Full coverage: Football

Harry Kane is among several professional footballers that invested in tech company StatSports, which has now sold a majority stake to Sony.

While “més que un club” is the tagline of FC Barcelona, it arguably applies even more strongly to Real Madrid. Atlético de Madrid fans will not like my saying it, but in the era of Florentino Pérez, there is nothing more Madrid than Real Madrid.

Long before the transfer of Ireland’s male goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to Liège, the club had been betting on Irish talent for its leading women’s team. Amber Barrett, Claire O’Riordan and Aoife Colvill share their Belgian experience with Fergal Lenehan.

The good performance of the German team so far has echoes of the 2006 World Cup. There are good football reasons for this, but it has yet to translate into a wider positive national feeling.

Born in France, Wilfred Zahibo has played international football for the Central African Republic. He is now seeking a summary judgement against his former club Dundalk FC.

The football manager who deviated from the norm of Ireland players being told of their limitations had tried to inculcate in them a belief that we could beat the best. In the end, we could not beat New Zealand.

The much-maligned League of Ireland, home of crumbling stadiums and once-shrinking crowds, is undergoing a revival as Turkish and US investors take a bet on its future. Other have tried, and failed, in the past. Can the new breed succeed?

We know what Vera Pauw has done. What’s been forgotten – because of the growth in profile, professionalism, standards – is the environment she was coming into, having to be encouraged and cajoled to join, eventually not wanting to leave.

The Irish women's football team’s coach deserves credit for bringing them all the way to the World Cup, but her disproportionate focus on defence and noisy reactions to ongoing US investigations need to change if the FAI is to keep her in the job. Analysis by Louise Lawless in Australia.

Saudi Arabia has stunned the football world with an offer of £259 million for French giant Kylian Mbappé. It came just 24 hours after the death of Trevor Francis, the first player to earn a £1 million transfer fee. Professional football is now chasing the money as never before, even if it leads to some dark places.