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It’s make-or-break time for some of your favorite football players and managers in 2025.
Mikel Arteta
This is a huge year for Mikel Arteta. This is not just a Twitter narrative. Arsenal need something to show for their progress and performance under Arteta on the way to the trophy. The Champions League is clearly the crème de la crème and ending a 21-year wait for a Premier League title would be fantastic, but even a cheeky Carabobins could change the narrative and potentially open the floodgates. Failing that, another FA Cup will do.
As an Arsenal fan, I’m not sure the FA or Carabao Cup has proven anything over the last few years. Erik ten Hague won both trophies during his time at Manchester United and no sane person prefers to be a United fan between 2022 and 2024.
Sure, finishing second in the Premier League season was tough to stomach, but it’s a true sign of progress. Contrast that with winning the FA Cup, recording their worst ever Premier League finish, reluctantly extending the manager’s contract and sacking him after four months.
Going forward, though, you have to feel like this Arsenal team should have a trophy to their name. The debate would have been even more intense had they not claimed Arteta’s FA Cup in his first year in the job. That trophy win probably kept him at the Emirates as he reached a new low every week in the 2020/21 season. Honestly, thank f**k Arsenal won that trophy. Without Arteta and his #process, the Gunners would probably be like Manchester United, battling for the top half. A squad full of underperforming, overpriced dung.
Another trophyless season will not result in Arteta losing his job but serious questions will be raised about his ability to win silverware. Losing the final or semi-final and finishing second in the league again would probably be worse than being knocked out of the FA Cup and Champions League before the serious business starts. Then you might be wondering if Arsenal need anyone else to get over that final hurdle. A real bride’s story – not the bride’s.
Still, he at least won. Calendar year Premier League Trophy.
Trent Alexander Arnold
Stick or bend? White or red? One Club Hero or Galactico? It’s decision time, man.
Trent Alexander-Arnold will certainly look back on his career with regret if he does not move to Real Madrid this summer. He has already won everything at Liverpool and has the best chance to join the biggest club in the world, with the most prestige, success and glitz. The side of Balen d’Or is of course also a bridge.
On the other hand, being a club guy is great, innit? Steven Gerrard did it and is Liverpool’s greatest ever player, even without a Premier League title to his goddamn name. He was an Anfield star boy and when he got the chance he would go, he would change quickly. After facing all manner of threats and abuse, Gerrard moved on to Chelsea – which rightly drew more ire than a transfer abroad – and stayed at Liverpool, winning few trophies but the league’s most elusive. Not the title. He slipped.
Liverpool fans Paul Joyce report that Alexander-Arnold has agreed to join Real Madrid but will surely be upset – a man on his way to the top after literally completing them. It will be a little annoying if it happens. It wouldn’t be a normal reaction and it might turn Trent off, like he did with Stevie G back in the day.
Just don’t follow the Michael Owen career path (or Michael Owen in general, really), Trent, and you’ll be welcome at Anfield any time you want to play it back.
There is incredible volatility in both staying and leaving, which has consistently looked downward, and Alexander-Arnold’s decision to stay on Merseyside will give LeBron James a Miami Heat feel. Boy, this is really exciting. Even if it makes the best team in the world even stronger. Actually, on other thoughts…
Pep Guardiola
The Manchester City manager recently committed his future to the club by way of a new two-year deal, but we wouldn’t blame him for calling it a day at the end of this season. He doesn’t really need it.
Rival fans were terrified of Guardiola’s contract extension but, to the dismay of football fans, they are now completely unconcerned with Man City. Yes, they beat Leicester City in their most recent game but that was only their second Premier League win in their last 10. This form Won’t last forever and we don’t think the champions will finish outside the Champions League places – but we can forgive Guardiola if this period has damaged him enough to leave at the end of the campaign.
Guardiola has expressed his loyalty to City if the club is relegated to League Two following a guilty verdict in their financial case. The 115 clouds hanging over Manchester’s blue side are another reason Guardiola – and the club in general – is one to watch in 2025. No one knows what will happen but we are finally in the year of judgment and for that we should be thankful. .
Guardiola may have to put his money where his mouth is, although it doesn’t feel like it. It would be a hefty fine and an asterisk next to their recent success, but talk of exclusion is futile… and hopefully some traffic.
At the moment, Guardiola will only have to turn his side’s form around and finding an out-of-town tune short of Rodri is long overdue. His legacy is hardly on the line (115 charges aside) but a sixth or lower finish would affect it, or at least his credentials as the best manager our league has ever seen. Sir Alex Ferguson has never had a Premier League season like this and won trophies without a player who is the glue of his team. City suddenly looking like relegation candidates without Rodri and Guardiola failing to find a solution has been deeply worrying.
It’s been a huge year for Manchester City, which makes it a huge year for Pep Guardiola. Surely this stunt would be enough for him to say, ‘F**k this, I’m off’.
Kylian Mbappe
Speaking of legacies, maybe it’s time for Kylian Mbappe to win the Champions League. That is unless he wants us to have some very uncomfortable conversations. If you join Real Madrid, the immediate goal is to win the Champions League. If you join reigning European champions Real Madrid, expect to win the Champions League immediately.
Mbappe looked close to stumbling for Paris Saint-Germain in their 2024 semi-final against Borussia Dortmund, missing a big chance and hitting the woodwork twice with both legs. It’s probably a bit harsh to call him an obstacle but he’s a player who was supposed to get PSG over the line, which he never did the way he was doing. Gideon outshone by Bloody Sancho.
His shortcomings in Europe’s premier competition did not stop Real Madrid from finally completing the signing of the France captain. Sorry for the second reference if you have no interest or knowledge of the NBA, but it was a reminiscent move of Kevin Durant to the Golden State Warriors – Mbappe joined the greatest team in the world and literally failed. There is absolutely no excuse. It’s not the easy road Durant took in 2016, but he easily criticized Mbappe.
Ballon d’Or talks could happen when/if Mbappe wins the Champions League but right now, it’s all about getting his hands on club football’s biggest prize and if he doesn’t, well, that’s it. A guy with not one will have a thousandth of his football ability coming for him.
Marcus Rashford
Where Marcus Rashford will try to prove a point is unclear but all we know is that he has a lot to prove to a lot of people. Rejection of transfer to Saudi Arabia (reportedly, anyway) is a good sign. If that’s true, Rashford is hungry for the right thing, preferring success in the Middle East over a hefty salary and a permanent place in the England squad. Or maybe he earned enough money from the club to give him a £315,000-a-week contract…
Going to Saudi Arabia is a shame and we are grateful that he is not throwing in the towel. This leaves us even more uncertain as to where Rashford will be playing in February. His hefty salary and Man Utd’s reported £50m asking price will make it difficult for player and club, with a loan the most likely outcome and staying where he is in second place.
Barcelona is reportedly his ‘dream’ move. But that may not be the case given their money problems and PSG are often thrown into the mix whenever Rashford’s transfer sniffs around, but they are looking to move Randall Kolo Mewani. Would be silly – even for their standards. Its English version. It’s anyone’s guess where Rashford will go and wherever that is, he needs to hit the ground running.
After an impressive 2022/23 campaign with 30 goals, the 27-year-old has been abysmal, scoring eight times in 23/24 and grabbing seven from 24 in the first half of the term. Incredibly, he is United’s joint top scorer in the Premier League this term with four goals. He scored three in Ruben Amorum’s first two Premier League games and looked set to excel as a replacement for Erik ten Hague, yet weeks later the player is surplus to requirements.
Is this a power play, another cost-cutting move by Sir Jim Ratcliffe or purely due to their poor performance and substandard attitude and application? We may never know.
What we do know is that Rashford needs to have a strong 2025 if he is to return to the England squad. If he doesn’t, he will be relegated to being unable to reach the elite level.
More on MAN UTD from F365
👉 Every man signing at Utd since Sir Alex: Alexis, Anthony bottom two, Solskjaer top buy
👉 Ten Manchester United forwards for Ruben Amorum’s best January transfer window.
Muhammad Salah
If Mo Salah signs a new contract at Liverpool, 2025 will be about the Ballon d’Or saga. Winning the Ballon d’Or is hardly the be-all and end-all as a footballer, but the prestige of the award and how you’re perceived for years to come is pretty damning. You then become immortal and one of the greatest of all time. This is something that separates you from the rest. For example, it will no longer be a Salah vs. Eden Hazard conversation, but Salah vs. Thierry Henry and Kaka.
Salah is now joint favorite with Vinicius Jr. 2025 Ballon d’Or to win and rightfully so. Vinicus’ top spot owes more to his reputation than his form and the 2024 debacle – which has still been pretty good. Salah’s numbers this season are simply staggering, scoring 20 and assisting 17 in 26 appearances at the age of 32, which makes it all the more impressive.
He deserves a lot of praise. How he kept himself in shape and adapted his game. Ever since he joined Liverpool in 2017, we’ve been used to seeing him maintain the world-class level.
Winning the Ballon d’Or would do a lot for Salah’s legacy but his tally could be for naught if Liverpool end up without a trophy in May. Although the Ballon d’Or is an individual award, it is highly dependent on team success. If Vinicius doesn’t win the double or treble with Real Madrid, a Premier League title with 30 to 40 goals involved should be enough.
The biggest talk surrounding Salah at the moment is his contract situation at Liverpool. That left him with nothing after six months, which would be disastrous for the Reds. A contract extension looks likely, with Virgil van Dijk expected to do the same, while Alexander-Arnold is likely to head to Madrid to link up with Salah’s Ballon d’Or rivals.
If he does stay, it seems highly unlikely that Salah will put tools down and sit out his new deal, and if the Egyptian does leave, it will be interesting to see if he plays at the same level elsewhere. are We think he probably will.
