Premier League

FORMER Manchester United player Phil Jones has raked in millions from image rights in recent years despite barely playing.The defender was released by the Red Devils after his contract expired at the end of June.
Phil Jones has raked in millions from image rightsCredit: Getty
Jones, 31, spent 12 years at Old Trafford and became very wealthy in the process, receiving money from his image rights as well as his salary.
The former England international has earned £4.3million from his image rights, according to the Daily Mail.
It is a big sum for a player who has made just 13 United appearances in the last four years.
Jones was gifted a framed memento by United chief Darren Fletcher as recognition of his service to the club.
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The centre-back also penned a farewell letter to supporters in which he emphasised his disappointment with his injury problems.
He wrote: “It’s been very difficult, the last couple of years. There’s no denying that. There is no hiding away from that.
“My family have been absolutely instrumental in keeping me on the straight and narrow and keeping me focused, to try to get fit and try to play more.
“And, you know, I’ve missed playing football. I missed it. You grow up playing football and all you want to do is play football.
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“It’s all I’ve known, from such a young age, is to do what you love doing for a living. I’ve been fortunate enough to do that, albeit not as much as I would have liked.”
Shedding some light on his work behind the scenes, he revealed: “I’ve worked tirelessly hard.
“I literally left no stone unturned. I tried to get back as quick as I could, every time I was out in the last couple of years.” More

THE shocking amount that Premier League clubs make from shirt sales has been revealed.Despite Britain being in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, all 10 Prem teams to have released their new kits have increased prices.
Manchester United have raised their shirt price to £80Credit: Instagram @manchesterunited
Arsenal have also raised their shirt price from £70 to £80Credit: Arsenal
Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham fans will all have to fork out an eye-watering £80 for their replica shirts.
United and the Gunners have raised their respective prices from £70, while Spurs charged £75 last year.
The price keeps rising if fans want to add Prem sleeve badges and a name and number – with these add-ons taking each total cost to £100.
Prem clubs are paid lucrative sums by their kit manufacturers.
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Chelsea agreed a staggering 15-year, £900million deal with Nike in 2016.
While Man United signed a ten-year, £750m contract with Adidas beginning in 2015.
In addition to these huge lump sums, Prem teams do still make some money from each individual sale.
According to the Mail, German sports marketing expert Dr Peter Rohlmann has revealed the break down of each £80 sum.
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James Maddison models Tottenham’s new £80 shirtCredit: Getty
Their report claims that from an £80 shirt, clubs receive a £4.80 licensing fee.
The retailer then gets £26.40 – meaning if the shirt is bought directly from the club, this money goes to them.
Manufacturers, Adidas in Man United and Arsenal’s case, then get £23.47.
Of the rest, £13.33 goes toward VAT, while £1.60 goes to local distribution and £2.40 on marketing.
Each shirt is claimed to cost £8 to make.
Clubs say that it is the manufacturer that sets the exorbitant prices.
Champions Manchester City have risen their shirt price from £70 to £75.
While Liverpool’s have similarly gone up from £69.95 to £74.95.
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Newcastle and Aston Villa have risen theirs to £70 from £65, with Everton hiking their shirt prices from £60 to £65.
Crystal Palace and Wolves are the other two teams to have announced their prices to date – raising them from £55 to £60. More

TWO Arsenal Invincibles were among a group of ex-Premier League stars to take part in a recent Powerleague five-aside event.A number of teams assembled in Birmingham for the Ladbrokes Players Cup final.
Five Premier League legends competed in a Powerleague fives tournamentCredit: Ladbrokes
Sixteen teams were in the second city with £20,000 on offer to the winners.
Slough Scorpionz saw off Barrowfield Bruisers 2-0 in the final… but then were then shocked to see a team of professionals arrive for a bonus “boss-level” game.
The impressive amateurs were given an opportunity to win a further £8,000… if they could beat the team of ex-pros.
Former Arsenal Invincibles Lauren, William Gallas and Jeremie Aliadiere were in action.
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They were joined by fellow ex-Prem stars Paddy Kenny and Clinton Morrison – as well as freestyler Olivia Weedall and Love Island ace Nas Majeed.
Slough Scorpions went on to produce a performance to remember, beating their highly-decorated opponents 6-3 to clinch the extra prize-money.
The match featured a moment of light-hearted drama.
At 4-1, Soccer Saturday favourite Morrison found himself sent to the sin-bin after shoving an opponent into the wall.
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Clinton Morrison ‘headbutted’ the refereeCredit: Ladbrokes
Fans cheered as Morrison was sin-binnedCredit: Ladbrokes
He then pleaded his case to referee Terence Wallen, only to be yellow-carded anyway.
Morrison then jokingly put his head into the official.
The whistler went sprawling to the turf, leading to the smiling former Ireland striker’s dismissal.
Assembled fans chanted “off” before unleashing a cheer as the 44-year-old was given his marching orders.
Morrison, the whole time seeing the funny side, then jokingly went in for another shove.
And incredibly he refused to go off, with the game carrying on moments later.
The former striker jokingly remonstrated with the officialCredit: Ladbrokes More

MAURICIO POCHETTINO is preparing to put his Chelsea squad through a brutal two-week training camp before pre-season gets underway.Interim boss Frank Lampard claimed the Blues needed “some physical work” when he took over from Graham Potter until the end of last season.
The Chelsea players are set to be put through their paces under Mauricio PochettinoCredit: PA
Pochettino is looking to restore high standards to Stamford BridgeCredit: Getty
And new head coach Pochettino, 51, looks set to try and address those fitness issues during his first weeks in charge.
Tottenham ranked second for distance covered during the Argentine’s time in North London.
While Southampton players have told horror stories of their pre-season boot camps.
Now he will attempt to implement similar practises at Stamford Bridge to get his Chelsea players up to speed.
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One of the main ways he plans to do this is through the “Gacon test” – which is described as an “intermittent shuttle run exercise”.
Explaining this technique in his book “Brave New World”, Pochettino said: “To start with, the players have 45 seconds to cover 150 metres, with a 15 seconds rest.
“In each subsequent 45-second rep, they have to run 6.25 metres further, with the intensity steadily increasing.”
Former Southampton striker Rickie Lambert recalled going into Pochettino to ask him to relax his relentless drills during his time at St Mary’s.
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He said: “I went out [of the office] and went back to the lads made up, thinking, ‘yep, just done it for you boys, next Monday gonna be sorted’.
“So, I played the game, 90 minutes again, come in Monday, not only did we do 12, we did 24 runs – 24 runs and I just knew, I was running around laughing and almost crying and I knew what he was doing, he was breaking me and he did, he broke me.”
Another ex-Saints man, Kelvin Davies, has also spoken about Poch’s rigorous training.
He told FourFourTwo: “One session went on for an hour and 15 minutes – a continuous half, it didn’t stop.
“I remember Morgan Schneiderlin sitting on the floor next to me after he’d tracked a run, saying, ‘F***ing hell, I think I’m going to die!’ Then he just got up and ran again.”
Pochettino’s Chelsea players can expect similar training routines ahead of their pre-season camp.
They face Wrexham in the Florida Cup in the US later this month, before taking on Borussia Dortmund in Illinois 10 days before their opening Premier League game at home to Liverpool.
Chelsea finished 12th last season, missing out on European football altogether.
It was their worst finish since the 1993/94 campaign when they came 14th under Glenn Hoddle. More