Latest articles by Arthur Renard
‘Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona was one of the best teams ever, but we had something they didn’t – we were the first Barca side to win the European Cup’ Michael Laudrup compares his Barca Dream Team side to Pep’s juggernaut
EXCLUSIVE Before Pep's iconic side, there was the Barca 'Dream Team' in the early 1990s
‘It was down to me or Pep Guardiola for the Barcelona job. You can’t really say that they made the wrong choice!’ Michael Laudrup opens up on missing out on the Barca job
EXCLUSIVE Both were greats on the Barca pitch before they were up against each other for the top job at the Camp Nou
‘I told Diego Maradona his laces weren’t tied and he shrugged it off. He played six minutes like that, as if he was playing on the street!’ Michael Laudrup on his incredible encounter with the football legend
EXCLUSIVE The Danish legend played with - and against - some of the greatest players of his generation
‘Johan Cruyff influenced the way I saw football. In the last two decades, even the smaller teams have started playing his attacking brand of football’ Michael Laudrup opens up on his time at Barcelona
EXCLUSIVE The Dane joined up with his boyhood hero at the Camp Nou in 1989
‘I was keen to join Liverpool, but they changed their offer and I felt it wasn’t fair’ Michael Laudrup on missing out on Anfield move
EXCLUSIVE The Danish icon almost came to English football with Liverpool
‘Viv Richards was my favourite cricketer, together with Ian Botham. During the coronavirus period I thought about trying to train with the Italian national team’ Christian Vieri on his love for cricket
EXCLUSIVE The legendary Italian forward wasn't just handy with a football when he was growing up
‘I nearly signed for Spurs, but decided on Monaco. A guy also called to ask me if I wanted to join Chelsea, but I said no. I wanted to stay at Inter at the time’ Christian Vieri reveals his Premier League snubs
EXCLUSIVE The much-travelled Italian forward never made it to British shores
“Ronaldo was from another planet, like a gift from God, but sometimes you’d see a piece of metal coming out of his knee. I was like, ‘What the f**k is that?!’” Christian Vieri on his best-ever team-mate
EXCLUSIVE Christian Vieri played alongside the Brazilian icon for three years at Inter Milan
“Atletico’s president once bet me a Ferrari if I scored a hat-trick. I’d left for Lazio by the time it was finally delivered, so said, ‘It’s OK, you can keep it’.” Christian Vieri recalls his La Liga spell
EXCLUSIVE The journeyman Italy striker spent a year at Atletico Madrid
'I called my agent after one training session with Owen and Gerrard and said, "There are two boys you should sign if you’re not silly". But he didn’t come!': Ex-Liverpool striker recalls first encounter with star duo in 1997
EXCLUSIVE Liverpool produced two greats in Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen, but one agent failed to take advantage of their situations
‘I’d never taken a penalty before the Italia 90 semi-final against England, but Peter Shilton was in goal and wasn’t the quickest – it was quite easy to score’: West Germany hero reflects on beating Three Lions in World Cup clash
EXCLUSIVE West Germany defeated England on penalties at the 1990 World Cup, with one player taking his first ever spot-kick in the shootout
‘It was an incredible experience to go to Liverpool. I sang a Bavarian song for my initiation but it didn’t last long – after 30 seconds I got beer over my head’: German star reveals unruly welcome at Anfield from his team-mates
EXCLUSIVE Liverpool players didn't enjoy one German players' initiation song...
'I fell on the floor and shouted for a penalty. Someone pulled me up and said, "Don’t cheat to win penalties". It was Steve McManaman. I never did it again!' Ex-Liverpool forward reveals harsh lesson he learnt from his team-mate on Reds debut
EXCLUSIVE One Liverpool signing learnt from team-mate Steve McManaman that cheating wasn't tolerated in the Premier League
‘I only played with Gazza for a year, but could still write a book about it! People remember him for his behaviour, which is a shame because he was incredible’ Paul Gascoigne's former team-mate reveals what playing alongside the Englishman was really like
EXCLUSIVE Former Germany and Liverpool forward Riedle spent a year with Gazza at Lazio
Virgil van Dijk feels the manner of Liverpool's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup was 'unnecessary'
Liverpool's captain admits his team's performance in the League Cup semi-final was below their usual standards
“I got knocked down by a big Irish striker after the first touch on my debut – I was lying on the floor, then Gus Poyet said, ‘Hey, welcome to British football!’”: Ex-Chelsea star recalls first Premier League encounter
A former Chelsea player had to learn about the British style of football the hard way...
‘It was without a doubt one of the most important matches that I played in my career. It wasn’t just Champions League football – it was a whole club at stake’: Ex-Chelsea star opens up on key game which changed the Blues' fortunes forever
EXCLUSIVE Chelsea became a completely new club overnight, following one key victory
‘Sven asked if I’d like to play for England – even to be considered made me proud, but I don’t think they really wanted a foreign player in the national team’: Former Premier League star reveals conversations over converting nationality
Sven Goran-Eriksson wanted an Italian star playing in the Premier League to turn out for England two decades ago
The stats behind Lamine Yamal’s Golden Boy award, as reports surface of a 'logistical dispute' as the reason Barcelona didn't attend
FourFourTwo were at the awards to see the Spanish youngster win with record points tally
'They are lowest, and we are fifth or sixth in the league' Oliver Glasner on the weakness he spotted in Manchester City
Crystal Palace were unlucky not to take all three points from the reigning Premier League champions
'Loves football, humble, no strange things' Enzo Maresca reminisces about coaching Cole Palmer at Manchester City AND Chelsea
The Chelsea manager knows his star player extremely well, having first coached him four years ago
Enzo Maresca offers surprising appraisal of Chelsea's Premier League title chances
Chelsea are heading in the right direction, with people are starting to assess their title chances
'I had to do better in the last third': Rodri explains how evolving his game helped him land Ballon d’Or
Spanish midfielder Rodri is the first Manchester City player to win the Ballon d'Or and the first Premier League footballer since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008
Ballon d'Or 2024: The full standings
The full standings of the Ballon d'Or begun this afternoon, with the winner announced tonight
'He is a genius - everyone knows to a T what we are going to do and what we need to do. And when we do it, we pull up performances like that': Aston Villa star highlights key influence of Unai Emery
Aston Villa have been transformed under Unai Emery - and of the side's key players has been speaking glowingly about the Spaniard
