Mourinho defends £89m Pogba fee and slams critics, City sign Everton’s Stones for £47m and Spanish World Cup winner makes Seasame Street debut
1. José Mourinho has slammed his contemporaries who have questioned the £89m world record breaking transfer fee Manchester United paid in order to bring Paul Pogba back to Old Trafford. Red Devils supremo Mourinho said their opinions weren’t interesting to him as those voicing them aren’t ‘at top clubs in the world’.
2. Manchester City have signed England international John Stones from Everton for £47.6m, making him the second most expensive defender in history. However, the Toffees haven’t hung around in finding Stones’ replacement, having had a £10m bid for Swansea’s Wales international captain Ashley Williams accepted by the Liberty Stadium club.
3. Hearts are to contest a two-match ban given to winger Jamie Walker for an alleged dive in their game against Celtic which earned the Tynecastle club a penalty, and also lead to Hoops captain Scott Brown to label Walker ‘a cheat’.
4. Hull City have confirmed that current caretaker manager Mike Phelan will remain in charge for their opening Premier League match against champions Leicester City on Saturday as they continue to search for a replacement for Steve Bruce, who resigned last month.
5. Arsène Wenger has been dealt an injury blow less than a week before the start of the Premier League season with the news that Spanish defender Gabriel could be out of action for up to eight weeks with an ankle injury.
6. World Cup winner and new Swansea City striker Fernando Llorente’s debut for the club could have been marked with a goal, but instead, he missed an absolute sitter. Things can surely only get better for him and the Swans (Metro).
7. A clip from an upcoming Zlatan Ibrahimović documentary shows the former Sweden international and new Manchester United summer signing giving a touchline reporter a particularly hard time as a youngster (Mirror).
8. Sam Allardyce may be the England manager but he showed he hasn’t lost the common touch which has made him one of the most beloved characters in the game. Here he is getting photographed at a McDonald’s drive-through in Bolton (ESPNFC).
9. Japanese club Kawasaki Frontale have unveiled a new shirt to commemorate their 20th anniversary and it includes slogans about cake, as well as pictures of space stations in orbit. Of course it does, why wouldn’t it? (WhoAteAllThePies).
10. And finally…there aren’t many people who can claim to have won the Champions League, World Cup, European Championships and also appear in Seasame Street, but former Span international David Villa can (BBC).
By Chris Horricks (@chrishorricks31).
The Offside Rule 
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