ARSENAL have finally won a title — for spending the most money in wages to crocked players.

The North London club’s £35million bill last season on unplayable squad members was the highest in the Premier League.

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Bukayo Saka is one of the Arsenal players who was out injured for a period in 2024-25[/caption]

Those on the injury list at various points in 2024-25 included Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Declan Rice and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Betting website Footy Accumulators compiled a top ten by looking at players’ salaries and totting up all their injuries and their duration.

They used Transfermarkt to assess injuries, and Capology to figure out the wages.

Manchester City had the second highest bill, at £33million, followed by local rivals United on £25million.

Last season’s Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur paid out £18million, Chelsea £17million, Brighton £14million and Newcastle £13million.

Premier League champions Liverpool paid £12million to injured players, Aston Villa had a £10million bill and Everton gave their crocked stars £9million.

Arsenal fan Craig Burke, 43, said: “We’ve won nothing since 2020, and to make it even worse, Spurs won a trophy — that really sticks in the craw.

“To cap it all, we’ve paid £35million to players for sitting about doing nothing so I’m hoping they’ll be fresh as daisies for the new season.”

Footy Accumulators’ spokesman said: “Our research has revealed the staggering sums Premier League clubs have paid to players who have been sidelined in the past year.”

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NOVAK DJOKOVIC thanked some “miracle pills” for helping him defy the dreaded Wimbledon curfew to get his bid for a 25th Grand Slam underway.

The Serbian star, ranked six in the world, will face Britain’s Dan Evans in the second round after battling past Alexandre Muller.

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Novak Djokovic came through a four-setter against Alexandre Muller[/caption]

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Djokovic, 38, sends a heart symbol to the Centre Court crowd[/caption]

AP

Djokovic required a medical time out[/caption]

AFP

The Serbian superstar was not always comfortable on Centre Court[/caption]

Djokovic has expressed his frustration at Wimbledon’s unique 11pm curfew before and at times it looked like he would be back for the end of the first round on Wednesday morning.

Djokovic stormed the first set against the world No41, who has made money from posting risque snaps on OnlyFans.

In a rush to get things done before the roof closed, the seven-time champion cruised to a 6-1 victory in the opening set.

But Muller, who has dubbed himself France’s sexiest tennis star, bit back.

Throughout a stunning second-set tie-break performance Muller survived two set points as Djokovic toiled.

The Serb looked dejected and soon needed a medical timeout, while his opponent also needed attention from the physio.

With the roof now shut and a curfew looming, Djokovic started to go through the gears, taking the third set 6-2 and breaking Muller early in the fourth.

The Serb said: “It is great to finish tonight, before the curfew.

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Shutterstock Editorial

Muller played some brilliant tennis at times on Centre Court[/caption]

“I went from feeling my absolute best for the first set and a half to my absolute worst.

“Whether it was a stomach bug or not, the energy came back after the doctors’ miracle pills.

“I knew that something was off with the stomach, credit to Alex for playing some really good tennis.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I had a chance. I always have a chance.”

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HUGO Ekitike is the poor man’s Alexander Isak.

But Eintracht Frankfurt’s Ekitike is not only available for at least £50m less than Newcastle star Isak – he may also end up being an even better player.

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Liverpool and Arsenal are still dreaming of a move for Alexander Isak[/caption]

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Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike could be a terrific backup plan[/caption]

That’s why both Liverpool and Arsenal are looking seriously at the French frontman whose excellent debut season in Germany helped fire Eintracht back into the Champions League.

And if Newcastle stand firm on their stance that Isak is not for sale at any price, not even a British-record-obliterating £150m or more, then splashing out “just” £86m on Ekitike would make perfect sense.

After all, Newcastle almost signed him before they bought Isak.

Make no mistake – Isak remains THE dream summer signing for both the Reds and the Gunners.

First and foremost, because the Sweden international has proved in three seasons in the Premier League that he is exactly the kind of multi-talented centre forward both clubs need.

On the one hand, Isak’s goals and all-round contribution were a big factor in Newcastle qualifying for the lucrative Champions League.

So, in theory, they have no need to sell and can quote fees that no suitor is willing to pay.

Yet Isak’s success also feeds his own personal ambition. What if, at the age of 25, this is his best chance to sign for a club that can compete for the biggest prizes in club football?

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Newcastle are willing to give Isak, whose current contract still has three years to run, a decent pay rise from his current £120,000 per week if he will sign a new deal.

Arsenal and especially Liverpool could give him much more, though.

And if Isak refuses to commit himself or cuts up rough about an alleged promise from Newcastle that they would sell him for a certain fee this summer, cashing in on him would become more attractive.

So Arsenal and Liverpool will not give up on Isak just yet, not with nearly two months of the transfer window to go.

But they would be negligent if they WEREN’T considering Ekitike as a strong alternative and arguably the better buy.

Because in his height and physique, his ability to dribble and link play, and his all-round capacity to link play and create openings for others, as well as to score goals, he has plenty in common with Isak.

Newcastle almost signed Ekitike months before they spent an initial £60m on Isak in 2022.

Ekitike, then at Reims, turned down a deadline day move to St James’ Park in the winter window.

Newcastle were interested again in the summer, but the forward chose to join PSG on an initial loan in July, with Isak arriving in the north east of England the following month.

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Isak has established himself as one of the Premier League’s top players[/caption]

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Ekitike was previously on the books at PSG[/caption]

Eintracht have a vested interest in talking up the comparison between Isak and Ekitike, of course. And Ekitike’s stats are generally not as impressive as Isak’s.

Yet there are admirers who believe that Ekitike has a higher ceiling and could end up becoming one of the best strikers in the world.

Ekitike is tall, at almost 6ft 3in, yet has excellent feet and speed, like the Swede.

His debut season in Germany, after his loan move from Paris Saint-Germain was made permanent, was impressive – 15 goals and eight assists in 33 Bundesliga appearances.

Which compares favourably to Arsenal target Benjamin Sesko, who managed 13 and five in the same number of games – albeit in an inferior RB Leipzig side.

Ekitike and Omar Marmoush formed a formidable partnership for Eintracht until Marmoush left for Manchester City in January.

But it wasn’t a case of Marmoush making his sidekick look good.

Ekitike scored nearly half his league goals (seven) and more than half his assists (five) AFTER main man Marmoush played his last game for the club.

He also caught the eye in the Europa League, even before his excellent long-range goal against Tottenham in the quarter-final first leg.

Although Isak’s goalscoring record is superior to Ekitike’s, the Frenchman creates more for others and could be considered a more complete player.

It is no secret Eintracht are a selling club. They sold Randal Kolo Muani to PSG in 2023 for £64.2m, before signing Ekitike on loan from the French club the following February.

In January this year, Eintracht accepted a deal worth up to £64m for Marmoush.

Every player at the big club in Frankfurt, Germany’s banking capital, has his price.

But Eintracht have not yet spent all the Marmoush money.

So they are more than happy to hold out for the 100m Euros (£86m) they believe Ekitike is worth in the current market.

There are reasons for Liverpool, Arsenal and others to think hard, of course.

Ekitike has had just one good season in a big five European league – a bit like Premier League flops Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.

While his 15 goals – level with Marmoush, who played just over half the season, and 11 behind leader Harry Kane – are another slight cause for concern.

Isak, with 23 PL strikes, was second only to Mohamed Salah.

Even Ekitike’s cheerleaders at The Transfer Flow podcast and bulletin point out that, for a big lad, Ekitike is not great at heading. Nor is Isak, but Sesko definitely is.

They also note that Ekitike gets knocked off the ball easily and his off-the-ball work against teams with better defences is not elite.

Yet they still identified him as the striker who should be Liverpool’s top target – even at £85m.

If Arsenal decide to go for an out-and-out goalscorer, maybe Viktor Gyokeres would be a better option.

But if the Gunners and the Reds want an all-round centre forward like Isak – and they do – then Ekititke would be a great back-up candidate.

And at a much lower price, could even turn out to be the better long-term option.

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers of the Makabayan bloc have refiled a bill seeking to increase the minimum salary of public schoolteachers to P50,000. ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. Antonio Tinio on Monday said House Bill (HB) No. 203 is among the group’s top legislative priorities in the 20th Congress. The Makabayan lawmakers noted in their measure

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Once again, incoming Cordillera lawmakers are set to refile the constitutionally mandated bill seeking to convert the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) into an autonomous region. The move was announced Tuesday during the launch of the region’s monthlong foundation celebration. READ: 38 years since historic ‘sipat,’ Cordillera still awaits autonomy The Cordillera

LOVE Island fans say they have worked out the “real reason” Dejon flirted with bombshell Bilikis, claiming he has a “game plan”.

Tonight viewers watched the stunning new Islander go on a date with Dejon before entering the villa.

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Love Island fans think Dejon had a ‘game plan’ for his date with Bilikis[/caption]

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It came as Dejon was seen flirting with the stunning bombshell[/caption]

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ITV

Meg has cried a number of times over Dejon[/caption]

During their date, Dejon – who has been coupled up with Meg since the start – flirted up a storm with the beautiful new arrival.

He was even heard asking Bilikis , who also goes by Billykiss, if she would leave Dublin and “move to London” if they were to be together.

But fans weren’t buying it, and didn’t think he was being genuine – in fact they even suggested he had a “game plan”.

The viewer theory that hit social media was that Dejon was flirting with Bilikis to get to Meg.

Taking to X/Twitter one fan said: “Fear Dejon is just gonna lead Billykiss to wind up Meg.”

While another added: “I think Dejon’s game plan is to wind up Meg.”

This one vented: “I hope Dejon isn’t using Billykiss to get to Meg.”

Before going in the villa, Bilikis was asked who she was interested in, and she said: “Dejon and Conor. I’m here to bombshell so you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

When quizzed on what she looks for in a man, she said: “Someone tall who’s good looking but not too good looking and that’s confident, assertive, knows what they want and is serious about me.”

Dejon and Meg are one of the most solid couples in the villa, but Meg has shed a fair few tears over semi-pro footballer Dejon.

This included him making moves on bombshell Malisha, before she was dumped from the show.

Meanwhile, Sun revealed earlier today that two brand new bombshells would join the show tonight.

A source said: “The Islanders have been crying out for some bombshells with so many of them currently single.

“It’s only really Meg and Dejon who are in any way settled which is bonkers at this stage of the game.

“The villa is a bombshells paradise right now and it’s everything to play for.”

The other bombshell to enter the villa tonight was gym hunk Ryan Bannister.

Love Island continues tomorrow at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.

ANDY MURRAY will soon become only the second person to be honoured with a statue at the All England Club.

And having ended a 77-year wait for a British men’s singles champion at Wimbledon, few would argue against Murray deserving the bronze likeness which will be unveiled at the 2027 Championships.

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Fred Perry was the last British man before Andy Murray to win Wimbledon[/caption]

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He secured three Wimbledon crowns but was exiled from the UK[/caption]

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He had a string of relationships, including a romance with Jean Harlow[/caption]

Yet even Murray’s inspiring life and career – including three Major titles, two Olympic golds and a Davis Cup – pale in comparison with the only previous player to be handed this accolade, Fred Perry.

As the first man to complete a career Grand Slam, a three-time Wimbledon champion, a winner of eight Majors and four Davis Cups, you’d imagine that Perry was feted and honoured by the tennis authorities and the British establishment while at the peak of his powers in the 1930s.

Especially as he had been a world champion at table tennis, as well as the undisputed king of the lawns.

Yet nothing could be further from the truth.

Not only was Perry a working-class man from Stockport and the son of a Labour MP, he was also a fashionista, a lothario, a heart-throb, a rebel and, ultimately, an exile.

He dated Hollywood sirens, including Marlene Dietrich and Jean Harlow, he married four times and, after emigrating and taking American citizenship, Perry served in the US Air Force during World War Two.

In an age of intense class-based snobbery and of strict amateurism in tennis, the elitist plum-suckers in the Wimbledon boardroom decided that Perry was a lad from the wrong side of the chalk lines.

When he turned professional in 1937, Perry was stripped of his All England Club membership, went on lengthy world tours and settled in the States – where he felt far more accepted than in stuffy pre-war Britain.

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The first of Murray’s two Wimbledon triumphs in 2013 ended a wait for a British men’s singles champion which had stretched back to Perry’s hat-trick of successes between 1934 and 1936.

And while the Scot was something of an outsider and an anti-establishment figure – especially in his early days – he competed in far more enlightened times than Perry, who was the victim of overt discrimination from the authorities.

As well as his working-class northern roots, Perry was also frowned upon because he was simply too competitive, occasionally even showing dissent towards umpires – which was unheard of in the 30s.

He was extremely fast across the court and, unlike many of his competitors, was supremely fit – often training with the dominant Arsenal team of the 1930s to develop his sharpness.

But after a comprehensive victory over Australian Jack Crawford to win his first Wimbledon title – celebrated with a Centre Court cartwheel and a leap over the net – Perry suffered one of his most memorable instances of All England Club snobbery.

While soaking in a bath after coming off court, Perry claims he heard upper-crust committee member Brame Hillyard tell runner-up Crawford that “this was one day when the best man didn’t win”.

Hillyard then draped Perry’s Wimbledon tie – symbolising his membership of the All England Club – over a seat rather than presenting it to the champion in person.

Perry later wrote in his autobiography: “I don’t think I’ve ever been so angry in my life. Instead of Fred J Perry the champ, I felt like Fred J Muggs the chimp.

“Some elements in the All England Club and the Lawn Tennis Association looked down on me as a hot-headed, outspoken tearaway rebel, not quite the class of chap they really wanted to see winning Wimbledon, even if he was English.”

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Perry was a fashion star as well as a sporting hero[/caption]

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Times Newspapers Ltd

Perry’s first marriage, with American film star Helen Vinson, lasted five years[/caption]

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And Perry certainly wasn’t the only British sporting great of his era to become ostracised by snobbish attitudes.

Harold Larwood, the great England fast bowler and hero of the Bodyline triumph over Don Bradman’s Aussies in 1932-33, became a scapegoat for the diplomatic crisis sparked by the ruthless tactics of his upper-class captain Douglas Jardine.

Larwood, a former Nottinghamshire coal miner, would never play for England again and ended up emigrating to, of all places, Australia.

Perry, who inspired Great Britain to four consecutive Davis Cup triumphs, was far more popular with the public than his sport’s top brass – and not least with women, who loved his fashion sense, including his on-court penchant for tailored white flannels and blazers.

He would, of course, go on to make millions from his Fred Perry fashion range – with its laurel wreath logo – which is still thriving to this day.

As for the ladies, Perry would marry four of them – including the Hollywood actress Helen Vinson and the model Sandra Breaux – before he settled down with Barbara Riese, the couple having two children and enjoying a 40-year marriage until Perry’s death in 1995, aged 85.

He was finally accepted back into the fold at Wimbledon during the last 25 years of his life, broadcasting for the BBC before his statue was unveiled in 1982 – to Perry’s intense pride.

“I never thought I’d live to see the day when a statue was put up to the son of a Labour MP inside the manicured grounds of Wimbledon,” he wrote in his memoirs.

“There will be a few former members of the All England Club and the LTA revolving in their graves at the thought of such a tribute paid to the man they regarded as a rebel from the wrong side of the tennis tramlines.”

Murray, who often felt his Scottishness was held against him during his early days at Wimbledon, never really knew the half of it.

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His name lives on as the clothing brand[/caption]

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He was briefly married to Sandra Breaux[/caption]

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The Stockport native was also a world champion at table tennis[/caption]

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Perry died aged 85 in 1995[/caption]

WIMBLEDON is underway at the All England Club – and there has been plenty of drama and thrills already!

Novak Djokovic needed a medical timeout against Alexandre Muller before taking over to reach the second round.

Jack Draper is through to the second round at Wimbledon after Sebastian Baez retired with an injury in the third set, but two major scalps have fallen on day two with women’s No 2 seed Coco Gauff and men’s No 3 seed Alexander Zverev both LOSING.

Earlier, No 1 seed Jannik Sinner raced home to victory in straight sets against his Italia compatriot Luca Nardi, while Brits Dan Evans and Jack Pinnington Jones made it through, as did Taylor Fritz.

The likes of Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz – who faces surprise package Oliver Tarvet – will be back in action in round two on Wednesday.

• Start time: From 11am BST / 6am ET
• TV channel: BBC One & Two (UK) / ESPN (US)
• Live stream: BBC iPlayer / ESPN+
• Order of Play: Day One schedule

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TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD produced a moment of magic to help Real Madrid power into the Club World Cup quarter-finals.

The former Liverpool man was signed by Los Blancos for his free-kick and crossing prowess.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold produced a moment of magic to get his first assist for Real Madrid and help his team advance to the Club World Cup quarter-finals[/caption]

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Alexander-Arnold played one of his trademark crosses into the box[/caption]

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Gonzalo Garcia headed home the cross to give Madrid the lead[/caption]

And bang on cue in Miami, the Scouser whipped in a world-class cross which was powerfully headed home by red-hot Gonzalo Garcia as Juventus paid the price for their wastefulness.

It was the 26 year-old’s first assist since signing from Liverpool earlier this summer.

TAA’s England pal Jude Bellingham also impressed for Xabi Alonso’s men, who will now face either Borussia Dortmund or Mexican outfit Monterrey in Saturday’s last eight clash in New Jersey.

Juve will rue their missed opportunities with front-man Randal Kolo Muani fluffing a golden chance with just six minutes on the clock.

The French ace raced clear of the Real backline but with only Thibaut Courtois to beat, he lifted the ball over the bar.

It was a massive let off for the 15 time Champions League winners, who gradually grew into the game.

Bellingham was denied on 29 minutes by the busy Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio, who also kept out the excellent Federico Valverde on the stroke of half-time.

Uruguayan Valverde and Bellingham went close just after the restart.

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Randal Kolo Muani’s chipped effort went over the bar in Juventus’ best chance of the game[/caption]

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But on 54 minutes, Alexander-Arnold whipped in a superb center for Garcia to head in his third goal of the tournament.

The 21 year-old Spaniard was replaced on 68 minutes by French superstar Kylian Mbappe, making his first appearance after he was hospitalised after suffering from gastroenteritis before Madrid’s opening match against Manchester City’s conquerors Al Hilal.

Croatian legend Luka Modric, who is leaving the La Liga giants at the end of the Club World Cup, also made an appearance with 13 minutes left as Alonso’s men bagged a deserved win.

MANILA, Philippines — Calls to open the bicameral conference on the national budget and other key pieces of legislation to the public have gained more traction among civil society groups, with the Palace also issuing a general expression of support. “We respect the independence of the Congress. But it is better if everything is transparent