Football: the main stories of 05.09.2026

Liverpool have lost the man who ran their recruitment for two years, and the destination is the part that will sting: Richard Hughes is off to Al Hilal. The Saudi club already took Gabriel Martinelli from Arsenal in a record deal a day earlier, and the pull is no longer confined to players. Liverpool now go into a January window — one in which they are linked again with Crystal Palace's Ismaila Sarr, by one outlet's account — without the executive who set the price on every deal since 2024. A successor has not been named.

At 41, Luka Modric has told reporters he intends to keep playing for Croatia, England included, in the coming Nations League fixtures — a week after Lionel Messi, three years his junior, walked away from Argentina. Uefa fined Red Star Belgrade over chants honouring Ratko Mladic, who died last week aged 84 while serving a life sentence for genocide. And Lazio have all but concluded a free transfer for Diogo Leite, with Italian reports also floating David Alaba and a return for Marcelo Brozovic.

• Inter beat Napoli 3-2 at San Siro; Massimiliano Allegri said three goals in half an hour cannot be conceded.
• CSKA won 2-1 at Zenit, the hosts' third defeat of the season after eight straight wins; Sergei Semak was booked in a touchline scuffle.
• Promoted Schalke held Bayern Munich to 0:0, Loris Karius named man of the match.
• Borussia Dortmund won 3-2 at Hoffenheim after trailing 0:2 with 29 minutes left.
• Athletic Club beat Atletico Madrid 3-0; Diego Simeone put the responsibility on his coaching staff.
• Crystal Palace came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Fulham, Ben Chilwell with the winner; Fulham were booed off after a third straight defeat.
• Enzo Fernandez made an unplanned Manchester City debut after Nico O'Reilly was injured in the warm-up.
• Krasnodar were pegged back to 2:2 at Krylya Sovetov; Rostov scored three in 8 minutes to beat Fakel 3:1.
• Rangers captain Lawrence Shankland faces a spell out with a hamstring injury the club called "significant"; Neymar is out 4-8 weeks with a thigh problem.
• Roma beat Atalanta at the Olimpico; Maurizio Sarri said his side sat too deep, Gian Piero Gasperini called the result a signal.
• Fiorentina lost 1-2 at home to Torino, a third defeat, with the Franchi curva singing against Fabio Grosso, who said he will not resign.
• Brentford drew 1-1 with Sunderland; Brighton drew with Leeds, Luka Vuskovic rescuing a point.
• PSV won at Ajax; Utrecht v Go Ahead Eagles was abandoned with about 25 minutes left after two stoppages.
• Celtic came from behind at St Mirren to stay top of the Scottish Premiership.
• Aubameyang, 37, scored and set up two in Deportivo's 3-2 win at Villarreal — four goals in four rounds.
• Werder Bremen beat RB Leipzig, Niclas Füllkrug scoring his first since returning.
• Russia's refereeing panel upheld the penalty given against Lokomotiv in the 0:1 defeat by Dinamo.
• Torpedo Moscow's Streltsov Stadium reopened after renovation.
• Gianni Infantino made a rare public appearance amid calls for him to quit Fifa.
• Wrexham's Phil Parkinson said the Swansea captain should have been sent off in the Welsh derby.
• Brahim Hemdani was appointed Algeria head coach, succeeding Vladimir Petkovic.
• Juventus left Khephren Thuram and Arkadiusz Milik out of their 25-man Serie A squad list.
• Maximiliano Gutierrez passed a medical at Dinamo Moscow; Lamine Yamal missed Barcelona's session before Valencia away.
• Nottingham Forest host Tottenham, who are without a win in three and 0:5 down on aggregate this season after spending more than £300m.