Saka returns to training! | Sweeney survives crisis vote | Longer transfer windows ahead!?
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm David Garrido and joining me are The Sun's football reporter Jack Rosser and the Daily Mail's chief sports feature writer, Riaf Al-Samourai. Welcome along to you both.

So we're going to start off with your paper, Jack, the sun and that headline, mad and glad Gunners boost as rail face four man ban and Saka's ready to return. Let's start off with the second part of that first, shall we? And talk about Bakayo Saka, of course, has been out for three months with this hamstring injury. Simple picture, simple caption. Hello again.

I just wonder, first of all, before we talk about his return, how much do you feel that Arsenal's season might have been different? I know this has had a lot of injuries, but particularly Saka, had he been fit, available and playing? Yeah, I think the fact that he's still there...

biggest achiever in terms of goals and assists having been out for the last three months says it all really they've not just him as well when Odegaard was unavailable earlier in the season they they really struggled as well it's sort of everyone fitted in around those two players and if you take one of those out of any team really they're going to struggle of course Arsenal have had a number of injuries elsewhere which certainly hasn't helped them but losing the leadership and

And the mentality of players like Odegaard and Saka and the creativity and efficiency in terms of finishing that Saka brings has been massive for them. They've not quite had the ability to take the chances that Liverpool have, the few chances that Liverpool have offered them up to keep a Premier League title race alive this season. And you definitely have to feel, and you'd imagine Mikel Arteta will certainly feel, that having a player of...

Saka's quality and how he lifts everyone in the team would have made such a huge difference. And I think it's fantastic news for them, of course, that he's going to be back in time to play in what's now the biggest game of their season against Real Madrid. The Premier League is gone. The domestic cups are gone. It's all on the Champions League now and they face an incredibly, incredibly difficult tie with Real.

the team that are so synonymous with the Champions League and like we saw in the last leg, always seem to find a way when it looks like they're not going to manage it. Having the boost back of Saka in for that, maybe getting a little run out in the Premier League just before that as well, is fantastic news for them. Yeah, listen, I think if you look at the back page of the star, Saka back, the first part of the headline, Bakaya says hello again, back in training. But I wonder, Riyadh,

When would you actually play him, potentially start him? Jack says maybe get a run out in the Premier League, but how would you manage, if you were Mikel Arteta, these next few games as far as Saka is concerned?

I'm just still rather drawn to that headline. Yeah, look, you've got to be careful. It's a hamstring and, you know, sort of this old nonsensical saying you heard years ago, you can kind of talk to a knee injury but a hamstring won't listen. You don't rush these things. They are incredibly delicate. He is about speed, dynamism, quick turns. You don't want to, you really don't want to be taking a chance with that and

You know, look, the Champions League's there the rest of the season. You know, they're second. I would say they're pretty safe for the top four, but they're not going to win the league. So, you know, you sort of, you choose your games carefully. I think the Fulham game, I think there would be a degree of insanity here.

been using him in that on Tuesday. But the Real Madrid match is definitely in view. Look, he's just come back. And I think one thing that's important to remember is as well, when he was first injured, we go back to December, the initial prognosis for that was two months. It's now far closer to three months. So already this is

got the appearance of an injury that was more complicated than first thought. It was a major problem. They've got to be very careful with him. And when we talk about Saka, I remember various conversations a couple of years ago when he was already prominent, but he'd gone on this absolutely astonishing run of starts and minutes. And there were guys who'd been very, very close to the Arsenal Academy set-up, people like Liam Brady saying,

You've got to be careful with him. You can't burn him out. There was already this concern about the amount of minutes that he had in his legs. And I've often sort of wondered with sort of a muscular injury like this, is that partially a legacy of how much he was used in those early days? So I think if there's going to be any message from it, it's just you have to be extremely careful. And

I would add to all of that, Waniere, I've loved watching him when he's played off on that right flank. You know, you see an injury and then someone else gets an opportunity and he's been one of those guys who puts a smile on your face, a lot like Saka. So, you know, there has been that side to it. But, you know, now that you've got him back, they've got to keep him in some level of cotton wool and just ensure he can get to the end of the season and get some kind of break in.

into his legs so that he can recharge and have a proper season next year. I wonder, Jack, actually, look, this is on the front page of the Sport section of the Telegraph as well, that picture of Bukayo Saka. Look who's back. Saka return, boost for Arsenal as Real stars face European ban. We'll talk about the Real Madrid side and the situation with these four players in a moment. But I just wonder, in terms of the complexion of this tie,

and how Arsenal approach it. You mentioned this is the only thing really left for them. Whereas for Real Madrid, it's a very different situation. They're in broad, a very tight title battle in La Liga. They're in the Copa del Rey semifinals as well and the Champions League. They want all these trophies. Do you think that Arsenal, given the fact that this is just the last chance, might play with that joy, that freedom that I suppose Riyad was...

alluding to in terms of the style of Saka himself and players like Noanier who love to attack, to hit the real sort of margins of the pitch to stretch the game and really give Real something to think about. That's the test, really. Our test will want them to go and play with that joy and to really seize this chance, whether they can do it or whether they feel the pressure of this being the final thing they can go and

achieve something in this season is the real test for them you'd hope that characters like Odegaard Saka Declan Rice can seize that moment rather than be over overawed by it and

But facing Real Madrid is another thing that's added into that, taking on the kings of Europe as well. It should be a fantastic chance to really go and make a statement. And I think the benefit of having Saka back for these games is having been the second leg of the Madrid derby in the last round.

I genuinely think they might have a slightly better chance against Real Madrid in that they do leave more space. Atletico didn't really try and open it up because they knew that they couldn't really do that if they were going to try and get a result. But Saka will be able to exploit those spaces that Real can leave at times. And again, I think the dilemma they will have in terms of how much they use him, as Riyad was just talking about, is...

The second leg is the decisive one. Do you start him in that first leg when you've got the home advantage and you want to make a statement? Or do you have to take the balanced approach and rest him for what is the all-important one, the second leg in Madrid, where it will actually get decided? But again, his character is a part of this in taking on that challenge, going to somewhere like the Bernabeu and having to stand up to that and make his mark on it as long as he can stay fit and be at the level we know he can be for that game.

Back page of the Mirror also references this story, but let's focus on the second half of the headline again here. So, Saka's back as four Real stars face Champions League ban. So, this could sort of tilt the tide slightly in favour of Arsenal, should this be the case. But, I mean, to think of actually four players being banned, Riyadh, perhaps is maybe pushing it a little bit. But first of all, can you just explain why they're facing this ban in the first place?

So the UEFA have announced this investigation into Rudiger Mbappe, Caballos and Vinicius Junior. So it sort of all goes back to the Atletico game in the last 16. They've sent, according to some reports I've seen, they've sent four videos to UEFA. Atletico have sent

alleging indecent conduct. So I'll just go through my list here. So Rudigerio appears to be a throat-slitting gesture. Mbappe has grabbed his crotch.

Kibaios has done the universal signal for up yours. I think we can say that. And Vinicius Jr. has just had a running battle with the crowd throughout the match. Now, I find the interesting one there, I find, is Mbappe. Because, of course, I don't know, Atletico, presumably for Mbappe,

full of neighbourly love, would like to see Real Madrid hindered in some way. But I kind of go back to 2019 in Juventus when Diego Simeone did the exact same gesture. I believe he escaped a touchline ban. So we might be talking about some precedent there. And likewise, Jude Bellingham in the Euros against Slovakia matchup.

performed the same gesture I think is probably the cleanest description and he also got a one game suspended ban so I wouldn't necessarily be pinning an enormous amount of hope on a suspension in that regard the Rudiger one that could be

That could be potentially more problematic, the throat-slitting gesture. So, you know, I would be surprised, shall we say, and this has nothing to do with ongoing suggestions of conspiracies that entirely favour Real Madrid at every juncture, but I would be surprised if suspensions followed.

How do you think this will likely play out, Jack? You mentioned, by the way, Bellingham, it was a one-match extended ban and a fine of around £25,000 for that crotch-grabbing gesture. So that seems to be the way that it's headed in previous times, rather than a straight ban. Would you suggest we're likely to see all four players line up for Real Madrid for that first leg of their Champions League quarter-final?

I'd imagine so, yeah. I think if I was working within Arsenal, you wouldn't suddenly start planning for a game without all four of them being involved in the Real Madrid line-up. And it's...

especially it's something that could add to there's been a lot of talk around conspiracy at Real Madrid in terms of officiating within Spanish football this season and UEFA certainly won't want to draw themselves into that to just raise this up to another level so while it's you know very exciting for Arsenal fans to hope and pray that they're going to be facing a Real Madrid team Sean of some incredible players you know Mbappe and Vinicius are such a dangerous pair up front especially you know Rodrigo on the other side doing

a lot of the hard work for them as well but those two are the ones that Arsenal are really going to be worried about and unfortunately for them I think they're still going to have to worry about them but it is something that you know Arsenal can use maybe draw on if it doesn't quite go their way and they feel that it's something UEFA should have looked at a bit more but again going back to rising to that challenge of beating a team like this you want to go up against a Real Madrid team that has

all of these players. And if you're going to make a statement as a team that believes they can win the Champions League season this season, you want to knock out the holders when they're at their strongest as well. Let's go to the back page of the Eye. The Premier League clubs have been meeting today and they've decided what they're going to do around the transfer window this summer or windows, obviously.

I should say, because there's actually two of them. Longer transfer window hands United PSR boost clubs have 10 more days to offload players. And Riyadh, this is because of this exceptional registration period at the start, isn't it? The 1st, the 10th of June, before then it reopens on the 16th of June and then goes all the way through to the 1st of September. There is method in the sort of madness here, isn't there?

Yeah, so first of all, it's kind of mandated by this FIFA rule. You're allowed to have 89 days of transfer trading during the summer. That's part of a 16-week block for the season. Now, to break that down, because you've got this great big wedge of what I would call a relevance in the middle, otherwise known as the Club World Cup,

Everything gets shunted a little bit further backwards. Now, to go to to go to Matthews's story there in the eye where this might have some level of practical impact is around those clubs with PSR concerns. So there, you know, the time for getting your books balanced, June the 30th.

They've now got an extra 10 days in June that could theoretically favour Man Utd, Newcastle, Villa, clubs like that who have been sailing quite close to the PSL.

the PSR win. Now, again, just to sort of resurrect an old grudge of mine, this does seem like, again, an awful lot of fuss for the sake of the Club World Cup. At some point, we're probably all going to have to accept that it's happening, it's here, and people have to cut their cut cloth accordingly. Now, there was another detail in Matt Hughes' story there that I did find interesting, which is

Obviously now this, the transfer window is going to go into the new season. And for, according to the reporting there in the eye, you had 19 out of 20 technical directors had all been in fair, had been in favor of that window shutting on August the 14th and giving teams a clean run into the new season. This is your, this is your squad. Get on with it. That's now,

No longer the case because, of course, the clubs have voted unanimously for the longer window. And that will, of course, be down to financial reasons and also quite reasonably not wanting to be caught short while other windows around the world, up to and including Saudi Arabia, are still open.

Yeah, that's in fact mentioned by Sam Wallace as well in the Telegraph. And Jack, the headline here, owners reject proposal to shut the transfer window early. I mean, it does make a lot of sense, doesn't it? You just don't want to lose that significant player and not be able to replace and effectively just align with the rest of Europe with what they're doing, admittedly having to accommodate the Club World Cup as well.

It does, yeah, from that sense. I think owners will be certainly scared of a big bid from Saudi Arabia coming in because it sounds like they're gearing up again for another big summer, a big bid coming in from them for one of their star players.

that they simply can't turn down, especially if they are one of those clubs, as discussed earlier, that has a couple of PSL problems maybe continuing into the next financial year that they know they're going to have to deal with. If they get an offer big enough, then it's going to be hard to turn it down. But I think you can understand the frustrations from the sporting directors, the technical directors, and certainly I know it's a thing that a few managers have been upset with in the last couple of years, that deals are seeming to drag on and on and on.

and maybe cause more disruption than losing a player in the circumstances if the window shuts a bit earlier. There's been real frustration from coaches that seemingly simple deals that they should have planned for haven't been able to get over the line. And that's something that obviously bringing it earlier ends that sort of confusion, ends those sort of problems, and would have been a nicer position for a lot of managers to be in.

Let's change tack, shall we, and look at the back page of The Times. And do you know what? Actually, looking at this headline, in fact, the first paragraph or two of Alex Lowe's piece, Riyadh, it's the strength of the adjectives that really gets me here. Sweeney sees off rebels, an emphatic win, face down a grassroots rebellion, a dramatic vote.

Revelations about record levels of exec pay and bonuses triggered a revolt from disgruntled factions of the whole of the community game. I mean, you know, this has been a real kind of dramatic tale, hasn't it, with Bill Sweeney as RFU chief exec and his travails over the last few months, given, I suppose, you know, the perceptions about how much he's being paid, given, you know, the RFU, you know, making a lot of cuts.

But how significant is this today, managing to have that emphatic result in that vote of no confidence? They're certainly celebrating it as a huge win, which I suppose, in consideration of what could have happened, it is. It was an extraordinary situation. It was the first such meeting that has been called in

20 years within rugby in this country. So it was a massive moment. You know, they're talking about an emphatic win. The vote was 466 to 206. Sure, that's a margin, but that's still a huge number of disgruntled voters in the game. I think what we're going to really see now, and we've

heard this already in your reporting throughout the evening. This is going to be a massive amount of scrutiny on the RFU, on their transparency, on the powers that they give back to the grassroots game, because this isn't, it'd be

It would be wrong to underplay just how much unhappiness there has been in rugby around this situation. At Bill Sweeney in particular, we're talking about record losses of, I think it was just short of £38 million. And he was being paid a bonus in the region of £358,000, taking a salary package to £1.1 million. I think at the very least, that was an act of grotesque tone deafness.

What the situation has left him, he's got his job, but he's going to be getting watched like a hawk by the game. And the promises that they've made around reforms, they're going to have to be delivered.

Let's move on to the Guardian. So, from disgruntled to dismayed, which they say Max Verstappen is, by Rebels' Lawson Cull. They're on the right-hand side. So, a simple like of a post criticising the way the Rebel have handled Liam Lawson's demotion to the Racing Bulls team, the sister team of Rebel Racing. That is what's done the damage here. I wonder...

Jack, what does that add in terms of the already strained situation amongst the forces of power that there are around this team, not just Christian Horner, but also the Verstappens? That's both Max and his dad.

It's quite entertaining, isn't it, how drivers and sports figures in general now know that a couple of taps on their phone screen can cause such a huge story and huge problems for people in their industry, in their sport, their bosses as well, and the power that they feel they have.

to be able to go and do that. I quite enjoy that Max Verstappen's probably sat at home and thought, you know what, I probably can't come out and say this, but maybe you will in the coming days, you never know, but I'll just, you know, nudge it this way ever so slightly and keep it going a bit. It seems...

some rather bizarre sort of mismanagement from Red Bull, really. They've obviously identified Lawson as someone that they want to put their trust in and their faith in and have been him off really quite quickly without giving him the chance to really shine on, you know, having raced on two tracks he doesn't know, he's not familiar with, and immediately he's come out of that. I suppose you can argue that

This is high-level sport, incredibly high-level motor racing, and Red Bull need to think of their standards and what they want to get out of him. But to push him down and knock him quite so quickly when you've made the big decision to go with a rookie and put that sort of trust in him,

sort of raises questions that, you know, I think Max Verstappen will be alluding to over quite what they were thinking when they made that decision and whether they had full faith in him when they did it as well. Yeah, Yuki Tsunoda, two-rebel for the Japanese Grand Prix, of course, his home race. Really, really quickly, about 30 seconds if you can, Riyadh, on Chelsea beating Manchester City and overturning that deficit to reach the Women's Champions League semi-finals. I mean, effectively, you know, now two teams from the WSL in that last four weeks.

Look, it was a massive win and they needed it as well. All energies have been, it's become an obsession at Chelsea, the Champions League, 2-0 down from the first leg. It was looking like it was going horribly wrong for the new manager. So, look, they're still on track. They've got Barcelona next, which isn't exactly easy in any form of the game. But, look, they're still alive and going well.