Football: the main stories of 22.09.2026

Arsenal have taken the one open question out of their title defence: Mikel Arteta has agreed improved terms and a longer stay with the champions. Fourteen outlets carried it, which puts the deal past the stage where it needs qualifying. The date matters as much as the terms — the manager's future is settled before the winter window, so the recruitment done in January belongs to the man who will still be using it in May. A formal announcement is the only step left.

Real Madrid spent the afternoon issuing statements. The club accused Javier Tebas of discrediting them in every appearance and said La Liga urgently needs a leader who understands the role; less than two hours later it condemned ABC journalist Juanma Castaño for drawing a parallel between Real Madrid TV and Gara, the paper widely seen as close to ETA, and reserved the right to act. Both landed in the week that followed the derby defeat at Atlético and the refereeing committee's release of the VAR audio from it. In Glasgow the tone was different: chief executive Michael Nicholson said Celtic would come together behind Martin O'Neill after a painful week, and the club's accounts, out the same day, showed a loss after tax of £4.8m against a £33.9m profit a year earlier, revenue down 22.7%.

• Kylian Mbappé missed France training with flu symptoms and is expected to be fit for Turkey, RMC Sport report; he also said his mother wanted Liverpool in 2016.
• Andy Robertson said Liverpool "didn't care about football" in the months after Diogo Jota's death.
• One outlet's review of matchweek 5 has Manchester United held at Fulham, with Arsenal and Chelsea dropping points.
• Virgil van Dijk, 35, will carry on with the Netherlands after talks with new coach Xavi.
• One Dutch analysis put PSV's first Eredivisie defeat of the season at 3-2 to Twente, blaming the build-up.
• John Egan signed fresh terms at Hull City.
• Liverpool are set to bring back Julian Ward as sporting director, succeeding Richard Hughes.
• Lionel Scaloni and the AFA are "75%" agreed on a 2+2 extension, per Doble Amarilla.
• Rafael Márquez took his first Mexico training session, one outlet reports.
• Tottenham paid Daniel Levy £27m on his exit in September 2025, according to The Athletic.
• Fan ID comes in at RPL clubs' home Cup ties from 1 October.
• Evann Guessand has been frozen out at Crystal Palace and may go back to Aston Villa in January, Football Insider say.