Gm football fans. Route One here, where we digest the football news so you don't get an information bellyache.

Today’s briefing is a ~5 min read:

1. Spurs are the latest club to break the rules 🚨

2. Stats: Liverpool’s home record is mind-blowing 🤯

3. Newcastle’s emails leaked… here’s everything you need to know 📧

Morning Brief 🗞️

SPURS BROKE THE RULES 🚨

Routers, we can’t keep up.

Every. Single. Day… a club breaks the rules.

Yesterday, The Times broke a new story.

This time it’s about Tottenham… who are accused of breaking agent rules in 2008 in relation to Jermain Defoe’s transfer from Portsmouth.

An unlicensed agent, Mitchell Thomas, was a “central figure” in dotting the t’s and crossing the i’s. Something like that.

Ok… but let’s take a few steps back.

Firstly, who really cares? Let’s be honest, Defoe was a decent player but it’s not like he changed the Premier League.

Secondly, it was 15 years ago.

We can’t decide whether the guy leading this operation deserves a raise or should be sacked for wasting valuable resources.

And, guess what… the last time this happened (to Luton) they were slapped with a 10-point fine.

This might end up being the lowest-scoring Premier League campaign to date.

QUICK HIT STATS 💉

😲 Liverpool’s home record since March 2021 is unreal. They’ve won 37 games, drawn 10 and lost 1.

😬 Fernandes and Rashford’s on-pitch relationship is declining as they average one shot every 117 minutes. The duo are yet to combine for a goal this season.

🤕 196 injuries have been reported in the Premier League so far this season. This marks a 15% increase compared to the last four seasons.

👏🏼 Rico Lewis’s England debut made him the second-youngest Man City player to play for the national team (18 years, 364 days), behind only Micah Richards in 2006. Burst.

⚽️ Harry Kane has been directly involved in 33 goals in 20 appearances for club and country this season. Astonishing numbers.

NEWCASTLE’S TAKE-OVER EMAIL LEAK 📧

Our job at Route One is to make things simple for you. 

If you’ve ever read the yawn-fest that is The Athletic, you’ll understand why we do what we do.

The Athletic has issued a freedom of information request (FOI) to understand Saudi’s Newcastle United takeover and the involvement of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia.

To save you a good chunk of your day, we’ve summarised what you need to know.

1/ The Athletic obtained 27 pages of government emails

This was part of an FOI request… to shed light on discussions between the UK government and the Premier League.

Why? Concerns were raised that the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) takeover of Newcastle would mean greater influence by the Saudi government.

2/ The UK government were prepared for criticism

Both parties knew the takeover would be a PR problem.

The government prepared communication statements for most possibilities.

Further, the Premier League's insistence on the separation of control led to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of PIF, becoming a non-executive chairman, with Amanda Staveley assumed to run the club.

Staveley was also instructed to prepare to answer questions related to ethical concerns around the takeover.

The UK government was eager to distance itself publicly from the takeover, emphasising in communications that it was not involved in the deal itself.

3/ But… the emails show they were in favour of the takeover

Look, the takeover might well have been based on legally binding assurances that the Saudi government wouldn't be involved.

Fine. We accept that.

But, the UK government were definitely in favour of making the takeover happen.

That’s not to say it’s a bad thing. One of the notes said that the PIF already has “circa $12bn” invested in the UK and that “this will lead to further investment in the northeast”.

This is true… and should replicate Emirati’s investment following the purchase of Manchester City.

Do these emails reveal much? Not really.

But they’re an interesting insight into how these deals work… at least.

EXTRA-TIME ⏱️

Should we have a national election to choose the England manager? This TalkSport fan proposes a three-tier voting system to democratically elect the main man. Cundy and O’Hara struggle to get on board with the idea. 🤣

USA players turn on teammate Sergino Dest in the game against Trinidad and Tobago. The defender picked up two yellow cards in 30 seconds and, boy, his teammates weren’t happy.

Ten years ago, one of the best national team games took place. Ibrahimović scored two while Ronaldo got a hat-trick, in a thriller which saw the Portuguese qualify for the 2014 World Cup. Two superstars doing superstar things.

Cheeky or illegal? Beşiktaş's second goal to make it 3-2 against Fenerbahçe in the women's derby, wasn't disallowed despite this crafty move.

Harry Kane built his ultimate striker for ESPN. Peter Crouch’s heading makes the cut and Messi misses out completely. Tbh, we are not sure what to make his choices.

MEME 😆