Football news live: Premier League latest, Euro qualifier updates and more

In a statement following the Premier League's referral, Leicester said they are “surprised at the actions the Premier League has taken".

"The club is extremely disappointed that the Premier League has chosen to charge LCFC now, despite the club’s efforts to engage constructively with the Premier League in relation to the matters that are the subject of this charge, even though LCFC is not currently a Premier League club.

“LCFC remains willing and eager to engage constructively with the Premier League and the EFL to seek the proper resolution of any potential charges, by the right bodies, and at the right time. The club continues to take careful advice about its position and, if necessary, will continue to defend itself from any unlawful acts by the football authorities, should they seek to exercise jurisdiction where they cannot do so, as occurred earlier this year.

See full statement below...

Leicester City have been referred to an independent commission by the Premier League for an alleged breach of profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

The alleged breach comes in the three-year reporting period which ended in the 2022-23 season, which saw Leicester relegated from the Premier League after an eight-year stay.

It has been anticipated that Leicester were facing a charge for their alleged breach since earlier this month.

More details below

Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka has withdrawn from the England squad as a precaution.

Saka, 22, was named in Gareth Southgate’s initial 25-man squad last Thursday but will now return to Arsenal for the remainder of the international break. Southgate’s squad remains at 25 after Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo was added on Tuesday, having previously been called up to the Under-21s.

"Bukayo Saka has left the England camp and returned to his club for continued rehabilitation," an England statement read. "The Arsenal forward reported to St. George's Park with an injury and has been unable to participate in training."

Georgia are 1-0 up against Luxembourg in the first of today's first Euro play-off semi-final, with five more games kicking off at 7.45pm GMT (3.45pm ET):

• Wales vs Finland
• Poland vs Estonia
• Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Ukraine
• Israel vs Iceland
• Greece vs Kazakhstan

Nottingham Forest, Wolves and PSR are the main focusses on that latest episode of The Athletic FC Podcast ⬇️

The German national team is ending its long-standing partnership with Adidas and has signed a deal that will see Nike make its kits from 2027.

Adidas last signed an eight-year contract with the Germany Football Federation (DFB) in 2018, meaning the men’s 2026 men’s World Cup will be one of the last times the German team’s kit is manufactured by the country’s most famous sportswear company.

During Adidas’ partnership with Germany, which has spanned more than seven decades, the team has won four men’s World Cups, three men’s Euros, two women’s World Cups and eight women’s Euros with the collaboration responsible for many iconic shirts during the 1980s and 1990s.

The DFB’s contract with Nike will run until 2034. “We are grateful to be able to look forward to an economically stable future again as an association thanks to Nike's commitment,” DFB treasurer Stephan Grunwald said.

“The award to the future supplier partner Nike is the result of a transparent and non-discriminatory tender,” DFB chairman Holger Blask added.

“Nike made by far the best economic offer and also convinced with its content vision, which also represents a clear commitment to the promotion of amateur and popular sports as well as the sustainable development of women's football in Germany.”

More details below

Bayern Munich honorary president Uli Hoeness says the club are "working" on recruiting Xabi Alonso as the club's new head coach, alongside Liverpool and Real Madrid.

The Athletic has reported the Bayer Leverkusen head coach is on Liverpool's list to succeed Jurgen Klopp, while Bayern Munich are also targeting him with Thomas Tuchel stepping down in the summer.

Carlo Ancelotti extended his Real Madrid contract until 2026 in December.

"Clubs like Liverpool, Real Madrid, Leverkusen and FC Bayern are working on it," Hoeness told Ran Sport.

"He's proven that he can be a coach for the big time. There are hardly any coaches who come into question who are currently free, who don't have a job or who are on sabbatical.

"It's not so easy to tell them that FC Bayern is the measure of all things."

Alonso, whose Leverkusen side sit 10 points clear of Bayern at the Bundesliga summit, represented Bayern, Madrid and Liverpool as a player.

An FA Youth Cup winning footballer with Liverpool was jailed today for 13 years and three months, after admitting his role in a cocaine conspiracy that involved South American cartels.

Jamie Cassidy, aged 46, represented England at youth levels before being called up by Terry Venables to train with the senior national side ahead of the 1996 European Championships.

He was arrested in 2020 with his older brother after the French intelligence service infiltrated the EncroChat messaging service.

It was established that in March and April of that year, Jonathan Cassidy, now aged 50, arranged for the smuggling of 356kg of cocaine into Liverpool from the Netherlands.

The haul, with a street value of £28m, was then distributed across the north of England by Jamie Cassidy, who was paid a wage for a “managerial” role that involved collections and deliveries.

Jonathan was considered the senior figure in the operation and he was jailed for 21 years and nine months, while co-conspirator Nasar Ahmed (51) from Bury, who dealt with the money, was also sentenced to 21 years and nine months.

In his autobiography, Jamie Carragher suggested his former teammate in the Liverpool youth system “would have been a certain regular,” in the first had he not suffered two serious injuries.

After leaving Liverpool in 1999, he joined Cambridge United in the third tier of English football before slipping briefly into the non-league system.

Three days after the end of the Premier League season on May 19, two of its clubs, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, will meet in a friendly at the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Tottenham and their head coach Ange Postecoglou, who began his playing and management careers in Melbourne, will then fly the 10,000 miles (16,000km) back to the UK afterwards — but Newcastle will stay to play a second friendly there, meeting the domestic A-League’s All-Stars select side two days later at the city’s 53,000-seat Docklands Stadium.

Is the friendly a good idea? Jacob Whitehead explains below

Real Madrid and Jorge Mendes, Andriy Lunin’s agent, have begun talks for the 25-year-old goalkeeper’s renewal.

Lunin’s current contract runs out in 2025, as by The Athletic reported in December. Until then it was understood to end in 2024, as the club had not announced a renewal since the Ukrainian’s signing in 2018, when he signed for six seasons.

Negotiations are still at an early stage, but Real Madrid wanted to make it clear to Lunin that they count on him and that their intention is for him to renew. The goalkeeper will have to analyse what to do when he has the definitive proposal, but he has always been in favour of staying according to sources with knowledge of his thinking.

The plan is that there will be more clarity about what will happen in the next few months, as the board does not want Lunin to enter the final year of his contract without having renewed.

When Takehiro Tomiyasu’s name is mentioned, certain words tend to follow. Those who know him talk about personality traits including determination, seriousness and shyness, but also of physical characteristics — his height and his smile.

Asked for his first impression of the Japan international, who has just signed a new two-year contract with an option of a further year at Arsenal, manager Mikel Arteta said: “His presence. Physically, he looked much bigger than on TV because when we signed him I didn’t have the chance to meet with him in person.

"It was a good first impression. Then, he’s got this positive energy about him. He’s always smiling and his eyes are transparent, clear and honest.”

Art de Roche on the Arsenal defender...

Barcelona head coach Xavi will serve a two-match suspension after his red card against Atletico Madrid.

The former Spain international was sent off in the first-half of the 3-0 La Liga win at the Wanda Metropolitano.

He will now not be on the touchline for La Liga games against Las Palmas on March 30 and Cadiz on April 13.

He will be eligible to return for the Clasico against Real Madrid on April 21.

Among all the chaos, goals and eventual glory of Manchester United’s 4-3 win over Liverpool was Mason Mount.

The 25-year-old played the last 15 minutes of extra time, touching the ball four times in a helter-skelter finale.

It was the midfielder’s first appearance since a mid-November victory over Luton Town, as a handful of injuries have seen him miss 26 games this season. He has only played 641 minutes for Erik ten Hag’s side in 2023-24.

Carl Anka on the England international's return...

“I walked down the stairs in the stands and people were shouting at me saying, ‘You are useless. You don’t even play, you just do commercials’. I felt a bit dead inside.”

Sebastien Haller is reliving the moment when Ivory Coast’s fans in the Alassane Ouattara Stadium turned on him following their 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea in the group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations.

It was a humiliating result that left the hosts on the brink of elimination. An ankle injury meant Haller had not played a single minute at the tournament but as the team’s talisman, he bore the brunt of the fury.

The Athletic's full interview with Haller is available below