Wimbledon Championships opening day | Eberechi Eze to Arsenal? | Will United get Bryan Mbeumo?
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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 Reid and joining me are Ria Thao-Samurai, Chief Sports Feature Writer at the Daily Mail, and Martin Ziegler, Chief Sports Reporter for The Times. Welcome to you both.

We have to start with the tennis, don't we? And that lovely page on The Times, record breakers showing images of all seven of the British players that have tasted victory on that first day at SW19, the most successful first day of Wimbledon in the Open era since the Open era began. And that is the image of The Times. Riyadh, your speciality, I believe, at Wimbledon. How have you coped with the heat there?

It was pretty warm today, I have to say. So I went out to Court 4 to start the day for the Oli Tarvit match. That ended up being the only...

A pretty decent place to go, actually, given sort of his prominence on a few of the back pages there. But it was scorching. It was probably about, I think it got to about 32 degrees today. And looking back at myself in the screen, I'm kind of underestimated how much sunblock to use. So well done me.

But no, it was great. As those headlines are alluding to, it was a really strong day for the British contingent as well. Seven of them have gone through. It's a record for the open era.

I think six went out, if I've done my maths correctly. But it was really strong. And I'd probably highlight the point as well that the best of the bunch is to play tomorrow. And that being Jack Draper, of course. But good wins today. Tuktaver in particular. I think he's a brilliant story that we'll come to. Katie Bolter had one of the biggest wins of her career. And Emma Raducanu made it through without any dramas. I'm not sure you can ask for...

too much more from an opening day. Yeah, we will talk a little bit more about Oli Tarve as well. But Martin, your newspaper with the image of those seven players making it through, in a more general sense, what does it say about the strength of British tennis at the moment?

Well, there have been long periods where there haven't been any British success at Wimbledon. I think it must have been 40 years almost between Virginia Wade and Andy Murray and not much in between. And so, yes, there is a concern always about there being another sort of...

barren spell for British tennis players at Wimbledon, but their future does look bright. And when you have people like Oliver Tarvik coming in 733rd in the world, just a qualifier, no hopes at all, really. And now what has he got? This incredible match against Colas Alcaraz coming up. I mean, it's just a dream match.

And then Katie Bolter beating the ninth seed. What a great start for her. So there is, I think, hope aplenty.

Let's talk a little bit more about Oli Tarvet and this mouth-watering clash against Carlos Alcaraz, which is now coming up. Back page of the Express, Alcaraz, the Tarvet target. And he's even quoted as saying that he's quietly confident, Tarvet, of winning against anyone, even the great Carlos Alcaraz. You've seen both of those players today. Riyad, what chance do you give him against Alcaraz?

It's, yeah, how do I put this kindly? Look, I would say it would be great if he can enjoy the occasion and give a good account of himself. Shall we put it that way? But look, Alcaraz was, he was pretty poor today, actually. Give full credit to Fognini. He was...

He's 38 years old. He's a long way outside the top 100 these days. He was as high as ninth in the world, but he gave Alcaraz a massive scare today. It went to five sets. Alcaraz was nowhere near the level we've seen from him at Wimbledon, at the French Open final earlier this month, in fact. His forehand was off. His serving was dreadful.

But look, he's made it through. I think the big surprise that we had was that it was almost Alcaraz who didn't hold up his end of the bargain for this second round match. Now, Talbot's clearly the be-all and end-all of this story. We're talking about a guy, he's 21 years old from St. Albans. He plays on the college circuit.

over in the US. And that's thrown up this quite remarkable set of circumstances whereby he's not actually allowed to claim the vast majority of his prize money. Now, he's come through qualifying to get here. Getting into the main draw was one thing. But reaching the second round, he's now in line for a £99,000 payday under the rules of...

The NCAA in the US, the college system he plays in, he is not allowed to take profit beyond £7,300. So what's going to happen to the other £91,000 and change? That looks like it's going to have to be forfeited. He has mentioned that he is entitled to claim a certain amount in expenses. And I'd prefer if people didn't make jokes about journalists offering advice on expense systems online.

But he is in this scenario where he was mentioning he could potentially pay his coach a little bit more. He might fly back to the US on business class. I'm sure he could probably upgrade his accommodation in London. Lord knows the houses around the All England Club are being rented out at an absolute fortune. So he might get himself close.

to the 99,000 without having to hand a big chunk of it back. But that's, that's, that's his backdrop to getting into a set, a second round match. Most, almost certainly on center court on Wednesday against Alcaraz, who is the two time champion. He described it as the,

stuff of dreams and and you know we we can overuse this this terminology but it is a it is a fabulous story for him 733 in the world and now he's playing alcaraz it's brilliant it really is i'm sure you could squeeze through at least just one punnet of strawberries at the mail through the expenses i'm sure i'm sure they'll allow that for you in the guardian they talk about britain's day in the sun and and simon camber's rights that uh we're just not used to this in this country not only the weather

but also the amount and sheer success of the British players on day one at Wimbledon. Martin, let's touch a little bit on Emma Raducanu and Katie Bolter. Terrific win for Bolter in particular today. A little bit more regulation victory, I suppose, for Emma Raducanu. How far do you think either one of those will go? Who do you think will go the furthest in this competition? Well, it was a bit of a sort of...

Difficult one for Emma Raducanu, I thought, playing against a 17-year-old Mimi Xu, nothing to lose, everything to gain. Quite a pressurised first-round match, I think, for Raducanu. And she certainly seemed to be like she was taking it quite seriously. I mean, not obviously taking it seriously, but being very vocal, shouting at herself a lot, clearly feeling a bit of pressure, but actually she came through.

So, you know, I think she'll be very pleased with that. Katie Bolter, though, I mean, if she can continue this form, I think she has the potential to go further than the women's singles because...

It's a really, really tough match for her and she came through it really well. Cope with the heat and in front of your home crowd, it can help and can also be an extra pressure, but she dealt with it very well. I think, yeah, she is someone to watch, particularly at this Championships.

I'm sure there'll be plenty more stories coming out of Wimbledon as the fortnight progresses. One of the great couple of weeks in British sport. Let's move on and talk a little bit about the football. Sticking with the Guardian, actually, where they talk about the future of Abir Eze, potentially leaving Crystal Palace and Arsenal holding exploratory talks about potentially signing Abir Eze from Liverpool.

Crystal Palace, Arsenal actually released him as a 13-year-old, so it would be somewhat of a return for Iberia Eze. Riyad, Arsenal are looking for reinforcements in wide areas. They have got a long list of targets, but is there anyone more impressive out there potentially than Iberia Eze?

I think one interesting aspect of it is that Tottenham have had quite a long-term interest in him as well. I think when Arteta looks across his preferred XI, I think

I think I'm stating the obvious here and saying left wing isn't the priority area. It's still going to be what he does up front, whether that's Goykeres or whether that's Sesko or someone else. I think that's where the real urgency exists. But Eze is a fantastic player. We've seen that now. England is a national. He's 27 years old. He's got more to give. He's got the versatility that you can play him.

You can play him in attacking midfield. You can play him off the left. We've seen that he's got goals in his game. He's got, he's, he's got assists. I think, I think, I think this is probably confirmation now as well, that, that Martinelli Martinelli's going to be going to be on his way. That's not quite worked out as, as well as, as Arteta would have wanted. But with, with, with that left wing position, we know that there's interest in Rodrigo over at Real Madrid as well. Um,

We know his quality, but what price do you put on that Premier League experience? A guy who we saw what he did for Palace in the cup run in the league season. I think that would be a hugely important signing for them.

Yeah, Sam Dean in the Telegraph also carrying this story about Eberri. Martin, he says that when he was released at the age of 13 by Arsenal, it left him crying in his room for a week. Does that mean there's maybe an extra pull for Eze to go back to Arsenal? Unfinished business, perhaps, for the player? Yeah, very possibly. I mean, he was probably one of the top three midfielders in the Premier League last season, I think. He was like...

massively impressive carrying Crystal Palace um yeah it's I mean I think he's got a release clause according to the telegraph of 60 million I mean I think that's that's a that's a decent price isn't it for somebody at England International at the peak of his game um 27 years old still still got years to to give uh I think that would be good business and

I mean, if Arsenal had him, plus if they can get themselves a proper striker, which they're obviously still trying to do, haven't managed to do it yet. They've got a couple of strong holding midfielders coming in, Zubin Mendy, Nordgaard. So that would be quite something, quite a statement.

Let's talk more transfers as well. Tottenham interested in the West Ham for Mohamed Kudus, also being talked about in the Telegraph. Spurs, a side who also have a long list of targets, Brian and Bouma, Antoine Semenya, also, as we've been talking about, Averi Eze as well. And Kudus, one of a number of players that they're looking at. West Ham, you'd think, would want almost double what they paid Ajax for the player a couple of years ago. What about this...

really. I mean, they are rivals, you can understand it, but they don't do deals with each other, Tottenham and West Ham. Would this be a good one to break that duck, Riyadh? It's interesting with all of the sort of squabbles that exist between clubs, Tottenham and West Ham not doing anything

I think Matt Law sort of traces it to 2011 and the Scott Parker deal. So that's quite an unusual one. Obviously, I think there was a move

involving Adebayor that went by the wayside as part of this unofficial embargo, as Matt's referred to it there. So that's an interesting one. Kudos is that he's an interesting target for Tottenham. I don't know where the final fee would lie. There's been some suggestion, I think it was even included in that piece, about a release clause that's north of 80 million. I think that would be wildly unprofitable.

his, above his market value. I'm fair. I'm fairly sure any deal would be for substantially less than that, but we're not, we're not, we're not, you know, we aren't, we're talking about a very talented player, but not someone who is prolific on goals or assists. So,

That's why, that's why even just to flip it back to the answers a moment ago about Eze, I think, I think, I think that's why I'd see him as a, as a far more proven quality, but it would be, it would, it would be an interesting move for Tottenham. I think, I think it's one that the fans would like as well. He's an, he's, he's, he's an attacking player and,

He's exciting. He can move. He's dynamic. I'd like to see him get that step up. I'd be very interested in what the final valuation would be there. Let's go to the sun. Obviously, the sun talking about the heat and the tennis, but let's talk sun.

Football as well. Show be the money is the headline there. Brian Mbumo and Brentford's valuation of the player, £65 million. And they have a warning to Manchester United to pay the money or Brian Mbumo is going to stay at Brentford. Riyadh, can you foresee a scenario where Mbumo is lining up under Keith Andrews at the start of the season as a Brentford player?

The only way I see that is if Manchester United drastically misread this situation. I think they're

In terms of their second offer, I think they're now within two and a half million. You're talking about a guy who scored 20 goals last season and a club that has chronically overspent on strikers in particular in recent years. This guy is pretty close to a sure thing, I would say. I think he's a brilliant player. 65 million for a

striker who scored 20 goals last season feels like a no-brainer to me so I I think United will will will see out the final stages of this dance and um assuming assuming no one better comes in for him of which there are many clubs who are better perhaps not as well resourced

I think they will get him and that would be a superb summer of business for United. We were talking a moment just before the break about Arsenal and strikers and their need to fill the space if United can get Mbembe and Kunio in the same summer. I think they've done very well indeed.

United have been criticised in recent years for perhaps not being clinical enough, aggressive enough with the way they've done deals and letting things drag on. What do you make of the start of this summer transfer window and what they've done and how they've gone about it?

Yeah, I think, I mean, getting Cooney in early was a good move, I think. I mean, I think they're in a situation where they can't just throw money around in a crazy fashion. I mean, if you look like their transfer spending since 2013 when Alex Ferguson left, they've had a terrible transfer policy. There's been one bad signing after another,

Not everyone, but you'd say the majority have failed to match the price that United have paid for them. And there often is an increase that United have to pay. But I think this is an opportunity that I think they need to try and take.

If they miss out on this, I think it would be pretty disastrous because, again, I think that's it. It's a really good value for a player like that with 20 goals, seven assists last season. Again, one of the players of the season last year. So, yeah, I think if it's only a couple of million, then I think United will win.

match that despite the fact they are limited they've got PSR issues that they don't want to overspend but I think this is one they've got to go for

Yeah, I want to stick with you as well, Martin, because this is a story that you have written about in The Times, but also it's carried on the back page of The Eye alongside the telly. They talk about Palace and this wait that goes on to find out whether Palace will be allowed to play in the Europa League next season. It's all due to multi-club ownership rules. John Texter, who has now sold his stake in Palace, but he also now has an interest in Lyon.

There's an appeal going on around Lyon's relegation to Ligue 2 and their breaking of financial rules in France. It's a complicated story, Martin, just some of where we're at and the key developments that are happening right now. What impact do you think this will have on Crystal Palace this summer and going forward into the new season? UEFA have effectively confirmed that

If Lyon, if their relegation is confirmed by the French League, then Palace will play in the Europa League as was envisaged. If Lyon win their appeal and they get reinstated back to the French League 1, then I think that spells trouble for Crystal Palace because of the fact that John Texter owns 43% of Palace and is the majority shareholder of Lyon.

It means, I think, that UEFA will say Palace would have to play in the Europa Conference League, which would be a big blow because that's millions of pounds of prize money that they were expecting that they won't get.

And we're going to finish by talking about the cricket because England against India at Edgbaston. It should be a terrific atmosphere in Birmingham for this second test and hopefully for the supporters that are going there, it will be a similar five-day thriller as the first test as well. England have named an unchanged side for this second test, which means that Joffre Archer's return to test cricket is going to be delayed just that little bit longer. It's carried in a number of the papers, including the Telegraph today.

Riyadh, have England done the right thing in terms of just holding back Archer that little bit longer, giving him a sense of what it's like to be back around the Test camp again before unleashing him perhaps later in the series? It's been a very long time since we've seen him in the Test arena. I think it's over four years now. I think...

I think he only played his first Red Bull game at county level last week after a similar period of time. So it's certainly cranking up the anticipation.

I think they'd all love to see him come down. We all kind of go back to 2019 Lords, just how exciting Joffre Archer is as a player. And we've seen plenty of that in white ball cricket. He's been through a lot with his injuries. He's an absolutely rotten run. I gather there are family circumstances which have kept him out of training and possibly a place in the test at Edgbaston as well. But yeah,

You know, the hope would be that we'll see him at Lord's in the third test and also that this coming test is as good as the one at Headingley. I think that was absolutely fantastic. But they're moving in the right direction and by the looks of things, so is Joffre Archer. What can you realistically expect from Archer given the amount of time he's been away from Test cricket, Martin, just in the final 30 seconds? What can we realistically expect for him in this series?

Well, he showed before he's got this X factor, hasn't he? And I think that's something that may be slightly missing in the first test for some of the England bowlers. I mean, Tong did very well, but some of them seemed a bit flat. So Archer coming in, I think that could just be that little something extra spice could be really, really good.