UFS 08 01 26

The Underdog Football Show Big transfers, big news Hey, hey, oh Every rumor Every move The Underdog Football Show Every league, every goal Hey, hey, oh Every story To be told The Underdog Football Show Welcome to the Underdog Football Show. I'm Chris Horvidell. This week, club football has officially taken the microphone back. The World Cup afterglow is giving the MLS a measurable lift. The Women's Africa Cup of Nations has already delivered one of the shocks of the year. FIFA has turned the commercial future of the World Cup into an international governance crisis. And the transfer window has given us everything from Chelsea buying another centre-back to Bologna and Roma essentially exchanging strikers. We're also going to take a quick trip down the English Pyramid to Rotherham where one of English football's strangest ghost grounds may finally be disappearing. Let's start in Charlotte, where the MLS All-Stars beat Liga MX All-Stars 4-3. Sun Yung-min scored twice in the first half, capped in the MLS side and earned MVP honours. It felt like the league displaying exactly what it hopes the post-World Cup version of the MLS can become. Recognisable stars, a big crowd and enough attacking looseness that defending occasionally becomes a priority. The business numbers may matter even more. Commissioner Don Garber said MLS ticket sales have increased 62% following the World Cup while ratings for recent matches have risen between 40 and 50%. That's the real test now. A World Cup can create a six-week soccer party. The MLS has to turn that into people caring about a Saturday night game in August. And there are some very good games this Saturday. Unlucky Rebel enter Miami or minus 152 at home against Columbus with over 3.5 goals at minus 108. Vancouver are minus 105 against LAFC and Cincinnati minus 112 against San Jose in a match carrying a split total of 3.5 and 4 goals. The market is expecting goals almost everywhere which feels appropriate for a league whose all-star game just finished 4-3. Now to the Women's Africa Cup of Nations where Malawi walked into their first ever tournament match and beat Nigeria 3-2. And not just Nigeria. 10-time champion Nigeria. Defending champion Nigeria. A team that had previously never lost to a WAFCOM debutee. Temwe Chwinga scored twice including the decisive goal in the 5th minute of stoppage time. Her sister Tabitha Chwinga scored Malawi's other goal. Nigeria did pull one back through Rashibat Ajibade and scored again through Ochenekono in the 9th minute of stoppage time. But Malawi survived. That's why an expanding tournament can be worthwhile when the new teams are ready. Malawi did not arrive as some ceremonial participant. They arrived with two of the best attackers in African football, played without fear and immediately created a national football memory. Morocco also started strongly at home following a 4-1 win over Kenya with a tense 1-0 derby victory over Algeria. But Malawi beating Nigeria is the result that changes the tournament's temperature. Everybody now knows the champions can be hit. Now the biggest general football story this week is FIFA and somehow it has nothing to do with the match. FIFA president Gianni Infantino is pushing a special proposal called FIFA Forward Enterprise. A new vehicle that would control World Cup commercial rights and sell a minority stake to private investors. FIFA says it could generate an additional $10 billion for its 211 member associations and insists the investors would have no operational role. The reaction has been extraordinary. All 55 UEFA associations voted unanimously to boycott FIFA tournaments if the proposal proceeds. The Asian Football Confederation and CONCACAF have also condemned the process though neither has announced the boycott. Carlos Cordero, one of FIFA's senior advisors resigned and called the plan a bad deal for football. The concern is not only that private capital would own part of the World Cup's commercial operation. It's that the investor obligation would become permanent. More tournaments, more games, more high-yield events and more pressure to make every decision serve a financial return. Then, in the middle of all of this, leaked information showed that FIFA had commissioned an accelerated study into expanding the 2030 World Cup to 64 teams. As if we didn't already know that was the goal. Football people use the phrase, this changes the game forever far too often. But this actually might. If UEFA is genuinely prepared to withhold European countries from FIFA competitions, this isn't administrative noise. It's a fight over who the World Cup belongs to and what it's allowed to become. Now let's go further down into the EFL and talk about Rotherham United because the story of Millmore is fascinating and a little sad. Football was first played at Millmore in 1907 and Rotherham United remained there until 2008. It was tight, it was loud, old, and deeply imperfect. More than 25,000 people could squeeze in at its peak, with the Tivoli end becoming the section supporters remembered most affectionately. Then the club left after ownership and stadium negotiations broke down. Rotherham spent four years playing at Don Valley Athletic Stadium in Sheffield before moving into the New York Stadium in 2012, barely half a mile from Millmore. But the old ground never completely died. For years it's remained in this strange state of suspended animation. The goals stayed, much of the signage stayed, the unfinished main stand exposed to the weather since 2007 stayed. It looked less like a demolished stadium than a match day where everybody had gone home and simply never returned. Then, Millmore came back to life. Restoration work in 2024 allowed local junior teams to play there, and the Doncaster Rover Bells later used it for senior football. For a brief period, a ground abandoned by its professional club became useful again. Now, Rotherham Council have conditionally approved demolition covering the administrative buildings, press box, unfinished main stand, Tivoli stand, terraces, part of the Millmore lane stand, the floodlights, and other football buildings. The site's new owner says the structure is in poor condition and the cost required to restore them would be unrealistic. The reason this story matters is that old grounds aren't merely property, they're living, breathing memories for a lot of fans. And you hate to see them go. Every supporter has a staircase, a turnstile, a view partially blocked by a post or a place where they stood with somebody who isn't here anymore. New York Stadium may be better in virtually every practical way, Millmore is still the place generations of Rotherham supporters see when they close their eyes and think about the team. Sometime very soon, one of England's great ghost grounds may finally stop being a ghost. Before we get to transfers, let's talk about the Premier League a little bit. Lucky Rebel has Arsenal at plus 175 to win the league, Manchester City at plus 275, Liverpool at plus 550, Chelsea and Manchester United both at plus 750, and the Spurs next at plus 2200. So the market sees a very clear Arsenal city top. Liverpool remains within reach and then two clubs with enough talent to make everybody nervous, but enough uncertainty that nobody wants to trust them completely at this point. There's also a fun trophy market that I was looking at. Lucky Rebel has Arsenal at minus 200 to win at least one major trophy, Man City at minus 125, Liverpool at even money, Man U at plus 150, and Chelsea at plus 250. It's kind of a useful way to frame the season. Arsenal are no longer being judged on whether they're good, they're being judged on whether good produces silverware again. At the other end of this, the promoted club market is brutal. Lucky Rebel makes two of Hull, Ipswich, and Coventry being relegated even money. All three going down is plus 260 while only one being relegated is plus 250. Individually, Hull are minus 500 with Coventry and Ipswich both minus 135. The financial and competitive gap between the Premier League and the Championship isn't merely a talking point anymore, it's built into the market before anybody's even kicked the ball. Now to transfers, and the biggest confirmed move of the week is Maxence Lacroix joining Chelsea from Crystal Palace. Lacroix's 26th has signed through 2032 and arrives after making 98 appearances for Palace. He helped the club win the FA Cup, Conference League, and Community Shield before making his France debut and appearing at the World Cup. The interesting part is the profile. Chelsea have spent years buying the future. Lacroix is a player for now. Premier League tested, extremely quick, strong in the air, and old enough that development isn't even the main argument. Chelsea are also close to adding Danny Welbeck. Sky Sports reported that a fee's been agreed upon with Brighton and Welbeck has permission to complete a medical. He's 35, scored 13 Premier League goals last season, the best league return of his career. Good for him at 35. That would represent a major philosophical shift. Welbeck isn't a spreadsheet asset or even a 7-year resale project. He's an experienced striker who can press, occupy center back, survive physically, and help a young dressing room. Quite frankly, Chelsea deciding that adults might be useful is one of the more interesting tactical developments of this summer. And the Lucky Rebel top scorer market shows the problem every challenger is trying to solve. Erling Haaland is minus 155. Alexander Isak is plus 1,000. Joao Pedro is plus 1,200. Igor Thiago is plus 1,400. Benjamin Shashko is plus 2,200. And Viktor Jokaresh is plus 2,500. Every striker has a story. The market sees Haaland standing on a completely different floor. One of my favorite moves this week isn't in England. Bologna have taken Artem Dovbik from Roma on loan through June 2027 with an option to buy, while Roma have permanently signed Santiago Castro from Bologna. It's almost a striker exchange, but the profiles are completely different. Dovbik is 29, a former La Liga golden boot winner who needs a reset after injuries in an uneven spell at Roma. Castro is 21, has scored 22 goals in 105 Bologna appearances, and represents the developmental bet. Bologna are acquiring proven penalty box power without immediately committing to the full cost. Roma are buying age curve, movement, and upside. Same market, same position, opposite idea. That's much more interesting than simply reading out which club paid the larger fee. The MLS also gave us three smart moves at very different stages. Vancouver signed Canadian striker Kwesi Poku from RWDM Brussels. He's 23, 6'3", came through Toronto FC's academy, won two Canadian Premier League titles with Forge, and returns home after two seasons in Belgium. He also played fullback for Canada's under-20 team, which is a useful reminder that developmental pathways are rarely as clean as the graphics make them look. Colorado signed Youssef Maziz from OH11. Maziz previously recorded 9 goals and 7 assists in 50 matches for Mets and helped them earn promotion to League 1. Austin promoted Jorge Elastway from its second team after 19 goals and 8 assists in 39 MLS Next Pro appearances. None of these is a giant fee signing, all three of them make sporting sense. Poku gives Vancouver a young Canadian striker with European experience, Maziz gives Colorado creativity, and Elastway is exactly what a developmental league is supposed to produce, somebody who earns his way into the senior team. In the rumor section, Inter have made a new approach for Curtis Jones, with The Guardian reporting that an offer around $30 million is likely. Jones has one year remaining on his Liverpool contract, so Liverpool have a genuine decision. Extend him, sell him now, or accept the possibility of losing a homegrown midfielder for nothing next summer. Jack Grealish has also been linked with Al Hawal after being omitted from Manchester City's preseason tour, but that remains a report rather than anything more concrete at this point. That would be a significant move for the Saudi league and a fascinating career decision for a player who should still have plenty of European-level football available to him. Newcastle are the club where the story has changed the most sharply this week. Eddie Howe is left after nearly five years, and Matias Jaisla is expected to replace him. Star midfielder Bruno was not on the flight to Newcastle's preseason camp amid continuing arsenal interest. What looked like a controlled youth rebuild now feels considerably less stable. On Lucky Rebel, Newcastle are still minus 300 to finish as the Premier League's top northeast club, with Sunderland at plus 200. Newcastle clearly have the stronger squad, but a new coach, an unsettled captain, and a changing recruitment structure makes the market more interesting than it looked a month ago. Now, one quick women's transfer note, and this week we're going to go below the WSL, but stay in Newcastle. Newcastle United Women have been building a very serious WSL 2 promotion squad. They signed Ireland forward Leanne Kiernan from Liverpool after she recorded 23 goals in 76 appearances. They've also added Katie Bradley from Charlton, bought goalkeeper Kayla Rendell on loan from Manchester United, and signed Martha Thomas from Tottenham. That isn't one glorious signing, it's a coordinated promotion push. Goals, midfield quality, goalkeeping, and top flight experience. Newcastle Women's team has moved quickly through the pyramid, and the window says the club doesn't intend to sit patiently in its second tier. And that brings us to the week. MLS has real post-World Cup momentum and now has to prove it can retain it. Malawi have already made WAFCON history. FIFA has created a fight that could reshape the World Cup. Millmore may finally be disappearing after 18 years as English football's strangest time capsule. Chelsea are buying both speed and experience. Bologna and Roma have chosen opposite striker bets. MLS clubs are finding value rather than merely collecting names, and Newcastle suddenly feels like a club entering an entirely different chapter of its existence. A little bit of a short one this week because I'm about to go on vacation, but we wanted to get this in. I'm Chris Horvidell and this was the Underdog Football Show. Enjoy the games, keep an eye on the transfer market, and remember every club says its summer business is part of a carefully designed long-term plan. Sometimes the plan is careful. Sometimes somebody watches three clips, opens the group chat, and says, how quickly can you get them here? Until next time.