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• Rooney 'angry' as Plymouth tenure starts with dire defeat

  Wayne Rooney described himself as "angry" after watching his Plymouth Argyle side begin their Championship campaign with a meek 4-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.

  Rooney's first competitive game at the helm was one to forget as Wednesday ran riot at Hillsborough, with Jamal Lowe, Josh Windass and Michael Smith among the scorers.

  The Manchester United and England great has now recorded just two wins in his last 16 Championship games in charge of Birmingham City and Plymouth, drawing four and losing 10.

  Speaking to Sky Sports in the aftermath of Sunday's defeat, he hit out at his players for failing to do the basics against a well-drilled Wednesday side. 

  "The scoreline was deserved. We conceded four goals from four crosses. The basics of the game were not there," Rooney said.

  "We didn't take the ball well enough or handle the crowd. We allowed them to get a foothold in the game, and we let it run out and conceded two more goals.

  "I'm disappointed and angry, because that's not the performance I wanted to see. We spoke about their threats from crosses.

  "We spoke about Barry Bannan and we let him run the game and didn't get close enough to him. That wasn't acceptable.

  "The players have to earn a right to play. You can lose football games, that happens, but there's a way you want to see your players run, work and tackle. 

  "We've had a lot of fans come a long way, and the performance we've given wasn't good enough. We have to make sure that doesn't happen again."

  Wednesday racked up 30 shots totalling a huge 4.85 expected goals (xG) in Sunday's game, with 24 of those efforts coming from inside the Plymouth area.

  Plymouth, meanwhile, amassed just five attempts worth 0.31 xG, hitting the target once and only recording eight touches inside their hosts' box.

• Ferdinand questions De Ligt signing after Man Utd deal agreed

  Rio Ferdinand remains "uncertain" about Matthijs de Ligt ahead of his reported £42.9million switch from Bayern Munich to Manchester United. 

  De Ligt, who made 30 appearances in all competitions for Bayern last term, is set to reunite with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford having played under the Dutchman at Ajax. 

  United are after defensive reinforcements following the departures of Raphael Varane and Willy Kambwala, having just endured a campaign that saw them concede the most goals in a season in their Premier League history (58). 

  However, Ferdinand, who made 312 appearances across a 12-year stint with the Red Devils, is unsure whether De Ligt's arrival will solve their issues. 

  "I watched him at Ajax and he was brilliant in that year when Erik ten Hag was the manager, and they got to the semi-final [of the Champions League]," Ferdinand said on his YouTube channel.  

  "He was brilliant, commanding, everything you want in a defender.

  "He's had a lot of injuries, hasn't started many games over the last two or three years and Man United are spending £45-50million on him.

  "Is he going to come into Man United and make a difference? I think it's a big ask for him and all eyes are going to be on him.

  "Big pressure, big opportunity for him, but there's a lot of uncertainty I think with this signing because of his previous seasons with two big clubs (Juventus and Bayern Munich) not going as well as we'd have anticipated."

  He then added: "I don't think he's the answer, but it's a great opportunity for him to go in there and go, 'You know what guys? I'm going to rectify my last couple of seasons.

  "That's not the real me, and I'm going to show you."

• Chelsea confirm £51.4m Pedro Neto deal

  Chelsea have completed the signing of Pedro Neto from Wolves, with the Blues shelling out €60million (£51.4m) plus add-ons for the Portugal international.

  Chelsea have been busy in the transfer market once again as they approach their first season under Enzo Maresca, with Neto becoming their ninth senior signing ahead of 2024-25.

  The winger spent five seasons at Wolves after arriving from Braga in 2019, and 2023-24 was his most productive campaign yet as he tallied nine assists in 20 Premier League appearances.

  However, two hamstring injuries limited him to just 1,518 minutes in the competition last term, and he has not made over 20 league appearances in a single season since 2020-21.

  Neto will be hoping to remain fit this campaign as Chelsea set their sights on Champions League qualification, having finished a disappointing sixth under Mauricio Pochettino last term.

  Neto's arrival was confirmed at half-time during Chelsea's final pre-season friendly versus Inter on Sunday, with the 24-year-old signing a seven-year contract before telling the club's website: "I feel really grateful to have joined this club. 

  "I have worked really hard in my career to be here and I'm looking forward to getting on the pitch with this shirt."

   

  Neto could make his Chelsea debut against Premier League champions Manchester City on matchday one of the Premier League season next Sunday, before returning to Molineux for a swift reunion with Wolves one week later.

  Neto's arrival is the most expensive sanctioned by the Todd Boehly regime this off-season, taking Chelsea's overall spend to an estimated £161m.

  Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Filip Jorgensen, Omari Kellyman, Aaron Anselmino, Renato Veiga, Caleb Wiley, Marc Guiu and Tosin Adarabioyo have also joined ahead of 2024-25, with Ian Maatsen, Lewis Hall and Omari Hutchinson all being moved on for significant fees.