and reducing productivity was unsustainable.
According to Lee, “we have fought more based on quality than quantity.”
On July 3, 2025, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung delivers a speech at a press conference at the Blue House in Seoul.
After previously offering employees every other Friday off, Cafe24, South Korea’s top e-commerce solution provider, started a full four-day workweek in July. The company also kept pay and overall hours.
The first pilot project of a four-and-a-half-day workweek without wage reductions among local governments was launched in Gyeonggi Province in June, which is located close to Seoul. It will continue until 2027.
By providing financial assistance to cover the increased labor costs, the program, which will run until 2027, encourages small and medium-sized businesses and public institutions in the province to experiment with shorter working hours.
Concerned about the proposed working week reduction, some experts and business leaders have voiced their concerns.
According to Kwon Young-sik, director of human resources at Yonsei University Health System, the parent organization of Severance, permanently switching to a four-day workweek would cost roughly 100 million won ($720) per ward in labor costs alone.
At a recent event where the labor union of Severance presented the results of the pilot program, Kwon claimed that “over the past three years, about 1.2 billion won have been spent on labor costs.”
On August 11, 2025, Kwon Young-sik addresses an event announcing the results of a pilot workweek that spans two days at Severance Hospital in Seoul, South Korea. [Photo courtesy of the Severance Hospital Labour Union.
For a four-day workweek to be sustainable, Severance’s general director Lee Kang-young stated at the same time that institutional and financial support would be “absolutely necessary.”
If a four-and-a-half-day workweek became the norm, Park Nam-gyoo, a professor of business at Seoul National University, said he would be concerned about productivity and wage disparities.
South Korea’s economy depends on exports. If it doesn’t manage to stay competitive globally, Park said. “It faces an uncertain future.”
He argued that the nation’s slow economy, low birthrate, and challenges to global competitiveness must all be taken into account.
However, Go and Lee’s employees want others to experience the advantages they have.
“There were no drawbacks at all,” he declared. I feel bad for my colleagues who couldn’t participate because it was a pilot program, which meant there were only a few people in my situation. Beyond that, Go added, “it ran smoothly without any operational issues.”
Ezri Konsa, the club’s defender, claims financial constraints “killed” the Aston Villa team during the summer transfer window.
The only significant permanent move for Villa was made in early August when they signed Nice striker Evann Guessand for $ 26 million and $ 4 million in add-ons.
After that, they only added Unai Emery to their squad on transfer deadline day, after selling academy player Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle United for $ 40 million.
As they navigated spending restrictions, they signed free agents Victor Lindelof and Harvey Elliott of Liverpool, as well as Jadon Sancho of Manchester United and Jadon Sancho of Liverpool.
If Villa didn’t have a positive transfer balance by the end of the summer transfer window, they could have been fined by Uefa in July for breaking the financial rules of the European governing body.
In addition, the Birmingham club must adhere to the PSR, which states that clubs cannot report losses of more than £105m over a three-year reporting cycle.
Villa finished sixth in the Premier League last year, trailing only Newcastle United in goal difference, which would have prevented them from clinching fifth place and Champions League qualification.
Villa spent £57.5 million and recouped £47 million before running out with a £10.5 million surplus, according to FootballTransfers.com, making them the third-lowest investment in the top flight this summer.
Konsa said, “We’re going to have to deal with what we have now.”
“That transfer deadline day was definitely not something I watched.” It’s been difficult, especially for us.
I didn’t consider signing players until transfer deadline day because I knew it would be challenging for us.
“I went to Villa’s social media accounts around eight o’clock to check out what had happened. I saw that three players with Premier League experience and excellent performances were signed.
That’s what we needed, in my opinion.
In their first three games this season, Villa have only managed one point, which was earned in a goalless draw against Newcastle.
Konsa is optimistic that after the international break, they can turn around their fortunes.
I think our squad is excellent, and I think so. He said, “I think our manager is good.
