New Year, new football: 25 things for 2025!
Happy New Year! It’s January 1st and like last year, I thought it would be a good time to look ahead to the next 12 months in the world of football.
To everyone who has subscribed here, either paid of for free: I wish you all the best for 2025. I hope it’s a great year for you all. Please let me know in the comments if there are any football-related topics you would like me to write about this year. I would love to hear your feedback.
In the meantime, I will leave you with my 25 things for 2025 in the world of football…
January 1st brings with it the start of a new transfer window, with Europe’s elite clubs looking to strengthen their squads for the second half of the season. Premier League clubs are expected to be busy this month, especially those with work to do in the months ahead and injuries to key players. Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United are all in that category. And while he will not be moving in January, Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid when his contract expires in the summer.
Barcelona appear unlikely to make major moves in January. In fact, the Catalan club can’t even register summer signing Dani Olmo for the second half of the season in what is a hugely embarrassing development. Olmo was registered in the summer due to an injury to defender Andreas Christensen, but Barça have been unable to comply with LaLiga financial fair play rules and prolong his registration until the summer. Barça have asked the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to grant new licences for Olmo and striker Pau Víctor, who is also in the same position, but RFEF rules state that players cannot be re-registered with the same team for the second time in the same season. FCB hope to resolve the matter in the coming days and while Olmo is understood to have ruled out an exit, it is not a good look for the Blaugrana. And if there is no solution, the Spain attacker will have to sit out Barça’s LaLiga games and also their Champions League fixtures, with the European competition demanding players be registered with their league’s national federation first. It’s a mess.
In order to register Dani Olmo, Barcelona had agreed a deal to sell VIP boxes and seating at their Camp Nou stadium, which is currently being renovated. But that has not been accepted by LaLiga and with works on the ground behind schedule, Barça’s plans to return to their famous home in February now seem likely to be put on hold until a little later in the year.
Atlético Madrid kick off 2025 on top of LaLiga after 12 straight wins in the competition and the Rojiblancos can equal their best-ever streak by beating Osasuna at home on January 12th. Coach Diego Simeone recently took charge of his 700th game as Atleti boss and the Argentine is in search of a third LaLiga title in that time. Antoine Griezmann, meanwhile, is seeking his first. Can they win it? With Spain’s strongest squad and no Supercopa to distract them this month, Atleti are in a great position right now.
Real Madrid won five titles in 2024: the Supercopa de España, LaLiga, the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. All of that despite an unconvincing start to the season, with calls for coach Carlo Ancelotti to stand down, and a difficult first few months for Kylian Mbappé at the Santiago Bernabéu. Following the retirement of Toni Kroos last summer, Ancelotti is – as usual – finding solutions and the Italian is now Madrid’s most decorated coach. Whatever their form, Los Blancos continue to compete, and they will be in the hunt for five more titles in 2025 – starting with this month’s Supercopa de España in Saudi Arabia.
Thomas Tuchel has officially started his role as England manager, which will see the German take charge on an 18-month contract up until the 2026 World Cup. It is unusual for an elite club coach to take an international job this early in their career and after some impressive if ultimately disappointing years under Gareth Southgate, it will be interesting to see what a top tactician can do with a hugely talented group of players – starting with qualifiers against Albania and Latvia in March. Tuchel will have hard time from the media, like all England managers, and probably – and depressingly – more so due to his nationality, but he is a strong personality who will do it his way. Good luck, Thomas!
There is no major men’s international tournament in 2025, with the World Cup ahead next year, but UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 takes place in the summer as England’s Lionesses look to defend their title from 2022 in Switzerland this July. England are in Group D along with France, Wales and the Netherlands, but 2023 World Cup winners Spain will start as favourites in the 16-team tournament. Spain will face Portugal, Belgium and Italy in Group B. In a busy year for international football in the women’s game, the delayed Women’s Africa Cup of Nations will also take place in Morocco in 2025 after a “scheduling nightmare” in 2024, along with the Copa América in Chile.
While there is no major international tournament for the men this summer, the revamped FIFA Club World Cup takes place in June and July, with 32 teams fighting it out for the trophy in the United States. With too much football already, the competition has drawn criticism, especially after Inter Miami were afforded a special invitation by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Will the new format prove popular? How seriously will it be treated by the top teams? All of that remains to be seen, but FIFA have struck a huge television deal with DAZN to show the matches, so they are happy.
Before that, the expanded Champions League will have reached its conclusion. The new-look competition features fixtures in January this year as the league phase draws to a close and eight teams head home. Meanwhile, 16 more will go into a play-off round, with the top eight advancing directly to the last 16. The format has had mixed reviews so far, although the struggles of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain could create more interest in the last couple of league fixtures. The final takes place at Munich’s Allianz Arena on May 31st.
There are eight teams left in the Women’s Champions League, meanwhile, with defending champions Barcelona the team to beat once again. Winners in 2021, 2023 and 2024, Barça’s women have dominated European football in recent times. The knockout phase will begin in March, with the quarter-final draw to take place next month. The final will be played at Lisbon’s Estádio José Alvalade on May 24th.
After an incredible 11-match winning streak, Atalanta finished 2024 on top of Serie A by a point following a draw at Lazio last Saturday. Europa League winners last season, Gian Piero Gasperini’s side head into 2025 with lofty aspirations and face Inter in the semi-finals of their first-ever Supercoppa campaign on Thursday. Atalanta have never finished higher than third in Serie A, so could there be a new Scudetto winner this term?
A season and a half into his time at Bayern Munich, Harry Kane is still without a trophy for club or country. Given that Bayern had won the Bundesliga for the previous 11 seasons, it seemed certain that 2024 would be his year, but Bayer Leverkusen put paid to that with an extraordinary unbeaten league campaign as the Bavarians came in second. Going into 2025, though, Bayern lead Leverkusen by four points and Kane has an unbelievable 64 goals in 65 games for the club. Surely he will win a trophy in 2025.
Meanwhile, Kane’s former club Tottenham are without a trophy since winning the League Cup in 2008 and pressure is already mounting on manager Ange Postecoglou after a mixed bag of results in 2024-25. Spurs have been missing up to 10 first-team players at times, though, and Postecoglou deserves time in what remains a valid project in North London. Spurs face Liverpool over two legs in the League Cup semi-finals in January and February and also kick off their FA Cup campaign this month. Those two competitions, along with the Europa League, represent a big opportunity for the club and winning a trophy would earn the Australian a lot of credit in N17. With the fans growing more impatient, it is definitely needed.
Arsenal need a trophy, too. The Gunners have been brilliant under Mikel Arteta but, five years into the Basque’s tenure, they do not have the silverware to show for it. Manchester City have finally dipped and seem unlikely to win the Premier League this term, but Arsenal started the year nine points behind Liverpool and an FA Cup in 2020 is still the only major trophy for Arteta’s team (the Community Sheild is not considered a major honour in England). Parellels with Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs side are not too wide of the mark. Arsenal have been great – but the Gunners now need to turn that form into trophies.
Sir Alex Ferguson left Manchester United in 2013 and the Red Devils are now at their lowest ebb since then. With Erik ten Hag sacked in October, Rubén Amorim has taken over, but results have been dire and 2025 is a huge year for the Old Trafford outfit. Talk of possible relegation still seems premature, but massive improvement is needed under the Portuguese coach.
Everton will bid a fond farewell to Goodison Park at the end of this season after 133 years at their famous home. The Toffees are set to move into a state-of-the-art stadium on Bramley-Moore Dock at the beginning of the 2025-26 season and it looks spectacular. Unlike Tottenham’s impressive ground, for example, this stadium has been built purely for football and fans are already excited. They just need a decent team to play in it.
Valencia remain a club in crisis under the ownership of the hugely unpopular Peter Lim and with 17 games played, the Mestalla-based side have picked up just 12 points in LaLiga. Coach Rubén Baraja has been sacked and replaced by West Brom manager Carlos Corberán, but there is no guarantee of survival for one of Spain’s grandest clubs. With another relegation fight ahead in the second half of the campaign and Lim no nearer to leaving the club, 2025 looks set to be another tough year for one of LaLiga’s longest-suffering fanbases.
AC Milan are another famous side struggling and the Rossoneri have replaced coach Paulo Fonseca with Sérgio Conceição. Milan have lost just four Serie A games this term, but only seven of their 17 fixures have been wins and the 19-time Italian champions are currently eight points outside the top four. Five points ahead of Milan but with one more match played, Juventus are not much better off in sixth, with Thiago Motta’s side also facing a fight in the second half of the season to make it into the Champions League. Juve and Milan meet in the semi-finals of the Supercoppa Italiana in Saudi Arabia on Friday.
With 19 Premier League games played, Nottingham Forest are in second place in what has been a spectacular start to the season for Nuno Espírito Santo’s side. Forest are a point ahead of Arsenal in third, albeit with one more match played. “We’re just enjoying the ride,” Nuno said this week. Whatever happens from here, it has been a superb season for the Reds, and it great to see a smaller side punching above its weight in an era of huge riches in the Premier League. Nuno is also one of football’s nice guys and deserves this moment after a difficult and short-lived spell at Tottenham in 2021.
Liverpool have made a flying start under Arne Slot and the Reds begin 2025 on top of the Premier League. While there are still 20 rounds of the competition left to play, Slot’s side start the year nine points ahead of Arsenal, with Manchester City thee further back after a recent slump. The Reds will be favourites from here and if they can claim the title, they will draw level with fierce rivals Manchester United as 20-time champions of England.
Neymar has recently returned from over a year on the sidelines and his club, Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal will be looking for more of a return on their investment in 2025 after what has so far been one of the most disastrous transfers in football history. Al-Hilal are just two points behind leaders Al-Ittihad with 16 games played. Neymar’s contract is also up in June this year and the Brazilian could end up joining Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez et al in a Barcelona reunion at Inter Miami after that.
Portugal is set for a thrilling three-way title race this season, with just two points between Sporting CP, Porto and Benfica with 16 rounds of matches played in the Primeira Liga. Sporting are top on 40 points, despite having lost coach Rubén Amorim to Manchester United, with Porto second on goal difference and Benfica two back in third place. And in fourth, Azorean side Santa Clara are enjoying a superb season after winning promotion in the summer.
In a case which has been dragging on for a couple of years now, Manchester City are expected to finally learn their fate for the alleged 115 breaches of the Premier League’s financial fair play regulations. A decision is supposedly on the now 130 charges is expected in early 2025, but manager Pep Guardiola has inisisted he is staying and recently signed a new contract with the champions.
Could 2025 be the last year of José Mourinho’s coaching career at club level? The Portuguese is currently in charge of Fenerbahçe, but the Istanbul giants are eight points adrift of city rivals Galatasaray in the Süper Lig and are unlikely to get anywhere near last season’s total of 99 points. That was not enough to win the title for Fener, nor for previous coach İsmail Kartal to keep his job. Meanwhile, Mourinho has hinted that his career as a club coach may be nearing its end, admitting he would relish the challenge of an international job next.
The career of José Mourinho will feature in a Netflix documentary, which will be aired in 2025. Meanwhile, Netflix are also producing a series on Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior, which will look at his career up until now and his fight against racism in Spain. Also on Netflix, there will be a Jamie Vardy docuseries in 2025, which will chart the former England striker’s path from non-league football to the Premier League title with Leicester City. A new BBC Sport documentary to mark the 83rd birthday of Sir Alex Ferguson, entitled Sir Alex, is also airing now on iPlayer in the UK.
Obviously, there are many more stories across football and I look forward to telling some of them on here throughout the year. Let me I know what I missed and what you are most looking forward to in 2025.
Thanks for reading. Happy New Year!
Ben
I'll have to read this later!!!! Love a deep dive!