Football Park’s Weekend Roundup

We all know how deflating the off-season can feel for us football fanatics. But with a heap of transfer rumours and a few exciting international games here and there, there is always something to chirp up about.

Entering the much-dreaded Monday, we wave away the first official weekend without competitive club football in England. As far as football in the off-season goes, it was a pretty lively weekend. Let’s discuss some of the talking points.

Portugal’s Nations League Glory

As we all knew, there is no World Cup or European Championship to look forward to this summer. However, there was still a scent of international football in the air this last week, as the UEFA Nations League semi-finals and finals took place.

SPAIN VS. FRANCE IN THE UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE SEMIFINAL!

A REMATCH OF THE EURO 2024 SEMIFINAL 👀🍿 pic.twitter.com/UYr6Cfv4Dn

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 23, 2025

Last week’s semi-final clashes brought absolute chaos to the competition. Portugal dismantled Germany to reach the final, and Spain narrowly scraped past France after a nine-goal thriller. The scoreline was 5-4 to Spain, despite France attacking their 4-0 deficit with late fire. This set up a Portugal vs Spain final, which entertained many yesterday evening.

The first half of the final in Munich started superbly, as Spain took the lead through Arsenal transfer target Martin Zubimendi, as he pounced on Portugal’s disjointed defending. The lead did not last long though, as Nuno Mendes’ skating strike grazed the Allianz turf to find the bottom corner and level the tie.

Mikel Oyarzabal’s streak of scoring big goals in big games continued, as he regained Spain’s advantage just shy of the break. However, there was only one man for Portugal’s comeback job. The iconic Cristiano Ronaldo pulled his nation level once more midway into the second half, which eventually took the game all the way to penalties. Striker Álvaro Morata was unfortunately responsible for the ill-fated deciding strike, as his miss for Spain set up Portugal’s winning spot kick.

Portugal are UEFA Nations League champions for a second time 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/gNs1lPjYms

— Premier League (@premierleague) June 8, 2025

England’s Lifeless Qualifier

England have been absolutely cruising through their World Cup Qualifying fixtures so far, but their latest tussle against Andorra this weekend was hardly an eye-catcher. Considering Andorra’s 173rd place spot in the FIFA World Rankings, many people would have expected Thomas Tuchel’s men to apply their hardware to this matchup – scoring goals and entertaining the small package of fans who travelled to Spain. What we saw, however, was nothing of the sort.

Andorra have only won one game in the last three years, losing games and conceding goals as a habit. Therefore, to only witness one goal in this Saturday afternoon tie was extremely disappointing. Harry Kane was the one to separate these two sides, as his second half effort secured his 72nd goal for the Three Lions. Other than that fleeting moment, this European clash consisted of very little.

The skipper strikes vs Andorra 🦁

© @HKane pic.twitter.com/A4yUpg9tRB

— England (@England) June 8, 2025

Nevertheless, it is a win on the road for England and three more points towards their World Cup Qualification. However, whilst seeing competitors in the Nations League take games to the wire with their excellence in scoring, it highlights many attributes that the Three Lions need to work on before heading into the battle of the 2026 World Cup.

Dortmund want Bellingham… Again

There is no doubt that many are aware of the success story that followed Borussia Dortmund’s gamble on Jude Bellingham back in 2020. Just 16 at the time, the Birmingham City midfielder made the jump over to the German side, for a fee circulating around the €30 million mark. At the time this was a monumental step for such a young EFL talent, but it was no failure. Jude famously progressed to Real Madrid and is now one of the greatest players in the world at just 21.

As the Englishman rose to glory, many have kept tabs on his younger brother Jobe – who has just been promoted to the Premier League with Sunderland through the EFL Championship Playoffs. This has created a lot of interest for the 19-year-old, ironically from his older brother’s faithful Borussia Dortmund.

🚨🟡⚫️ Jobe Bellingham, set for medical tests today and then he will sign five year deal as new Borussia Dortmund player.

Story confirmed. 🏁 pic.twitter.com/7egLBfDuMa

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 9, 2025

It has been reported that Sunderland have since accepted a €33 million fee for Jobe, with the youngster undergoing his medical in Germany. Should this transfer go through, it will make the 19-year-old the second most expensive player in Dortmund history, as well as the most valuable transfer fee Sunderland have received for a player. Despite this being a hefty sum that could help Sunderland next season, there is no doubt that they will now be deprived of Bellingham’s talents heading into a tricky season in England’s top flight.

Ange Gone – But Who Next?

Tottenham Hotspur’s anticipated trophy win in the Europa league final was less than three weeks ago – but it was never going to gloss over their Premier League horror show.

On Friday afternoon, it was confirmed that manager Ange Postecoglou had been relieved of his duties with Spurs, after the Australian could only guide the club to 17th in the Premier League – with just eleven wins and a colossal 22 losses.

OFFICIAL: Tottenham have fired Ange Postecoglou.

Winning the Europa League trophy wasn't enough 😔 pic.twitter.com/8F6NGAeyyv

— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 6, 2025

With a lengthy two months to find a replacement, Spurs have to make sure it is the perfect one going forward. Brentford’s Thomas Frank is currently the leading candidate for the job, as discussions between the two sides have already begun. Spurs would have to pay a bulky fee for the Dane; however, he is a manager who has already racked up four years experience in the Premier League with Brentford, after taking them from the Championship in 2021. Furthermore, Managers such as Marcos Silva from Fulham, Andoni Iraola from Bournemouth, and Oliver Glasner from Crystal Palace are all involved in the continuing speculation.