• Popular winger has died at the age of 71
• James scored 10 goals in 54 appearances for Wales

Former Wales winger Leighton James has died at the age of 71.

James’ former clubs Burnley and Swansea – where he spent 13 years of a colourful 19-year senior career – were among those to pay tribute to a gifted player who won 54 caps for his country.

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• Manager says midfielder asked to leave City two seasons before
• Pochettino confirms Enzo Fernández is playing with a hernia

Pep Guardiola has described Cole Palmer as the “decisive player of the season” and said Manchester City must find a way of negating him in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea. Guardiola also revealed that Palmer asked to leave City for two seasons before making his £42m move to west London in September .

Palmer joined City at under-eight level and made 19 appearances for the club across three years before leaving for Chelsea, and having scored for City in their Community Shield defeat to Arsenal in August, as well as in their European Super Cup victory over Sevilla that followed 10 days later. He will line up against last season’s treble winners as the Premier League joint-top scorer with 20 goals, alongside Erling Haaland, who is a doubt for the semi-final.

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• Dutch club relegated in wake of Guardian and TBIJ investigation
• Documents appeared to show financial ties to Abramovich

The Dutch football association has deducted 18 points from Vitesse Arnhem, officially confirming the club’s relegation, in the wake of an investigation by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) that uncovered apparent financial ties between the club and the Russian oligarch and former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich .

The KNVB, the governing body of Dutch football, said it had imposed the record sanction because the club, formally known as SBV Vitesse, failed to meet the requirements of its licensing regulations.

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• Manager forgives Garnacho and says: ‘We move on’
• Wilcox leaves role as Southampton’s director of football

Erik ten Hag has denied claims of ­factions within his Manchester United squad, while attempting to put a line under a string of recent controversies.

On a day when Jason Wilcox was confirmed as United’s technical director, joining from Southampton, Ten Hag sought to further cool waters after Alejandro Garnacho apologised for the faux-pas of liking a social media post critical of his manager .

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• Club’s losses reduced by property deal with sister company
• Chelsea would have lost £166.4m without hotel sales

Premier League clubs reacted with exasperation after seeing that ­Chelsea eased their financial ­position with the £76.5m sale of two hotels to a ­sister company in a deal that appears to have helped the club avoid a breach of profitability and ­sustainability rules (PSR).

Chelsea’s accounts, published last weekend, revealed the club made a loss of £89.9m in the last financial year. That figure would have been £166.4m without the hotels sale from Chelsea FC Holdings Ltd to Blueco 22 Properties Ltd. Both companies are subsidiaries of Chelsea’s holding company, Blueco 22 Ltd.

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• Arsenal manager says change needed to ‘protect our players’
• Accrington chairman open to boycott if ‘enough clubs’ want it

Mikel Arteta insisted that the scrapping of FA Cup replays was necessary to “protect our players” as Accrington Stanley’s chairman said he would support a boycott of the tournament if there was widespread backing.

As the backlash against the abandonment of replays continued, the EFL said clubs lower down the pyramid were being marginalised. Accrington’s Andy Holt tweeted that it was important to fight the change “with all our might” and said: “I would support a boycott if enough clubs feel the same.”

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Forward, who faces Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday, has managed a debut season goal tally up there with big names

The pure poacher’s instinct. The understanding of timing and angles, the striker’s sixth sense for exactly where the ball is going to be, and exactly what he’s going to do with it. The ball is loose in the penalty area, and as Nicolas Jackson swoops in with the late run his eyes are fixed firmly on the target. Which, alas, is wedged under the arm of his teammate Cole Palmer.

“Next time they’re all out,” Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino fumed after the penalty fracas on Monday night that somehow managed – in true Chelsea fashion – to snatch a PR disaster from the jaws of a thumping 6-0 victory . As for Jackson, the incident with Palmer and Noni Madueke hardened the views of many Chelsea fans against him, which is some considerable achievement in a game where you have also managed a goal and an assist.

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Treble winners turn their focus to becoming the first English men’s club to claim a double-double in FA Cup semi-final at Wembley

Chelsea beware: at 5.15pm on Saturday Pep Guardiola expects Manchester City to show precisely how little sorrow they feel for themselves after being dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid .

The FA Cup semi-final comes 72 hours after Wednesday’s penalty shootout heartbreak and, maybe, too soon for Mauricio Pochettino’s team as a smarting City aim to forget their lost double-treble and take another step in their bid to become the first English men’s club to claim a double-double.

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Wolves captain has relished his journey from university and futsal to the Premier League – now he is targeting a spot at Euro 2024

Maximilian Kilman is reflecting on the days when, long before evolving into one of the Premier League’s most consistent defenders at Wolves, fierce derbies largely comprised playing in varsity matches for the University of Hertfordshire, from which he will formally graduate with a business and sport management degree this September. “I remember Bedfordshire away,” he says, smiling, recalling playing another university. “It was similar to how it is now; the students would be booing, supporting their university, and you felt that rivalry. It was something I really enjoyed, the whole atmosphere and vibe. I am still friends with some of the boys from the uni team. I don’t think anyone expected I would get this far.”

As a teenager Kilman juggled turning out for the university with playing non-league for eighth-tier Marlow and fifth-tier Maidenhead, from whom he joined Wolves six years ago. At university, Kilman starred as a No 10, contributing goals and assists. It was a role he enjoyed a cameo in when Wolves Under-23s earned a comeback victory at Manchester United to pave the way to promotion to Premier League 2 in his first season. After 79 minutes, Wolves, led by Rob Edwards, trailed 2-0 at Leigh Sports Village. “For the last 10 minutes I got thrown up into the attack as a No 10 … I had a tiny say in the game,” he says, typically modest.

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