Alexander Isak is due to rejoin Liverpool’s group training this week after a three-month absence caused by a fractured leg and ankle injury. The striker is scheduled to take part in team sessions on Thursday, manager Arne Slot confirmed.

“I think Alex is in a really good place because Sweden qualified for the World Cup yesterday evening, and apart from that he’s going to train with the group again for the first time tomorrow,” Slot revealed in a brief interview with Liverpoolfc.com on Wednesday.

Slot cautioned that returning to collective training is only an early step in the recovery. “If you’ve worked so hard for three, four months or something like that and then to return to team training, that’s for everyone [is] very nice. So, Alex is, in that sense, in a good place.”

The manager underlined the need for gradual progression. “It’s only his first session after three or four months [out], but it’s good to have him back because we all know who we signed, and we’ve signed an incredible striker,” Slot added. “To have him again in a team that’s usually generating quite a lot chances—and maybe not immediately he can start—for the last two months [of the season] is, I think, very helpful for us.”

Isak’s path back to match fitness will take time. He struggled with fitness after a summer spent trying to force his way out of Newcastle United and arrived at Liverpool lacking condition. He did not score his first Premier League goal for the club until the end of November. The goal against Spurs that caused the injury was only Isak’s second in the league.

Liverpool travel to Manchester City in the FA Cup on April 4, a game Isak almost certainly won’t play. After that, the Reds face Champions League quarterfinals against Paris Saint-Germain, with the two legs of that tie sandwiching a Premier League match with Fulham. Seven months after a $168.75 million (£125 million) transfer made him the most expensive player in English soccer history, Isak has had a difficult start to the 2025/26 season.

Chelsea has declared a $350 million pre-tax loss for the 2024-25 year, the largest single loss reported by any Premier League club since the competition began in 1992. The figure, announced as the club closed the 2024-25 campaign, sits above previous high losses recorded by other top-flight teams and follows reporting that Chelsea paid player agents more than any other Premier League club.

The club reported revenue of $654.8 million, the second-highest in the club’s history, but outgoings outstripped income by a considerable margin. The $350 million loss is listed at the top of a ranking that includes Manchester City’s $263 million loss in 2011 and several earlier Chelsea entries, including $208 million in 2021 and $207 million in 2023.

Sporting performance offered counterpoint to the financial figures. Enzo Maresca led Chelsea to two trophies in the period, winning the UEFA Conference League and the Club World Cup last summer. The Club World Cup triumph in the United States, against Paris Saint-Germain, brought a $114.6 million prize and the club lifted the trophy alongside President Donald Trump.

Reports from BBC Sport and the Football Association show where much of Chelsea’s spending went. Agent fees at the club reached $86.6 million, the highest sum recorded among Premier League clubs. That total sits ahead of Aston Villa ($51.1 million), Manchester City ($49.7 million), Liverpool ($45.1 million) and others in the top ten for agent payments.

Agents are entitled to agreed portions of transfer fees and related bonuses, and the figures underline how negotiating terms with intermediaries has become a significant cost for the club. News of the losses and elevated agent expenses will increase scrutiny over how Chelsea manages compliance with Premier League regulations going forward.

Harry Maguire has been charged by the FA over alleged improper conduct following his dismissal against Bournemouth, a development that could cost Manchester United the England centre back for the pivotal home meeting with Chelsea later this month.

United were frustrated that contact with Evanilson led to a penalty at the other end when Amad Diallo did not receive one in similar circumstances. Maguire protested to Atwell and then appeared to direct his anger towards fourth official Matt Donohue. Almost two weeks later the FA conveyed the charge over the allegation of Maguire acting in an “improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards the fourth official following his dismissal.”

Maguire has until Thursday, April 2 to respond and provide any mitigation. He is already suspended for the upcoming visit of Leeds United to Old Trafford on April 13 after receiving an automatic one-game ban for the red card at Bournemouth.

What follows depends on the response and any evidence offered. The FA’s disciplinary rule covering improper conduct is broad and carries no standard sanction; punishment is determined case by case. Acceptance of the charge combined with remorse could prompt leniency and a lighter outcome. Mitigating evidence could lead to the charge being dismissed. If Maguire contests the allegation and it is upheld, any additional punishment could be more severe.

The range of possible outcomes runs from a fine and/or a warning about future conduct to additional matches added to his existing suspension. Manchester United will be without Maguire for the Leeds match regardless. An extended ban would rule him out against Chelsea five days later. The Red Devils also face Brentford before the end of April, but adding two more games to the suspension is described in this context as unduly harsh.

The Chelsea fixture carries major significance for United’s European prospects. A win would widen the gap between Michael Carrick’s team and the Blues, who sit sixth, and could move United closer to securing a return to the Champions League next season.