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• 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."

• Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 Plymouth Argyle: Rooney's reign starts with miserable loss

  Wayne Rooney's reign as Plymouth Argyle boss got off to a miserable start as they were thrashed 4-0 by Sheffield Wednesday in their first Championship game of the season.

  Sunday's trip to Hillsborough represented Rooney's first match back in management since he was sacked by Birmingham City in January.

  Any hopes of a flying start to his time on the south coast were quickly dashed as Danny Rohl's team dominated from the off, eventually racking up 4.85 expected goals (xG) from 30 shots at goal.

  Jamal Lowe converted Svante Ingelsson's cross on the slide to hand the Owls a 35th-minute lead, then the new striker saw a header deflect in off the unfortunate Brendan Galloway for 2-0 shortly after the break.

  Wednesday added further gloss to the scoreline late on, Josh Windass stabbing home an 82nd-minute third before Michael Smith came off the bench to finish from close range in stoppage time.

  While the resounding victory takes Wednesday top of the early-season standings, Plymouth prop up the second-tier table ahead of Monday's match between Luton Town and Burnley.

  Data Debrief: Plenty for Rooney to ponder

  Plymouth were thoroughly outclassed by a Wednesday team they finished just two points behind last season, leaving their new boss with plenty to think about.

  They only managed five shots to the hosts' 30, facing a huge 24 efforts from inside their own area.

  Since returning from a spell in MLS with D.C. United, Rooney now has a record of two wins from 16 Championship matches with Birmingham and Plymouth (four draws, 10 losses).

• Chelsea 1-1 Inter: Ugochukwu levels late on Maresca's SW6 debut

  Lesley Ugochukwu struck late on for Chelsea as they claimed a 1-1 draw against Inter in their final pre-season fixture. 

  Marcus Thuram's first-half strike against the run of play gave the Serie A champions the lead, only for Ugochukwu to level in the 90th minute for the Blues. 

  Despite Chelsea dominating proceedings in the opening exchanges with Marc Guiu going close, Robert Sanchez was picking the ball out of his net in the 26th minute. 

  Joaquin Correa was given time to run at the Chelsea defence, picking out Thuram, who took the ball in his stride before firing a left-footed effort into the roof of the net. 

  Despite the hosts registering nine shots in the opening 45 minutes, they were unable to test Yann Sommer in the Inter goal as the Serie A champions led at the break. 

  Maresca rung the changes at the interval, with last season's top scorer Cole Palmer making his return to first-team action after his Euro 2024 campaign with England. 

  Levi Colwill struck the post early in the second period, before Christopher Nkunku's attempted bicycle kick produced a smart save from Sommer low to his right. 

  But the Blues' pressure would pay off in the closing stages, as Palmer's free-kick was headed kindly into the path of substitute Ugochukwu, who fired the ball home. 

  Data Debrief: Blues leave it late 

  Chelsea conclude their preparations for the new Premier League season having won just one of their six pre-season fixtures (two draws, three defeats), but there were plenty of positives to take from their showing in SW6.

  The return of Palmer is a timely boost ahead of their fixture against Manchester City next week, but Maresca will want to see an improvement in front of goal. 

  Chelsea registered an expected goals (xG) total of 2.27 but could only net once, an underperformance of 1.27, with only seven of their 21 shots on target.