It was almost a perfect night for the Scanlons when the 16-year-old Luca came on for his elder brother, James, to make his Gibraltar debut last month against the Faroe Islands, but there was a nagging problem. I told him the night before not to play my position, the older sibling jokes. Only 57 days after Luca's sweetest birthday, he became a full international.
This past summer, you could find Juan at the Mercedes Club pool, perched on a lifeguard stand and scanning the water with steady focus. A little shy and incredibly tenacious, he had landed one of the hardest summer jobs for New York City teens. The summer before, he worked further uptown with Futures Ignite 's Urban Ecology Lab, testing air and water quality at Sherman Creek through our partnership with the New York Restoration Project.
Sunderland's promotion to the Premier League this summer was impressive on a number of levels. A head coach in Regis Le Bris, in his first season in English football, laying waste to the theory of needing significant time to adapt working within the cut and thrust of the Championship. A club who had only returned to the second tier in 2022, without parachute payments to boost spending on transfer fees and wages. But all underpinned by an incredibly youthful squad - their average starting age of 23 years and 316 days was the youngest in the division - with academy graduates forming a consistent core.
Chelsea reportedly feel they have a potential 200m talent on their hands in the form of Brazilian winger Estevao Willian. The exciting wonderkid joined the Blues this summer from Palmeiras, and it's already easy to see why he's been so highly regarded for some time now. Chelsea will no doubt hope he can continue to develop into one of the very finest players in world football, and that might present an opportunity to cash in on him for a huge profit.
When England take to the pitch against Andorra at Villa Park on Saturday, they will not be the only team of English players on the grass. Dotted around the pitch will be the England Under-15 team who are going to be the ball boys for the game - and the reason they will be there is because of long-term planning by the Football Association (FA).
Sometimes it's the paths we don't take. This very thought was beginning to fester in the mind of a young Thomas Frank. In his early 30s and a father of two, Frank was completing a master's degree in psychology while working as an instructor for the Danish FA. All while holding down a part-time job as youth coordinator of Hvidovre, a second-tier side in the suburbs of Copenhagen.
Liverpool have secured the long-term future of highly rated midfielder James McConnell, with The Athletic reporting that the 20-year-old has signed a new five-year contract at Anfield. At the same time, McConnell is poised to leave Merseyside on loan, with Ajax agreeing terms to take the England youth international on a season-long deal. The decision represents a significant step in McConnell's development.
Arsenal have been linked with the move for the Fluminense attacking midfielder Isaque Silva this summer. According to a report from RTIEsporte, Arsenal have already made an enquiry for the 18-year-old, and it will be interesting to see if they follow up with an official offer to sign the player. Silva is highly rated in South America, and he has a bright future.
Walking through the streets of Singapore, Warriors assistant coach Khalid Robinson felt parallels between the dense island nation's culture and his hometown of Harlem, New York.
