#squad-rebuild

#squad-rebuild

Past their prime? Certainly. But over the hill? Hardly. Modric, at 40 years old, had started Milan's first four league games, taking more touches (329) and creating more shooting opportunities (19, per fbref.com) than any teammate. De Bruyne, at 34, was the only Napoli player with more than one goal so far this season, having struck in wins over Sassuolo and Fiorentina.

"I'm pleased with the business that we've done," Thelwell told RangersTV. "There's a nice balance within the group. "We have young, hungry players that can help us now but can also develop and we have brought in some senior players that should help the group chemistry. "In my view, we've improved the group across all parts of the team and now it's about getting down to work."

Such is the nature of the international football calendar that when Northern Ireland begin their efforts to make it to the 2026 World Cup against Luxembourg on Thursday it will be their first qualifying game in almost two years. A 2-0 win over Denmark at Windsor Park in October 2023 was the last time Michael O'Neill's side faced such a fixture with their success over the Euro 2024-bound side proving to be something of an outlier in recent times.

Jim Goodwin aims to lessen Dundee United's reliance on loans as he embarks on a significant team rebuild at Tannadice, focusing on permanent contracts over temporary deals.

The pair are both out of contract at the end of the season and new deals are unlikely, as Ruben Amorim plans to rebuild the squad.