• Neville says defender does not need to offer attacking threat
• ‘He can become a brilliant Manchester United full-back’

Gary Neville has said Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a “throwback” as Manchester United’s right-back and does not need to be an attacking threat like Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold or Manchester City’s Kyle Walker for the club to be successful.

Alexander-Arnold and Walker are recognised for their forward play but Neville, a former United right-back and captain, believes Wan-Bissaka is a better defender than either and that this should be the former Crystal Palace player’s focus.

Related: Solskjær reveals he asked for Mason Greenwood not to be in England squad

Expect Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s sole signing, Donny van de Beek, to be a replacement as Manchester United hunt for the winning start needed if they are to have any real hope of challenging Liverpool and Manchester City this term. Crystal Palace won last season’s corresponding fixture 2-1, so this may be close. Jamie Jackson

Saturday 5.30pm Sky Sports Premier League

• Manchester United forward was then sent home from Iceland
• Manager also upset Greenwood was asked to do media duties

Ole Gunnar Solskjær has revealed he requested Mason Greenwood not be selected by England this month because the 18-year-old needed a break. The Manchester United forward’s inclusion in the squad took an unwelcome turn when he broke Covid protocols and was sent home from Iceland.

Greenwood and Manchester City’s Phil Foden each invited a woman to a room at England’s hotel in Iceland, breaking rules to safeguard against the spreading of the virus. Gareth Southgate, the England manager, ordered both players to fly home.

Related: Football transfer rumours: Liverpool lead chase for Ismaïla Sarr?

Chelsea and Liverpool could both be vulnerable, Nathan Aké has a rare chance and are Newcastle the Entertainers again?

Last season Liverpool won 15 league games by the odd goal, and began their title defence in similar style, beating Leeds 4-3 in an indecently entertaining match. But this habit is not an easy one to sustain, and it is worth nothing that they have lost five of their past 14 games, conceding 19 times in the process. It is true that now is a good time to play Chelsea – Kepa Arrizabalaga is still first choice, Ben Chilwell and Hakim Ziyech are unfit, and Timo Werner and Kai Havertz have not fully settled. But Werner still looked sharp against Brighton, while Havertz can change the course of a game at any moment. If Chelsea somehow refrain from tossing goals in their own net, they will ask some serious questions of a back four that has looked more vulnerable of late. DH

Related: Gareth Bale's Madrid exit is marked by bitterness, resentment and relief | Sid Lowe

Related: Ferran Torres: 'David Silva has always been a role model. I'll try to follow his steps at City'

Related: Big names are great, but the WSL must not become a holiday league | Eni Aluko

Today’s fluff will get it together and get it all done

They might have missed out on the Tottenham-bound Sergio Reguilón but Manchester United are still in the market for a left-back, and Thursday’s A Bola announces that Porto’s Alex Telles is “back in their plans”, with the Portuguese side apparently willing to consider selling the 27-year-old Brazilian so long as there is at least €20m on the table.

In other left-back news Bayer Leverkusen have emerged as the most likely destination for Arsenal’s Sead Kolasinac, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Lucas Torreira and Folarin Balogun also available as the Gunners seek to fund a dream move for Lyon’s Houssem Aouar.

Related: Leicester closing in on signing Roma winger Cengiz Under for £24.6m

• United may explore loan with Real Madrid if Sancho abandoned
• Dortmund’s asking price considered too high by United

Manchester United are at an impasse over their bid to buy Jadon Sancho because of Borussia Dortmund’s €120m (£110m) valuation and may explore a loan for Gareth Bale as an alternative.

Although United have agreed terms with Sancho and made a breakthrough regarding agent fees, their stance remains that Dortmund’s price for the 20-year-old is too high in the coronavirus-affected market.

Related: Manchester United prepare opening bid for Real Madrid's Sergio Reguilón

• United unwilling to match Real Madrid’s €30m valuation
• Lucien Favre says Borussia Dortmund ‘need’ Jadon Sancho

Manchester United are preparing an opening offer for Sergio Reguilón but are unwilling to match Real Madrid’s €30m (£27.2m) valuation of the Spain defender.

United have been monitoring the 23-year-old’s situation for several weeks, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær keen to provide competition to Luke Shaw at left-back. Reguilón, who spent last season on loan at Sevilla, has three years left on his contract but is not in Zinedine Zidane’s plans for the new season and it is understood that he would like to move to Old Trafford.

Related: Newcastle say Premier League did not 'act appropriately' in blocking takeover

• ‘I’ll be here to support him,’ says Ole Gunnar Solskjær
• Maguire was handed 21-month sentence in Greece last month

The Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has confirmed Harry Maguire will continue as the club’s captain for the new season. Maguire was handed a suspended 21-month sentence last month, having been found guilty of assaulting a police officer, swearing, resisting arrest and bribery during an incident in Mykonos.

He has denied the offences and has launched an appeal. The appeal nullifies the verdict and means Maguire has no criminal record ahead of a full retrial. “He’s handled it really well and, of course, I’ll be here to support him,” Solskjaer told the official United website. “He is going to be our captain. We’ll just leave Harry and his people and the process to run.”

Related: Manchester United make progress in pursuit of Dortmund's Jadon Sancho

• Pundit says Klopp’s team need to sign Thiago Alcântara
  
• ‘To achieve that same standard would be a superhuman effort’

It will take a “superhuman effort” for Liverpool to win the Premier League again unless they sign another top-quality player such as Thiago Alcântara, Gary Neville has warned.

Neville said history had taught him to expect a drop-off from Jürgen Klopp’s side this season, and predicted it could lead to Manchester City pipping them to the title next May. “To get to a Champions League final, win it the following season, and then to go again to win the Premier League title is a huge emotional drain on that group of Liverpool players for three years,” he said. “To ask them to go again and achieve that same standard would be a superhuman effort.

Related: Premier League 2020-21 preview No 11: Liverpool

Related: Premier League 2020-21 preview No 13: Manchester United

• Potential agent fees now agreed for England forward
• United monitoring left-back Sergio Reguilón of Real Madrid

Manchester United have been handed encouragement in their attempts to sign Jadon Sancho in this transfer window as negotiations with Borussia Dortmund over a fee for the England forward continue.

As reported in the Guardian at the start of August, Sancho has agreed personal terms with United and is keen on a move to Old Trafford, with the 20-year-old expected to earn around £250,000 a week. Potential agent fees have now also been agreed but a major stumbling block remains the structure of the deal, with Dortmund still insisting they want €120m (£108m).

Related: Luka Modric: ‘Things that aren’t nice happen in war but I don’t have hate’ | Sid Lowe

The page that doesn’t know five other people

His honesty and Yorkshire bluff is a shining light amid that rather tedious Tottenham All Or Nothing series and this will come as little surprise to anyone who has sat through its moribund charms but Danny Rose wants to leave White Hart Lane. And English football, too. His destination, though, remains unknown, not least to him, but a return to Newcastle, where he spent a few months on loan, is not on the cards.

Related: Aston Villa close on £28m Watkins and step up pursuit of Arsenal's Martínez

• ‘I want to apologise to Gareth Southgate, for letting him down’
• England and Manchester United forward vows to learn lesson

Mason Greenwood has issued an unreserved apology for inviting a woman to England’s team hotel in Iceland, with the forward directing this in particular at Gareth Southgate for “letting down” the manager.

The Manchester United forward was sent home by Southgate on Monday with Manchester City’s Phil Foden, who also invited a woman to a room at the hotel.

Related: Gareth Southgate gets balance wrong by defending Foden and Greenwood | David Hytner

United need to improve again and there are plenty of questions facing Ole Gunnar Solskjær as the season approaches

Guardian writers’ predicted position: 4th (NB: this is not necessarily Jamie Jackson’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)

Last season’s position: 3rd

Related: Dean Henderson aiming to oust David de Gea as Manchester United's keeper

Gareth Southgate has confirmed that Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood have been sent home separately after they allegedly invited two women to the England team hotel in Reykjavik and breaking coronavirus isolation rules as a result. The players had made their senior international debuts in the 1-0 win over Iceland on Saturday – Foden as a starter, Greenwood as a substitute – but they did not train on Monday morning

• England's Foden and Greenwood sent home after breaking Covid-19 rules by inviting women to hotel room

• Reports in Iceland say duo met women on Snapchat
• Gareth Southgate says: ‘We had no alternative’

Gareth Southgate has confirmed that Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood have been sent home separately after they allegedly invited two women to the England team hotel in Reykjavik and broke coronavirus isolation rules as a result.

The players had made their senior international debuts in the 1-0 win over Iceland on Saturday – Foden as a starter, Greenwood as a substitute – but they did not train on Monday morning. At a press conference for England’s match against Denmark on Tuesday, Southgate said: “Unfortunately this morning it was brought to my attention that two boys have broken Covid guidelines in terms of our secure bubble. We had to decide very quickly that they couldn’t have any interaction with the team. They wouldn’t be able to travel to training. Given the protocols they have to follow they have to travel back to England separately.”

Related: Manchester City's Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez test positive for Covid-19

• Reports in Iceland say duo met girls on Snapchat
• Foden and Greenwood expected to be expelled

Phil Foden and Mason Greenwood allegedly invited two girls to the England team hotel in Reykjavik and broke coronavirus isolation rules, according to reports.

The players had made their senior international debuts in the where 1-0 win over Iceland on Saturday – Foden as a starter, Greenwood as a substitute – but they did not train on Monday morning and they are now expected to be expelled from the squad.

Related: Manchester City's Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez test positive for Covid-19

Manager’s early struggles at United were due to a lack of quality on the pitch but he solved that by signing Bruno Fernandes

It is eminently possible that there are more opinions expounded on football than on any other subject, feeding into a circle both vicious and virtuous that goes round and round until everybody dies. Consequently, attempts to seek novelty are understandable: it’s comforting to believe that what we’re seeing now is different from anything seen before. Ultimately, though, the game’s essentials don’t change and football is simple but people are complicated, which means that the finite elements of talent and mentality will always be more important than the dynamic aspects of tactics and coaching.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær plainly understands this, but he is derided for lacking acumen and expertise. Given the way his Manchester United team have progressed, this is slightly surprising – the pool of evidence is rapidly decreasing, drained by performances, style and results.

Related: Bloody-minded characters could lift Pep Guardiola to greater success | Daniel Harris

Related: Manchester United's failings give added meaning to transfer window

Manchester United striker tells Kevin Hollinrake to ‘talk to families before tweeting’

Marcus Rashford has rebuked a Conservative MP on Twitter for suggesting that parents who need help to feed their children are failing in their parental responsibilities.

The Manchester United star responded to Kevin Hollinrake, the MP for Thirsk and Malton, suggesting that he talk to struggling families before tweeting.

Put to the side that this comment came from an MP. It’s comments like this that prevent people from speaking their truth and asking for help. We need to start uplifting each other. I would have had the same response to anyone tweeting this...

Fans have their say on key players, weak links and summer spending – and make their predictions for the season ahead
• Part 1: Arsenal to Leicester

We kick off as champions and there’s no reason to believe we won’t be right up there again. In normal times you go into a new season super-excited – for obvious reasons that’s missing a bit this time around, but we’re looking in great shape, and chasing number 20.

Related: Men's transfer window summer 2020 – all deals from Europe's top five leagues

Related: Talent and tragedy mark 'Maradonny' van de Beek's road to Old Trafford | Bart Vlietstra

Related: Tottenham hope to host test event in front of 31,000 supporters

Related: West Ham captain Mark Noble 'angry' after West Brom sign Grady Diangana

Related: Premier League 2020-21 fans’ previews, part 1: Arsenal to Leicester

Alexis Sánchez revealed in an Instagram video that he asked his agent whether he could leave Manchester United and return to Arsenal after only one training session. 

The 31-year-old has used a six-minute long Instagram post to tell his side of the story about his failed move to Old Trafford in 2018. Sánchez endured a torrid spell after signing under José Mourinho, scoring five goals in 45 appearances before being loaned to Internazionale last season and joining them on a free this summer.

'I think I remember that at the first training I had there, I realised many things. I got home and I told my family and my agent: can’t the contract be cancelled and I go back to Arsenal? They started laughing,' he said