England

For all of his goal-scoring success in the past couple of years with Manchester City, Raheem Sterling entered this international break with just four goals in 47 international appearances.

Sterling nearly doubled that mark on Friday.

England hosted the Czech Republic in the first match of Euro 2020 qualifying for both countries. Sterling looked right at home, scoring a hat trick to lead the Three Lions to a 5-0 victory. 

More remarkable than the goals, however, was the Raheem Sterling celebration after his second strike.

The bidding war for center back Milan Škriniar has officially gone berserk. 

While teams have been bidding on the defender for a few months now, his agent has come out with some numbers.

“Real Madrid and Barcelona both want (Škriniar); Manchester City offered €55 million but he’s worth €100 million,” Škriniar’s agent Mital Halis said.

Arsenal has been looking for a head of recruitment for quite some time now. After the departure of Sven Mislintat in February, the Gunners need someone with enough experience to bring in the right players for Unai Emery. After a somewhat underwhelming winter transfer window, the North London outfit needs some reinforcements, specifically defensively.

Chelsea’s youngest star, Callum Hudson-Odoi, has officially received the call to join England’s national team. The 18-year-old will be the youngest player on England’s squad for a pair of Euro 2020 qualifiers, joining the stacked attack of Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling.

Hudson-Odoi has quickly become a fan favorite in London, and supporters are hoping he’ll be a big part of a potential Chelsea transformation next year.

Swansea City was on the verge of a season-defining victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Saturday. Then Raheem Sterling threw himself to the ground under a challenge from USMNT defender Cameron Carter-Vickers and the entire match dynamic changed.

Javier Hernandez may be over the hill in footballing terms at 30 years of age, but the little pea still has big goals in him.

While half of the Premier League is off this weekend for FA Cup action (hidden away behind an ESPN+ subscription here in the U.S.), there were a few matches to watch on Saturday, and they were all fucking bonkers. 

Newcastle United earned a point at Bournemouth when Matt Ritchie smashed a volley into the back of the net in the 94th minute for a 2-2 draw.

A few weeks ago, Chelsea was hit with a transfer ban for illegally dealing with underage players in its academy system and third party ownership. Now, a Manchester City transfer ban could be instituted for two windows (one year), according to reports.

The 2019 Champions League quarterfinal draw set up some intriguing matchups for English Premier League clubs on Friday. Manchester City and Tottenham face off in an all-England clash while Manchester United drew Barcelona and Liverpool was paired with Porto. Ajax faces Juventus in the fourth quarterfinal.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Watching the Europa League in Spanish is just as entertaining as watching the Champions League in English. 

Despite UEFA opening an investigation of Manchester City for possible Financial Fair Play violations, the club is looking in glorious shape for the future following news today that midfield maestro Bernardo Silva has elected to renew his contract until the summer of 2025 with a deal that puts him amongst City’s highest earners.

The Portuguese midfielder’s deal quickly follows on previous news of extensions for Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus — all players who are aged 24 and under who’ll lead the side for years to come.