Pen pics of Liverpool's backroom staff.

Pepijn Lijnders has been appointed Head Coach of Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg and will take Vitor Matos with him from Liverpool as Assistant.

Former Liverpool Sporting Director Julian Ward is returning to the club as Technical Director for owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG). Ward stepped down as Sporting Director last summer and has taken a break from football for the last year.

Liverpool Goalkeeping Coach John Achterberg is leaving the club at the end of the season after 15 years.

David Woodfine is returning to Liverpool as Assistant Sporting Director - a year after leaving the club.

Natasha Patel is Assistant Academy Director at Southampton and one of the most experienced women working in men's professional football. In Episode #64 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, she outlined her journey in football, how analysis has evolved and her experiences on either side of the Atlantic.

RENE MARIC is one of the most exciting young coaches in Europe. At the age of 31, he is Head of Coach Development and Playing Philosophy at Bayern Munich and has worked for Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach. He told the TGG Podcast about his coaching journey and lessons.

LIVERPOOL and Google DeepMind have developed a “full AI system” that can “advise coaches on corner kicks.”

RICHARD HUGHES has been appointed as the new Sporting Director of Liverpool after a decade at Bournemouth.

MICHAEL EDWARDS has returned to Liverpool in the new role of CEO of Football. He said: "I will oversee the required reinforcement of football operations, with a number of essential leadership positions needing urgent attention."

RADHI JAIDI became the first Tunisian to play in the Premier League when he joined Sam Allardyce's Bolton in 2004 and he remains a trailblazer as one of the only black Muslim coaches in senior European football. On Episode #61 of the TGG Podcast, Jaidi told us about his journey as a player and coach.

LIVERPOOL’S Martin Diggle has been appointed as the new Academy Manager at Leeds United. Diggle has worked for Liverpool for almost five years as their Head of Coach Development, supporting the coaches across their Academy.

AS manager of League One Reading, Ruben Selles has one of the toughest jobs in the Football League. On Episode #60 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, he explained what it's like to lead the crisis club.

LIVERPOOL Sporting Director Jorg Schmadtke is to leave the club at the end of the January transfer window.

LIVERPOOL assistants Pepijn Lijnders, Peter Krawietz and Vitor Matos are to leave the club at the end of the season along with manager Jürgen Klopp. The German stunned fans this morning by announcing his decision to step down when the 2023/24 campaign comes to a close.

BELGIUM'S Union Saint-Gilloise have marked themselves out as one of the smartest and most innovative clubs in Europe. In Episode #59 of the TGG Podcast, their Sporting Director, Chris O'Loughlin, gave insights into how they are managing to upset the established order.

KEVIN THELWELL has been Director of Football during a tumultuous period at Everton. In Episode #58 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl, Thelwell talked about what his role involves, formulating a long-term plan for the club and what the future might hold.

FORMER Liverpool Head of Research Dr Ian Graham has said the “holy grail” of analytics is to be able to accurately assess the importance of a manager.

JES BUSTER MADSEN is Head of Research and Development at FC Copenhagen and a world leader in the application of cognitive neuroscience in football. In Episode #57 of the TGG Podcast he explained how and why brain training will be the next big growth area in football.

FOR the last decade, Mark Leyland has been one of the foremost analysts in this country - and has gone on to become even more than that. He spoke to TGG about the evolution of his role at Liverpool and Newcastle and his current job as Head of Coaching Methodology at City Football Group.

FOR almost a decade, Sarah Rudd was Vice President of Analytics for StatDNA and Arsenal, making her one of the most senior women in the Premier League. In this episode of the TGG Podcast, she told us about her work with Arsenal, her wider career and her thoughts on the future of analytics.

FORMER Liverpool Head of Research Ian Graham has launched his own consultancy called Ludonautics, which vows to "help sporting organisations improve their decision-making capabilities."

JORG SCHMADTKE has said he is effectively Jurgen Klopp’s ‘assistant’ in his role as Liverpool’s Sporting Director - and revealed that he will sit down with the club’s hierarchy at the end of the transfer window to discuss his future.

LIVERPOOL'S influential assistant Pep Lijnders was our guest on Episodes #53 and #54 of the TGG Podcast, giving in-depth insights into his work at the Anfield club.

PEP LIJNDERS explains why homegrown players will always remain fundamental to Liverpool, despite the clamour for signings - and outlines the principle behind the weekly 'Talent Group.'

LIVERPOOL have built a new cage football pitch nicknamed the ‘Melwood Arena’ to 'create the street' and improve their attacking play.

MANAGER Ian Evatt and Sporting Director Chris Markham are working in tandem to try and restore Bolton Wanderers to their former glories. They outlined their approach in Episode #52 of the TGG Podcast, in association with Hudl.

WHEN Irishman Conor Nestor got an unexpected opportunity to manage Svay Rieng in Cambodia, he grabbed it with both hands. He transformed the way they operated, including a complete revamp of their analysis and recruitment. Here he explains what he did and how it helped land the Cambodian league title.

ARSENAL have a fantastic record of producing athletic Academy graduates. In Episode #50 of the TGG Podcast Des Ryan, the club's former Head of Academy Sports Medicine and Athletic Development, explains why and how.

JORG SCHMADTKE has been appointed as Liverpool’s new Sporting Director, succeeding Julian Ward. The German, 59, spent more than four years in the same role with Bundesliga side Wolfsburg before leaving at the start of this year.

LIVERPOOL Loans Manager David Woodfine is leaving the club after almost nine years. He is their latest senior departure, with the exits of Sporting Director Julian Ward and Director of Research Ian Graham having already been announced.

BENFICA are the reigning UEFA Youth League champions and have the most profitable Academy in Europe. Their Technical Director Pedro Marques was our guest on Episode #49 of the TGG Podcast in association with Hudl.

JURGEN KLOPP has made important changes to Liverpool's pre-season after learning some key lessons from last season.

OUR guest on Episode #48 of the Training Ground Guru Podcast is Norwich City's Stuart Webber, who we've often described as the 'purest' example of a Sporting Director in this country.

IN Episode #47 of the Training Ground Guru Podcast, Tom Vernon tells us about the origins of Right to Dream, its objectives and what the rest of football can learn from the group.

PROFESSOR David Sumpter is a pioneer of the application of data science in football and has worked with leading teams including Ajax, Barcelona, Hammarby and England. In Episode #46 of the TGG Podcast he gives insights into his work and predictions for the future.

WILL SPEARMAN has been promoted to replace Ian Graham as Director of Research at Liverpool at the end of this season.

LIVERPOOL Under-18s coach Jay Spearing has revealed he was rushed to hospital on Christmas Eve with a life-threatening condition.

BRENTFORD first-team coach Justin Cochrane tells us about his coaching journey on Episode #45 of the TGG Podcast.

JULIAN WARD is to step down as Liverpool’s Sporting Director at the end of the season after one year in post.

LIVERPOOL’S Director of Research, Ian Graham, has resigned from his role and will leave Anfield after more than a decade. The Welshman joined Liverpool in July 2012 and became a key figure at the club, building the leading data science department in the Premier League and perhaps even in Europe.

MIKE GORDON, the conduit between Liverpool and owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG), is stepping back from his role with the club and “handing the baton” to CEO Billy Hogan.

SALLY NEEDHAM is the Human Development and Performance Culture Lead at Sheffield United's Academy. On Episode #44 of the TGG Podcast she gives us the lowdown on her unique role.

RUI FARIA is the most successful number two in football history. Here he gives in-depth insights into his time working alongside Jose Mourinho.

SEAN DYCHE explains the lessons he has learned throughout his career, from being a trainee under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest to taking unfashionable Burnley into Europe for the first time in 51 years.

LIVERPOOL Academy Director Alex Inglethorpe has signed a new long-term contract with the club after almost a decade’s service.

STEVEN REID left his role as first-team coach at Nottingham Forest earlier this summer to become a confidence, wellbeing and leadership coach. On Episode #41 of the TGG Podcast he explains the reasons why and gives insights into his two decades as a Premier League player and coach.

ANDREAS SCHLUMBERGER has been promoted to Head of Medicine and Fitness by Liverpool, while Frigyes Vanden Auweele has joined the club in the new position of Head of Osteopathy.

DAMIEN COMOLLI tells TGG about the strategies he has employed to restore Toulouse FC to the top table of French football - and how they were honed during three decades in the game.

JAY SPEARING is returning to Liverpool after nine years to become a player-coach with their Academy.

IN April, Southampton announced that they were launching a “unique” Learning Lab that would embed a “research culture focused on modern Ecological Approaches” in their club and Academy. TGG decided to find out more by welcoming two members of the Learning Lab Board onto our podcast.

SOCIAL media is rife with conspiracy theories about the prevalence of asthma within Liverpool's squad and their use of inhalers. We decided to do a fact check about them with the country's leading expert on asthma in elite sport.

AUSTRALIA assistant Rene Meulensteen was our guest on Episode #38 of the TGG Podcast. He told us about his coaching journey from Holland to Australia via Manchester United and the lessons learned along the way in front of a live audience..

JURGEN KLOPP has paid tribute to his ‘invaluable’ assistants Pepijn Lijnders and Peter Krawietz after they joined him in signing two-year contract extensions at Liverpool to 2026.

ANDREAS GEORGSON gives us insights into individual development coaching, evolving set pieces at the highest level, Malmö's youth development secrets and what it was like to work under Arteta.

THE Training Ground Guru Podcast is celebrating its third birthday. We look back on the 37 episodes we've had so far - and ahead to season four.

FOR 24 years, Francis Cagigao was one of the most important and influential figures at Arsenal. He tells TGG about his time with the North London club and about his new role, as Director of Football for Chile.

BRENTFORD'S journey to the Premier League is a story of innovation, clever use of data and investment in people. We found out more about this from their Director of Football, Phil Giles.

MARIELA NISOTAKI is the Head of Emerging Talent at Norwich City - and the only female scout on the circuit in the UK. She told us what her job involves, how she balances data with live eyes and why Norwich are an ambitious club doing things their own way.

In Episode #33 of the TGG Podcast, Chris Ramsey MBE tells us about his role at QPR, his career journey, how he develops coaches and why the game has lost a generation of black leaders.

BRAZILIAN World Cup winner Claudio Taffarel is joining Liverpool’s backroom staff as they look to build their “own philosophy in goalkeeping”.

JULIAN WARD is to replace Michael Edwards as Liverpool’s Sporting Director at the end of the season.

GREGG BROUGHTON is the Academy Director at Bodø/Glimt, the small club making a big noise in European football. He was our guest on Episode #32 of the TGG Podcast.

OWEN EASTWOOD, who has worked with the England men's football team since 2016, shares insights about building an optimum environment for teams and athletes to thrive.

LUKE BORNN, the former Head of Analytics at AS Roma, tells us about his own journey, and that of data science in football.

DAVE ALRED MBE shares the secrets for performing under pressure that he's used with Jonny Wilkinson, Luke Donald, Francesco Molinari and even Gareth Southgate

IN just 20 months, Russell Martin has marked himself out as one of the most interesting and original English managers in the game. He told TGG more about his approach, covering topics including Buddhism, politics, playing without fear, work-life balance and the importance of sticking to Plan A.

MICHAEL BEALE gives an insight into the training ground methods that helped Rangers land their first title in a decade.

CHELSEA WOMEN manager Emma Hayes on some of the key influences on her career and how they helped to shape her leadership philosophy.

LAURENCE STEWART, the Head of Recruitment for AS Monaco, explains the core principles of the club's transfer strategy.

PLAYERS from Liverpool and Manchester City’s Academy and women’s teams are to wear special mouthguards during training as part of a landmark study into head injuries in football.

RENOWNED coach and coach educator Brian Ashton MBE tells TGG the lessons he has learned from five decades in the profession.

AZ ALKMAAR Sport Development Director Marijn Beuker outlines how the club outperform their budget by thinking differently.

LIVERPOOL legend and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher tells TGG how he analyses matches and aims to take fans inside the world of the manager's post-match debrief.

JURGEN KLOPP says Liverpool have hired the “number one in Germany” in new Head of Recovery and Performance Andreas Schlumberger.

UNDER-16s lead Dan Micciche outlines the key principles of Arsenal's Academy and how they go about developing 'Strong Young Gunners.'

LIVERPOOL have appointed Dr Andreas Schlumberger as their new Head of Recovery and Performance.

JULIAN WARD has been promoted from Loans Manager to Assistant Sporting Director by Liverpool.

BRIGHTON Technical Director Dan Ashworth explains what the role involves and why he believes it’s so important.

MARK LEYLAND has been promoted to Head of Post-Match and Elite Player Analysis by Liverpool following the departure of Harrison Kingston to Moroccan Football Federation earlier this month.

LIVERPOOL’S Head of Post-Match Analysis, Harrison Kingston, has left the club after eight years to join the Moroccan Football Federation.

EVERTON assistant Davide Ancelotti was the guest on episode #19 of the TGG Podcast. The 31-year-old talked about growing up with a famous father, gave insights into his role, explained why Dominic Calvert-Lewin was "the best striker we could have" and opened up about his own managerial ambitions.

LIVERPOOL will move into their new £50m training centre in Kirkby in mid to late November, the club have announced.

JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ has left Liverpool after two years, making him the third physio to exit the Premier League champions this year.

Eddie Jones, Tom Vernon, Dave Reddin, Lorraine O'Malley and Karen Bardsley outline what they believe will be the big developments in football in the coming months and years.

MIKE YATES didn't quite make it as a player at Liverpool, but the club's educational support helped him become a key coach in their Academy.

LIVERPOOL Academy Manager Alex Inglethorpe takes TGG inside the club's Kirkby training centre and explains the principles that underpin one of the most successful youth programmes in English football.

PHILIPP JACOBSEN, Liverpool’s Medical Rehabilitation and Performance Manager, is leaving the club after little more than two years.

FOR the last two years, Liverpool have been working with Paris tech firm SkillCorner, which is able to turn broadcast footage into valuable data and insights.

FORMER Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and West Ham midfielder Gary O'Neil has taken his first job in coaching as assistant of Liverpool's Under-23s.

DR PIPPA GRANGE, the former Head of People and Team Development for the Football Association, tells us about the differences between winning deep and shallow.

IN the final instalment of his series on the five key roles for high-performing teams, David Slemen explains why the Non-Executive Director (NED) is so important.

SENIOR PHYSIO Chris Morgan is leaving Arsenal after two years to return to Liverpool.

THERE are things that Liverpool do behind the scenes that are better than anyone else. When put together, they have made the Reds unassailable.

LIVERPOOL Director of Research Ian Graham says that although manager Jürgen Klopp “intuitively understands the numbers”, he does not have "day-to-day or week-to-week" contact with the club's data team.

MANCHESTER UNITED Academy Manager Nick Cox lays out the key tenets of the club's youth programme, including the belief that there is a higher purpose than just producing professional footballers.

BARRY LEWTAS has been promoted to Under-23 boss at Liverpool, while Marc Bridge-Wilkinson steps up to take charge of the U18s.

LIVERPOOL performance psychologist Lee Richardson says “acceptance” has become the key word for the club during lockdown.

DANNY COWLEY lays out his footballing philosophy, which he described as "old-school values with new methods".

LIVERPOOL'S Lead Data Scientist, William Spearman, delivers a step-by-step guide on how he builds pitch control models and quantifies the creation of space.

FORMER Liverpool captain Jamie Carragher says the club have lost “respect and goodwill” by becoming the fifth Premier League side to ask for taxpayer money to fund their staff wages.

TONY STRUDWICK says building relationships is still the most important skill for any practitioner, despite the increasing influence of data and science in football.

GÉRARD HOULLIER is the "most underrated" Liverpool manager. according to Jamie Carragher, but he brought the club into the 21st Century and his legacy is still felt to this day,

LIVERPOOL Under-23 coach Neil Critchley has been appointed Head Coach of League One Blackpool on a contract to the end of the 2022/23 season.

LIVERPOOL have hired another physio from rivals Manchester City with Steve Lilley joining the Anfield club next month.

BLACKBURN have been one of the surprise packages of the Championship season so far - and 35-year-old Stewart Downing has been their talisman. He tells TGG about the astute management of Tony Mowbray and how it's helped prolong his career.

LIVERPOOL physio Richie Partridge is leaving the club in March to work for the Qatar national team.

GARY O’DRISCOLL is leaving Arsenal after 11 years to become Head of Medical Services at Liverpool.

ENGLAND rugby coach Eddie Jones shares insights gleaned from three decades in coaching, ranging from the influence of Pep Guardiola to managing mavericks to tactical periodisation.

TIM WASKETT, one of the unsung heroes from Liverpool's data science team, explains the work they do in the Royal Institute Christmas Lectures.

ANDY MASSEY, described by Liverpool as their ‘master of medicine’, is leaving the club after six and a half years to become the new Director of Medical at Fifa.

MLADEN SORMAZ, Head of Football Analytics at Leicester City; Luke Benstead, Head of Performance Analysis and Innovation for Belgium, and Ed Sulley, Director of Customer Solutions for Hudl, discuss the current state of data science in football and where it could be headed.

PEPIJN LIJNDERS has revealed how counterpressing - the foundation of Liverpool’s playing philosophy - “comes back in every exercise” at their training ground.

LIVERPOOL'S new Elite Development Coach, Vitor Matos, explains what his role involves and how he is a 'connector' between Academy and first team.

LIVERPOOL’S Director of Research, Ian Graham, says the club have developed a metric called ‘goal probability added’ to assess players.

PAUL BALSOM, Leicester City’s highly-experienced Head of Performance Innovation, says a rare alchemy has taken the side to heady heights in the Premier League this season.

LIVERPOOL have struck a deal with Loughborough University which will see them play some of their Academy matches on campus.

WYSCOUT founder Matteo Campodonico explains how he came up with the idea for the scouting and analysis platform, how clubs use it and why he believes Big Data will transform the way it is used.

LEEDS UNITED Sporting Director Victor Orta says the club’s recruitment policy is 70% human judgement and 30% data.

VITOR MATOS, 31, takes up the position previously held by Pepijn Lijnders, who left Liverpool for NEC Nijmegen in January 2018 and returned six months later as assistant manager.

LIVERPOOL chief executive Peter Moore says the club has “merged digital and analogue” to create “the essence of a modern football club”.

A LEADING podiatrist says clubs need to re-think how close artificial grass is placed next to touchlines in their stadiums following an ankle injury suffered by Liverpool's Divock Origi at the weekend.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE players performed more than twice as many sprints over 30km/hr in 2018/19 compared to the previous season, Uefa’s Technical Report has shown.

LES FERDINAND charts his journey from star player to Director of Football at QPR and laments the fact that bigger clubs are now “stockpiling” young talent.

RHYS LONG, Head of Performance Analysis and Insight for the Football Association, outlines his philosophy in the Training Ground Guru Podcast.

DAVE REDDIN, the Football Association’s Head of Team Strategy and Performance, tells the TGG Podcast that sports science is creating a generation of players with “limited physical capabilities”.

THIS month we go behind the scenes at the TGG Youth Development Conference in Manchester, with speakers Kris Van Der Haegen, Leigh Bromby and John McGuigan.

BEFORE leading his side into their second straight Champions League final, manager Jurgen Klopp has been explaining his leadership philosophy.

LIVERPOOL manager Jurgen Klopp has paid tribute to his new-look backroom team and ‘the details that make it all’ ahead of next Saturday’s Champions League final against Tottenham in Madrid.

TGG gets a tour of Burnley's Academy, which is on the verge of going from Category 3 to 1 inside three years.

FORMER Birmingham, Derby and Stoke manager Gary Rowett is joined by his former Head of Performance, Dave Carolan, and Head of Analysis, Joe Carnall, for the first episode of the new Training Ground Guru podcast.

LIVERPOOL assistant Zeljko Buvac has now officially left the club - more than eight months after walking out on the eve of their Champions League semi-final against Roma.

IN his first interview since leaving Liverpool in November 2017, former Head Physio Andy Renshaw reflects on his eight years at the club and explains what he's doing now.

THE new Nations League has dramatically increased playing time for some players, research has shown.

MANCHESTER CITY Head Physio Lee Nobes is leaving the club after 11 years to join rivals Liverpool.

MATT KONOPINSKI, who has been acting up as Liverpool’s Head Physio since November 2017, is leaving to take up a new job with the Football Association.

LIVERPOOL have appointed Jack Robinson as their new first-team goalkeeper coach to assist John Achterberg.

THE newest member of Liverpool's coaching staff explains his craft.

LIVERPOOL have sacked physio Ruben Pons as they revamp their medical department ahead of the upcoming season.

GERMAN Philipp Jacobsen has been appointed to the new position of medical rehabilitation and performance manager by Liverpool.

PEPIJN LIJNDERS has returned to Liverpool after six months as head coach of NEC Nijmegen in Holland.

LIVERPOOL’s Jordan Milsom has been appointed Head of Performance by Rangers.

FORMER Olympic sprinter Craig Pickering knows what it's like to make a massive mistake in front of a global audience. He offers Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius some advice about the road to redemption.

STEVEN GERRARD has been confirmed as the new manager of Rangers after signing a four-year deal with the Glasgow club.

STEVEN GERRARD is set to be announced as Rangers manager this afternoon - and is expected to take members of his current Liverpool Under-18s backroom staff with him to Ibrox.

LIVERPOOL assistant manager Zeljko Buvac has stepped down from his position and his future at the club is uncertain.

LIVERPOOL defender Dejan Lovren says manager Jurgen Klopp demands a front-foot style from his defenders that has risks but even more rewards.

LIVERPOOL loan manager Julian Ward reveals how the club chooses where to send players and why it's so important for their development.

LIVERPOOL Development Coach Pepijn Lijnders - described as ‘unbelievably important’ by manager Jurgen Klopp - is leaving immediately to become head coach of NEC Nijmegen in Holland.

MATT KONOPINSKI has been appointed temporary Head Physio at Liverpool following the departure of Andy Renshaw last month.

JURGEN KLOPP has praised Liverpool’s analysts after Philippe Coutinho’s clever free-kick goal against Brighton.

DEVELOPMENT COACH Pepijn Lijnders says the quality of Liverpool’s Academy players - and the club’s willingness to use them - will give a critical advantage over Premier League rivals.

LIVERPOOL have dismissed Head Physio Andy Renshaw, who had been at the club for more than eight years.

LIVERPOOL are the first Premier League team to start using infrared thermography software produced by a Spanish company called ThermoHuman.

LIVERPOOL’S Head Physio, Andy Renshaw, has hit back at critics of the club’s injury record, insisting the medical department achieve ‘outstanding’ results.

LIVERPOOL defender Dejan Lovren says he has been taking ‘five painkillers before every game’ - despite warnings about the overuse of medication from leading experts.

MICHAEL BEALE has returned to Liverpool as head of coaching for the foundation phase at the Kirkby Academy.

HEAD PHYSIO Andy Renshaw explained what happens in a Liverpool medical as Naby Keita completed his switch to Anfield this morning.

ANY goalkeeper in the world would make mistakes for Liverpool because of their attacking style of play, according to Reds coach John Achterberg.

LIVERPOOL legend Steven Gerrard says coaching is completely different to playing and that stars who expect top jobs are “cutting corners”.

LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp has picked out six key backroom staff without whom he would be ‘nothing’.

ENGLISHMAN Michael Beale has resigned from his job as assistant manager of São Paulo.

ARSENAL have appointed Darren Burgess, Liverpool's former Head of Fitness and Conditioning, as their new Head of Elite Performance.

WEST BROM won the Premier League fitness title in 2016/17, with the lowest number of significant injuries and days lost to injury.

LIVERPOOL and Tottenham are taking a “risk too far” with their players by flying them thousands of miles to play friendlies this week, says the MD of one of Fifa’s medical centres of excellence.

LEADING sports scientist Tim Gabbett has defended Liverpool’s approach to training after Raymond Verheijen described it as a ‘mess’.

JURGEN KLOPP says Chelsea have been ‘lucky’ with injuries this season, leading his old nemesis Raymond Verheijen to claim the German has created a ‘mess’ at Liverpool.

STEVEN GERRARD vowed to switch the focus away from “showboating” and “lollipops” as he was unveiled as Liverpool’s new Under-18s manager today.

SAO PAULO assistant Michael Beale says English football has suffered because of a focus on developing teams instead of individuals at youth level.

LIVERPOOL’S Andy O’Boyle has been appointed as the new Head of Elite Performance at the Premier League.

LIVERPOOL have been banned from signing academy players from other clubs for at least a year after being found to have tapped up a 12-year-old Stoke City player and offered both him and his family inducements.

BARCELONA are already one of the main clients of Dorset-based Elite Skills Arena - which seems fitting for a company vowing to bring Tiki Taka to any club or country.