EFL clubs have unanimously voted to accept a record £935million deal with Sky Sports that will see more than 1,000 matches broadcast a season, but which keeps the Saturday blackout in place.

The five-year domestic deal, made up of guaranteed payments of £895m and £40m in marketing rights, will begin in 2024-25 and run to the end of the 2028-29 season.

It represents a 50 per cent increase on the league’s current deal with Sky which expires at the end of next season.

Altogether 1,059 league, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy matches will be shown live either on a Sky main channel or via a Sky streaming platform, replacing the iFollow service for domestic viewers.

Streaming platform DAZN had been keen to acquire the rights to screen all EFL matches and bring an end to the Saturday blackout period between 2.45pm and 5.15pm.

The blackout stays in place in the Sky deal, but more matches are available to stream, with six games across the Championship, League One and League Two now set to kick off at 12.30pm each Saturday.

The deal means 26 out of 36 matches will still kick off at Saturday 3pm – seven Championship matches plus 19 across Leagues One and Two.

The EFL acknowledges the changes in kick-off times can make planning difficult for matchday fans, and has committed to placing all live matches up to the FA Cup third round before the start of each season.

It is understood that based on the EFL’s distribution formula, Championship clubs will earn 46 per cent more in guaranteed broadcast income and clubs in Leagues One and Two will be 25 per cent better off.

EFL had announced Sky as its preferred bidder in early April, following the issue of invitations to tender earlier in the year.

The deal means 10 league matches will be shown live each weekend, including six in the 12.30pm Saturday slot.

Every match in the EFL Cup will be shown live, plus every game in the EFL Trophy.

The PA news agency understands Sky has bought the EFL Cup rights ‘as is’ , despite the possibility of the competition having a significantly different look from 2024-25, with domestic calendar issues under discussion as part of the ‘New Deal For Football’ talks.

The EFL declined to comment on whether the deal included a rebate clause to Sky in the event that the format of the competition did substantially change.

All opening round and final day matches will be shown live, as will all games played on Bank Holidays including Easter, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day alongside the matches played in Sky Bet League One and Two during international breaks.

The deal also promises greater parity in the number of times clubs are selected for TV coverage is also guaranteed.

EFL chief executive Trevor Birch said: “This is a landmark broadcast deal for EFL clubs, establishing the league as a premium partner with a world-renowned broadcaster in Sky Sports.

“The EFL is an iconic sports property and one of the biggest and best attended leagues in European football.

“This increased investment and coverage from Sky Sports will showcase much more of our compelling match action to fans, while delivering record rights values as we seek to make our clubs sustainable at all levels.”

Clubs will gain an additional fee when selected for broadcast, but a debate on how these will be allocated will take place among the clubs later in the year.

No bid convinced the EFL to remove the blackout. The EFL estimated that removing it would cost £37m in matchday attendance revenue, and that had to be factored into any offer which sought to remove it.

Eddie Howe has admitted Newcastle will have to unearth future superstars before they hit the headlines after playing down links with Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar.

The high-flying Magpies have found themselves at the centre of speculation over big-money moves ever since Amanda Staveley’s Saudi-backed consortium completed its takeover at St James’ Park in October 2021.

Newcastle, in which Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund holds an 80 per cent stake, have invested in excess of £250million in new players in the last three transfer windows, but have been touted as contenders to land both Portuguese giant Ronaldo and Brazilian counterpart Neymar in recent days.

Asked about the prospect of some of the best players in the world one day plying their trade on Tyneside, head coach Howe – who has persistently cited financial fair play as a limiting factor on the club’s recruitment plans – said: “It is best to discover them before they explode onto the world scene.

“We could not be able to come close to affording those players as they are the best players in the world.

“We are never going to be in a position currently to afford those transfer fees and wages, so we need to go underneath and find them young and develop them into the players they can be.”

The Magpies’ business to date has been shrewd with the likes of Nick Pope and Kieran Trippier having arrived for relatively modes fees before more sizeable investment in Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman, Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon.

But, having guided the club into third place in the Premier League table ahead of Sunday’s showdown with title-chasing Arsenal, Howe knows it is inevitable they will be linked with bigger names.

Asked about Ronaldo and Neymar, he said: “That kind of speculation has been there from day one since the takeover, really. Naturally everyone has then assumed the biggest names in world football will be going to Newcastle.

“Now we’ve not recruited that way. Financially, we can’t recruit that way at the moment, but also we have to bring the right people and the right players into the group.

“I will say the transfer market is such a complex decision, you can’t just pick a name and bring them in. There’s got to be a lot of thought going into what we’re doing both financially and looking at the players.”

“Those two players are unbelievable players. We are linked with different names.

“I know what direction I want to take the team in and what we can and can’t do in the transfer market.”

Howe’s comments came amid reports that Lionel Messi could command a £320million a year package – £15million more than Staveley and her partners paid for Newcastle – if he opts to move to Saudi Arabia’s Pro League this summer.

Tottenham will host a double-header featuring their men’s and women’s teams later this month.

Spurs announced on Friday morning that their Women’s Super League clash at home to Reading had been moved forward a day and would now take place at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 20.

The WSL fixture will kick off at 4.15pm and be part of a first-ever double-header for the club, with the men’s team in Premier League action against Brentford in a 12.30pm kick-off earlier in the day.

All supporters with tickets for Tottenham versus Brentford will be able to stay in the stadium to watch the women’s team later on the Saturday.

It will be a pivotal fixture in the bid to beat the drop for Vicky Jepson’s side with bottom-of-the-table Reading only three points off ninth-placed Spurs.

Napoli supporters partied long into the night as they took over the city to celebrate the club’s first Serie A title in 33 years.

After the disappointment of the celebrations being put on hold by Sunday’s draw at home to Salernitana, Luciano Spalletti’s side got the job done with a 1-1 draw at Udinese to spark incredible scenes in Naples.

The city’s piazza’s were crammed with jubilant fans, who lit flares and fireworks as they chanted into the early hours.

“Seeing the Partenopei smiling and joyful is the greatest emotion for me. They are the ones who pass on their happiness. The problem was reaching this point, as when you have the feelings of an entire city weighing on your back,” Spalletti told DAZN.

“There are people here who will be able to get through difficult moments in their lives because they remember this moment. These people deserve all the joy.

“It perhaps makes me feel more relaxed now, we’ve been able to give them that joy. These fans have seen huge coaches come and go. They saw Diego Armando Maradona play and perhaps his protection is also felt in this success.”

Argentina great Diego Maradona fired Napoli to their first title in 1987 and cemented his hero status with the club by winning a second in 1990.

Napoli also won the UEFA Cup and Coppa Italia during Maradona’s spell in the city, but in the 89 years of their history without him the club have only previously won five Italian Cups.

Maradona died in 2020, with the club naming their stadium in his honour.

Now, in the ground that bears his name, Spalletti’s swashbuckling side have stormed to the Scudetto with five games to spare.

Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen grabbed the second-half equaliser at Udinese to clinch the title – his 22nd league goal of the season.

Osimhen has been the star man for Napoli this season, with talented Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, 22, also establishing himself as one of Europe’s most exciting talents.

What the papers say

Liverpool have stepped up their bid for Brighton midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, 24, according to The Guardian. James Milner, 37, could be heading in the other direction with Brighton confident of a deal with the former England midfielder out of contract at Anfield this summer.

Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, 23, is being eyed by Aston Villa, according to The Daily Telegraph. Villa are also keen on Barcelona winger Ferran Torres, 23.

Winger Harvey Barnes is attracting interest from clubs keen to lure him away from Leicester. The Mail reports Newcastle, Tottenham and Aston Villa are keen on the 25-year-old.

Portuguese coach Paulo Fonseca has emerged as a candidate to replace David Moyes in charge at West Ham, according to The Sun. The former Tottenham target is in charge of French side Lille.

Social media round-upPlayers to watch

Joao Palhinha: Fulham are expected to ask more than £50 million for the midfielder, 27, who is linked with Liverpool and Bayern Munich.

Andrew Omobanidele: AC Milan and Nice are among the clubs linked with Norwich’s 20-year-old Republic of Ireland centre-half.

Tony Smith hailed his Hull FC players for retaining their belief through the bad times after they withstood fierce second-half pressure to beat Wigan and claim a second straight Super League win.

Smith’s men reeled through seven straight defeats earlier this season including a 40-0 derby humbling by neighbours Hull KR, but looked unrecognisable as they surged out to sink the leaders.

Early tries from Darnell McIntosh and Jake Clifford – who would score 10 of his side’s points in their eventual 14-10 win – set the tone before a thrilling rearguard action saw Smith’s side over the line.

Smith said: “I am so happy for the players. We lost seven straight and you could get down and disgruntled and get a defeatist attitude, and they haven’t.

“They’ve been really positive and we kept saying during that time that we wouldn’t be moping around and feeling sorry for ourselves. We just needed to graft through it and get more determined.”

The table now makes distinctly brighter reading for Smith’s men, who had stopped the rot with a win over Huddersfield prior to the international break, but they head to rock-bottom Wakefield next week knowing there is much more to do.

“We’ve got a lot of improvements still to make in order to get more results,” Smith added. “We were average in the second half, we still made errors but they did not hurt us much as they have in other games.

“We’ve got some big matches ahead of us and it’s important that we are in the right frame of mind.”

Wigan head coach Matt Peet admitted his side were second best for long periods of the first half, and were punished by Hull’s energy and determination.

“Some of our defence wasn’t where it needed to be in the first half and on the whole we amended that in the second half, but execution is what prevented us getting the win,” said Peet.

Wigan looked limp for much of the opening period but Iain Thornley’s try on the stroke of half-time gave them hope, and his second straight after the interval set up a grandstand finish.

“Hull were full of energy and they were motivated. They were flying off the line, they were covering each other and they were diving on loose balls,” added Peet.

“For us there’ll be a lot of what-ifs and if-onlys. It’s about handling the pressure in those big moments. We’ve got to learn and improve and develop, but I won’t be stressing too much.”

Peet reserved particular praise for Thornley, whose double marked his first appearance of the season after a long battle to shake off a knee injury.

“I thought he was excellent,” added Peet. “His desire was evident, I loved the way he carried the ball. He worked so hard and I’m so pleased to see him get a performance like that under his belt.”

Ten points from Jake Clifford helped give Hull FC’s testing Super League season a belated lift-off as they clung on to sink leaders Wigan 14-10 in a thrilling clash at the MKM Stadium.

Tony Smith’s men made a storming start then withstood serious late pressure to seal their second win on the bounce with a performance unrecognisable from their April travails that included a 40-0 derby thumping by Hull KR.

In contrast to the hosts’ gutsy spirit, embodied by two stellar shifts from Brad Fash in the front row, Wigan were flat-footed and error-strewn, and only a comeback double by Iain Thornley either side of the interval kept them in contention.

It was a surprising reaction from Matty Peet’s side who had oozed into Yorkshire on the back of six straight wins.

Hull were on the front foot from the start and struck after just six minutes when Darnell McIntosh chased down Clifford’s kick to the corner, with the Australian adding the first of his two conversions.

Liam Farrell set the alarm bells ringing as he cut through the defence with ease but Wigan could not convert and Hull extended their lead on the quarter-hour, Clifford stretching over after electing to run the last tackle.

The visitors, for whom five players featured in England’s thumping win over France at the weekend, looked flat-footed, coughed up errors and spurned their best chance so far when Thornley failed to grasp a high pass to the wing.

Clifford opted to stretch Hull’s lead to 14 by kicking the two after Chris Satae was penalised for a high tackle, before Thornley was sent spurting down the left by Bevan French but Hull held firm.

Thornley, making his first appearance of the season, looked most likely to break Wigan’s duck and after another jinking run, the 31-year-old finally got his reward five minutes from the break when he speared over from another French set-up.

Harry Smith’s cool conversion from the touchline reduced the deficit to 14-6 at the interval, and the shift in momentum continued within four minutes of the restart when Thornley darted over for his second.

As the rain poured down Wigan’s pressure was relentless, and Hull’s cause was not helped when Cam Scott and McIntosh both dropped kicks deep in their own territory.

But Peet’s men failed to capitalise on their territorial dominance and Hull, shored up by the reintroduction of Fash, scented another change in the game’s direction.

A mistake by Thornley deep in his own territory piled pressure on the visitors but Danny Houghton’s grubber bobbled free and was pounced upon by French, who burst half the length of the field before the danger was snuffed out.

In a dramatic final few minutes, Junior Nsemba knocked on from a set restart on the 10-metre line, Hull debutant Jake Trueman was sin-binned for holding down Joe Shorrocks, then Jez Litten’s error went unpunished as Wigan knocked on under the posts as the seconds ticked down.

Napoli sealed their first Serie A title in 33 years as Victor Osimhen's strike earned a 1-1 draw against Udinese.

Having missed the chance to win the title in front of their own fans on Sunday, Napoli went into Thursday's clash at Dacia Arena knowing a point would be enough to claim their first Scudetto since the Diego Maradona era.

Fittingly, it was talisman Osimhen – with his 22nd league strike of the season – who scored the goal to claim Napoli's third Serie A crown, cancelling out Sandi Lovric's opener.

Unlike Napoli's local rivals Salernitana, Udinese did not quite have the same commitment to postponing Napoli's party, which is sure to be one for the ages.

Napoli's contingent of travelling fans were making all the noise in the opening stages, though their enthusiasm was dampened when Lovric planted a brilliant finish into the top-right corner in the 13th minute.

Aiming to snap a three-game scoreless streak in Serie A, Osimhen forced a save from Marco Silvestri soon after, while partner in crime Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a penalty appeal dismissed following a VAR review.

Osimhen went close with a header just after the half-hour, though Napoli were fortunate that Lovric had been unable to beat Alex Meret for a second time at the other end a moment earlier.

Napoli's number nine would not be denied again, though, and after Silvestri palmed out Kvaratskhelia's low effort, Osimhen slammed home an equaliser seven minutes into the second half.

Osimhen thought he had made it 2-1 with 23 minutes remaining, only for the goal to be disallowed due to a foul in the build-up.

Luciano Spalletti's tension on the touchline was clear, but his team stayed calm on the pitch as they saw out a draw that will go down in their history.

Sports stars and clubs across the world continue to provide an insight into their lives on social media.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the best examples from May 4.

Football

Erling Haaland celebrated his Premier League goals record.

Rio Ferdinand was enjoying his cake.

Aston Villa turned the clock back.

Formula One

Lewis Hamilton played some basketball as the F1 drivers took in different sports in Miami.

Lando Norris settled on a beachball helmet for this year.

Valtteri Bottas watched some baseball.

A golf helmet for Alex Albon.

Strike a pose!

Nico Hulkenberg was loving the palm trees.

Andrew Cole is thrilled to have seen Erling Haaland break the long-standing Premier League record he shared with Alan Shearer.

Haaland netted his 35th league goal of the season in Manchester City's 3-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday.

That saw the 22-year-old set the new record for goals in a single Premier League season, which was previously set by Cole, who was then at Newcastle United, in the 1993-94 campaign, and matched by Alan Shearer a year later – the duo both scored 34 times.

Cole, who spent time with both Manchester clubs in his career though is remembered best for his time at United, is not precious over his place in the record books being taken.

He told Stats Perform: "Records are there to be broken, it's that simple. When people have mentioned it to me it's not as if I'm going home and crying and saying, 'Oh no!' 

"It doesn't bother me in the slightest, I don't care - if someone deserved to break that record, go ahead, do it.

"I'm not going to sit here rocking myself to sleep. It doesn't bother me because I'm not so conceited.

"His first season at City has been absolutely phenomenal. It's ridiculous. I take my hat off to him and fair play to him."

Asked if he expected Haaland to hit the ground running in such fearsome fashion in his first season in England, Cole replied: "I'm not surprised, put it that way.

"If you look at what Man City have done throughout the years, they've been screaming out for someone who just wants to run into the box and score goals.

"Maybe the volume of goals he's scored, but it's not surprising in the slightest that he finds himself in the position that you find yourself. Because when you play for a team, like Man City that create so many chances, you just need the number nine to finish them off. That's exactly what we've got now.

"If you're playing a team that creates many chances for you, it's not hard. When I did it at Newcastle the team was built for me, being built for me to score goals."

Clubs must stop operating an “old boys’ network” and use objective processes to recruit managers and coaches, Kick It Out chief executive Tony Burnett has said.

A report from the Black Footballers Partnership in March found the number of management-related positions held by black employees rose by eight in 2022 compared with the previous year, from 49 among 1,338 individuals (3.7 per cent) to 57 individuals out of 1,304 in 2023 (4.4 per cent).

There are currently no black or minority ethnic managers in the Premier League following the sacking of Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace.

Kick It Out wants football’s new independent regulator to oversee equality standards as part of a code of football governance and to compel clubs to share representation and recruitment data, with Burnett insisting far too much in football is going on in the shadows.

“Football is one of the last bastions of the old boys’ network, to be absolutely frank,” he told the PA news agency at the Include Summit in Manchester.

“It’s a tap on the shoulder quite often, who you know rather than what you know.

“When you look at the representation across football, what’s really clear is there is a myth of meritocracy.

“The best people aren’t getting jobs, whichever way you look at this, the best people, the most qualified people, are very frequently not getting the jobs. And so we want fair representation.”

Kick It Out wants to work with the football authorities to put an objective assessment process in place which guides recruiters, as happens in other industries like the financial sector.

“When clubs are recruiting a manager they would have a definitive list to pick from – people who’ve been through an objective process – rather than going off the recommendations of a mate of a mate, or an agent, and that’s what we’ve got to stop,” Burnett added.

“Football is one of the last industries around where a tap on the shoulder and who you know seems to drive your career path.

“It’s far too informal and it’s against modern recruitment standards. You’re not going to get the best people if it’s done in a way that isn’t objective.”

The Government’s White Paper on football governance published in February proposed that equality, diversity and inclusion would fall outside the new regulator’s immediate scope.

The paper said: “The industry has taken on greater accountability and the Government will continue to support reform in this space.”

However, Kick It Out and Burnett are insistent EDI matters must form part of the regulator’s final remit and is “expectant and determined” that they will.

“Football has been marking its own homework in this space for a long time,” he said.

“When football says ‘actually, leave us alone, we’re gonna get this right’ – well you haven’t got it right in the last 30 years so we’ve got no confidence you’re going to get it right now.

“This is a huge opportunity for us to put some compliance mechanisms around football to get it right.”

Burnett insists there remain big gaps in data related to EDI, both in terms of representation and the reporting of discrimination.

“We’ve got lots of different mechanisms in reporting when it comes to fan behaviour, 92 clubs all with separate reporting mechanisms, (Kick It Out) have a reporting mechanism, lots of other organisations do, but we never have a full picture of the data because the clubs aren’t mandated to share that,” he said.

“More importantly for us, we have no idea what the culture is like within the football environment.

“Because there is no compulsion for clubs to share internal discrimination reports, employee to employee for example, or employee against line manager, we have no idea what the extent of the problem is within football, and so we’ve no idea what sort of cultural problem we’ve got to tackle.

“It’s all right tackling diversity, but if we don’t try and make football a more inclusive culture, then there’s no point bringing more (diverse) people in, because they will leave.”

Everton manager Sean Dyche has given his backing to Michael Keane amid criticism of the defender’s performances.

Keane, 30, has displaced Conor Coady to become a regular again in Everton’s back four since Dyche – his former manager at Burnley – arrived at Goodison Park, but fans have not necessarily been happy with the result as the relegation-battling Toffees have shipped 20 goals in the 10 games Keane has started.

But Dyche said he retains full faith in a player capped 12 times by England.

“I have faith in all the players,” he said. “I can only pick 11 so I have faith in all of them. At the end of the day, it’s the ups and downs of a footballer, the ups and downs of teams, the ups and down of careers – it all goes into the melting pot.

“These are things the players have to work through, how to handle the goods, bads and indifferents.

“A lot of noise grew in the Newcastle game (a 4-1 defeat on April 27). I thought (Keane) was our best player until the second goal – that’s how it can change very quickly.

“He is a very good player amongst many good players here. Sorting the best 11 at any time, form related at any time, that’s the key to it.”

Coady, a loan signing from Wolves last summer, was a regular alongside James Tarkowski in the first half of the season, but has not featured since February 25, while fellow defender Yerry Mina is available again after injury but has not played since January.

“All the players need to keep doing what they are doing until we pick them, you can only pick 11,” Dyche said. “I make that clear to the players, you can question it and I am happy to speak about it, but you can only pick 11 players.

“Everyone has to stay fit, sharp and committed to the cause and that is what we are looking to do for when the team has to change or does change.”

Monday’s draw left Everton still 19th in the table, albeit only one point behind the three teams above them.

On another night they might have comfortably won at the King Power Stadium having taken 23 shots at goal, but they were equally indebted to Jordan Pickford saving James Maddison’s penalty late in the first half to avoid going 3-1 down.

Dyche said the performance gave his side confidence and reason to believe in what they were doing, saying “it reaffirms to them that we are on the right track”.

But with a trip to Europe-chasing Brighton on Monday to be followed by the visit of reigning champions and title favourites Manchester City, Everton cannot afford to play so openly.

“There’s a risk and reward,” Dyche said. “Defending correctly, attacking correctly, you have to find a balance somewhere. Some games just pan out like that.

“Palace (a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park on April 22) was the complete opposite, that was a slow, methodical game.

“Maybe the intensity of it, the feel of it, the fact it was a big game, sometimes that can bring an openness to a game and sometimes it stays tight but you can’t define a game until it starts and you see it in front of your eyes.

“You want to control performances but Leicester wanted to win the game and we wanted to win the game. You have to balance it, I think we did that but we didn’t get the result we were looking for.”

Erling Haaland must consistently deliver over the coming years to be considered a Premier League great, so says Les Ferdinand.

Haaland scored City's second goal in a 3-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday, taking his total for the season to 51 across all competitions.

In the top flight alone, Haaland has now netted 35 times, seeing him break the Premier League record of 34, which had been held by Alan Shearer and Andrew Cole, albeit that duo hit those tallies over the course of a 42-game season.

According to Opta, Haaland's league goals have come from an xG of 26, showing the brilliance of his finishing. Essentially, he has scored nine more goals than would have been anticipated given the quality of chances he has been provided with and the position from which he has been shooting.

According to Ferdinand, the next challenge for Haaland will be replicating his extraordinary form in seasons to come.

"It's a bit early to say as these guys did it consistently over the years," Ferdinand told Stats Perform.

"Haaland has done it this season and he's been phenomenal this season, but he'll get judged over what he does over the next X amount of years.

"I think a lot of strikers will say, you can have an exceptional year but can you repeat it, can you repeat it and can you repeat it?

"It looks like he can but until he's done it, it's hard to put him in that category of those great strikers. Although he's having an absolutely phenomenal season this year."

Asked what makes Haaland so special, Ferdinand said: "His pace, his power, his ability to score off his left foot, right foot, and head.

"You know, I always used to say Harry Kane, and so sorry to keep going back to Harry Kane but he's current. I used to say he's the complete centre-forward and Haaland is fast becoming that."

And while Ferdinand is wary of labelling the Norwegian a Premier League great just yet, he sees no reason why the 22-year-old will not fulfil his potential.

"I think in the side that he's playing in, if you looked at him from his [Borussia] Dortmund days, do you think he's improved from there? I think he has," Ferdinand added.

"I think with the manager and the coaching staff that they've got at Man City and the players that he's playing with at the moment, you can't not improve. I think the better quality of the player you play with, the better you become.

"It'll certainly raise the bar for him. Because, as a centre-forward, once you've scored 20 goals the next season, you want to score 22, 24 or 25.

"You want to score as many as you can so [now] he's broken the record of 34 he'll be looking to beat the record that he sets. Then that's the benchmark for people to try and get to."

Indeed, Ferdinand does not feel Haaland will find matters more difficult next season.

"Looking at the way he plays, his attributes, and the team that he's playing for, no. I really don't," he said.

When it came to offering advice on how defenders might stop Haaland, Ferdinand only had one idea.

"Kick him early doors, that's what used to happen," he quipped. "I mean, you can't do that anymore.

"You’ve got to find a way, but like I said it's so difficult because you're playing against a City side where, okay Haaland is scoring all of these goals but there are goals throughout that team. So you say, 'Right let's go man-to-man on him.' Then you're leaving the door open for someone else to get in too, so he's going to be so, so hard to stop."

The next target in Haaland's sights is Ron Davies' 37-goal haul from the 1966-67 campaign.

Davies was the last player to net more than Haaland in a single season in the English top flight.

Harry Kane may struggle to resist the temptation to leave Tottenham in search of major honours at the end of the season, believes former Spurs striker Frederic Kanoute.

While Kane has hit 25 Premier League goals during another fine individual campaign, his quest to win a first major trophy never looked likely to end during a frustrating season for Spurs.

Tottenham sit nine points adrift of the top four after Sunday's dramatic 4-3 defeat at Liverpool, and chairman Daniel Levy has already sacked two head coaches in the form of Antonio Conte and his interim replacement Cristian Stellini.

With Kane about to enter the final 12 months of his contract, reports have suggested he could be targeted by Manchester United in the upcoming transfer window, while Paris Saint-Germain are also said to hold an interest in the 29-year-old.

Kane wanted to leave Tottenham for Manchester City in 2021, and Kanoute believes the England captain could be enticed by the prospect of an exit this time around.

Speaking to Stats Perform at LaLiga x Bloomsbury Football League event, Kanoute said: "I can't speak on his behalf but, obviously, the fans would be really, really disappointed if he leaves the club because he's been fantastic.

"At the same time, I think they understand as well that it could be a good opportunity, a huge opportunity for him to win trophies.

"I think he will be a little bit conflicted in the next choice he is going to have to make."

Tottenham are yet to name Conte's permanent successor, with Ryan Mason taking the reins as acting head coach following Stellini's exit.

With the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Xabi Alonso and Vincent Kompany linked with the role, Kanoute has urged Spurs to look to the future with their next appointment.

"I wish all the best for Mason and I hope he's going to do a great job, but we all think it's going to be temporary," he said.

"Obviously the next appointment is going to be super important as I think it should be a long-term appointment, but as we know nowadays in football, there's not much patience. 

"I just hope the new coach will start with a few wins that will bring some positive momentum for the club.

"It's obvious that they're missing silverware and that's all the Tottenham fans are hoping that Tottenham can finally win a trophy, but I think there's a kind of unsettlement in the team. 

"If you want a trophy, you have to build it up, to have a certain stability with the coach, with the philosophy of what kind of football you want to deliver to the fans.

"I think they're still to reach that stability, so they can finally thrive in their football."

Arsenal have been hit by yet another long-term injury blow with defender Laura Wienroither confirmed as having ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament against Wolfsburg on Monday.

After coming off the bench midway through the second half of the Women’s Champions League semi-final leg at the Emirates Stadium, Wienroither then had to be substituted due to injury in the 82nd second minute.

A statement from Arsenal on Thursday said the Austria international had suffered a ruptured ACL, adding: “Laura will undergo surgery in due course and will be sidelined for an extended period.

“Everyone at the club will now be supporting Laura and working hard to support her recovery and return to action.”

It is Arsenal’s fourth ACL injury of the season – after Leah Williamson, Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema – and skipper Kim Little in March was ruled out for the rest of the campaign by a hamstring issue.