This Week: Three midfield transfers

Hello my name’s Jack and welcome to the weekly round-up called This Week on Premier Skills English.

In This Week, we’ve got lots of interesting words and phrases to help you talk about football in English.

If you are listening to this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify you can also visit the Premier Skills English website at premierskillsenglish.britishcouncil.org where you’ll be able to download the podcast.

On the Premier Skills English website, you can read the transcript and join the Premier Skills English community by completing a language task in the comments section. This will really help you remember the new words and phrases from the stories from the Premier League.

Today, I want to talk about three new signings for three different Premier League teams. I have chosen these because they are the highest profile or most valuable signings so far. I’m sure there will be more exciting signings, but the three I’m talking about today are already very exciting for clubs and fans.

But before I start talking about the new signings and the vocabulary, I want to give you the answer to last week’s football phrase. If you didn’t hear it last week, here’s one more chance to guess now.

Last week, the football phrase was a ****** ******. You can buy a ****** to watch a match. However, if you really love your team and can afford it and want to watch every match, you can buy a ****** ******. You can also buy ****** ******* for trains. In both cases, it’s cheaper to buy a ****** ****** than to buy separate *******.

Congratulations to Ken from Japan, Satt from Japan, Alex from Ukraine, Denis2000 from Belarus, Hasan from Turkey, Bicooz from Egypt, Takateeto from Japan, Jaybee Art from Nigeria, Welcome to Premier Skills English Jaybee Art, you got the phrase mostly right so well done. Congratulations to Isshin from Japan, Chen Meng Tso from Taiwan, Shiho from Egypt, Schewa from Germany - I hope my pronunciation is better this week Schewa, congratulations to Vincius 77 from Brazil and XuanHung from China. Well don Taha Gashout from Libya for getting it half right and to Vietnguyenngo who gave the answer to last weeks phrase, though you did get they right.

You all worked out or mostly worked out that the phrase I was looking for was a season ticket.

Keep listening till the end of the podcast for a new football phrase.

Today, I am focusing on three players. Two new to the Premier League and one who has stepped across town to play for a local rival.

The first player I want to talk about is ...

Kai Havertz

Kai Havertz was born in Aachen in Germany on the 11th June 1999. He was signed by his local team when he was 10, but moved to Bayer Leverkusen when he was 11. He made his debut for Leverkusen when he was 17 and stayed there for 4 seasons, scoring 36 goals in the Bundesliga.

In 2020, he moved to Chelsea, making his debut on the 14th September. Just over a week later, he scored his first hat trick for the club and scored his first Premier League goal a few weeks later. On the 28th June 2023, Havertz signed for Arsenal.

Havertz is a technically gifted attacking midfielder who is comfortable on either foot and is happiest playing as a false nine and has a talent for finding spaces between players and making the right runs.

When he was playing in the Bundesliga, the German media gave him the nickname “Alleskonner” which means someone who can do anything. Arsenal fans are excited to see how well he fits in at the Emirates and what his skills bring to the team.

Havertz made his debut for his national under-16 team in 2014. He played in the German under-16, under-17 and under 19 teams before being called up for the senior team in 2018. He has 37 caps for Germany and 13 international goals.

When he’s not playing football he likes playing the piano.

The words I want to talk about from this story are: false nine, media and senior.

False nine

First, I need to explain what a true nine is. Traditionally, the player wearing a number 9 is the team’s main striker. They normally play in front of the midfielders. However, some managers have stopped playing a dedicated striker and instead play a false-nine. A false -nine still plays high up the pitch, but has the freedom to drop back and to take more of a midfield role. This is only possible for players who can read the play, who are strong and can hold and run with the ball and who can shoot as well as a traditional nine.

The Media

The media means all the newspapers and magazines, radio and television programmes and news websites. If you study media at university, it also includes films and video games, all the creative industries, but when people talk about the media, they mostly mean newspapers and TV news programmes.

Senior

Senior means older and more experienced. There are some jobs that have junior and senior roles. Junior roles are the roles people do when they start working in a profession. When the have some years of experience, they can apply for senior roles. In football, senior international teams are the main teams. The term is just used in contrast with the junior teams, the under-19 and under-15 teams, etc.

Now it’s time for the second player. The player I want to talk about is ...

Christopher Nkunku

Christopher Nkunku was born in Lagny-sur-Marne, a suburb of Paris on the 14th December 1997. He joined the youth team AS Marolles when he was six and then moved first to Fontainbleu and then to Paris Saint-Germain. He made his professional debut at the age of 18, coming on as a late substitute in a Champions League match against Shaktar Donetsk. In 2019, he transferred to the Bundesliga team RB Leipzig where he played three seasons and scored 47 goals. On the 20th June 2023, Nkunku signed for Chelsea.

Nkunku is an attacking midfielder. While at Paris Saint-Germain, he had to prove himself worthy of a space on the field alongside two of the world’s most expensive players, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. He managed an impressive 77 appearances before moving to Leipzig where he could take a more prominent role.

Nkunku is most effective playing through the middle where he has a wide range of passing options. He is also impressive on the ball and has a record of dribbling past his marker, taking advantage of a low centre of gravity, a strong core and fast feet.

Nkunku has represented France at under-16, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels. He has 10 senior international caps.

Nkunku is Pochettino’s first Chelsea signing since taking over the Blues.

When he’s not playing football, he likes listening to music and playing basketball.

The words I want to talk about from this story are: suburb, worthy and prominent.

Suburb

Suburbs are like towns that surround a city. They are residential areas away from the centre. London has 32 boroughs, which are administrative areas. These are often like towns and they have their own centres and facilities but can still be considered suburbs. I was born in Sheffield and lived in a suburb called Waterthorpe which was originally a village, but as the city grew, a new residential area was built for people who work in Sheffield.

Worthy

Worthy means deserving. It comes from the adjective worth which is used in phrases to describe something’s value. If you want to sell your car, you can look online to see what other people are selling the same model for to see what it’s worth. We talk about how much money a house is worth or how much a football player is worth to say how much money a club has to pay. The adjective worthy is similar, but we use it to describe value that’s not about money. So if someone deserves respect, you can say that they are worthy of respect. If someone applies for a job and you think that they are a good candidate, you might say they are worthy of consideration, they deserve to be considered. Nkunku was playing at PSG with Neymar and Mbappe. He had to prove that he deserved to play alongside these midfield greats and with 77 appearances, his manager thought he was worthy of the team.

Prominent

If something is prominent, it sticks out or is very easy to notice. I had a friend at school, a really great guy, who had very prominent ears. They stuck out away from his head like handles on a trophy. As well as prominent features, like a big nose or goofy teeth, someone might be prominent because of the way they behave. A prominent role is a job or position in a team or organisation that is very noticeable, that sticks out. Some defenders do a good job without attracting too much attention or glory, but attacking midfielders, especially false-nines, are often the target players for the rest of the team and so everybody notices them.

Now it’s time for the third player. The player I want to talk about is ...

Dominik Szoboszlai

Dominik Szoboszlai was born in Székesfehérvár, Hungary on the 25th October 2000. He played his way through the youth system in Hungary, playing for Videotron, Fonix Gold and MTK Budapest before moving to the Austrian team FC Liefering. He made his professional debut for Liefering, scoring 16 goals in his first season before moving to Red Bull Salzberg for three seasons and then to RB Leipzig for two seasons. On 2nd July 2023, Dominik Szoboszlai signed for Liverpool.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s father played in the lower leagues of Austrian football and started training his son from the age of three. He positioned plastic bottles on the ground and had young Dominik dribble the ball between the bottles.

Szoboszlai has represented his country as an under-17 player, an under-19 player, an under-21 player and now as a senior player. Despite his young age, he was made captain of the national squad and scored his first goal as captain against Bulgaria. He has 32 senior caps and has scored 7 international goals.

When he’s not playing football, he likes playing football video games and watching anime.

The words I want to talk about from this story are: debut, dribble and squad.

Debut

This is a common piece of football English. The first time a player plays for a new team is their debut. We say that players make their debut the first time they play. When a film is released in the cinema, the money it makes at the box office in that first week shows whether the film has a good or bad debut. So a player makes their debut the first time they play. A film’s opening week in cinemas is the film’s debut. Companies will also talk about new products and how well they sell as the products’ debuts.

Dribble

The verb to dribble outside for football describes liquid. It describes a small amount of liquid that’s moving slowly. Most commonly, it’s used to describe babies who dribble when liquid, usually saliva, comes out of their mouths. My son used to dribble a lot. I’m not sure why, but we had to buy special little bibs that made him look like a tiny cowboy to absorb his dribble. In football and other sports, it means to move with a ball, all the while controlling the ball with small kicks or hits, not holding the ball. Dribbling is a core skill in football and some players can dribble really well, almost as if the ball is stuck to their feet.

Squad

A squad is a small group of people who work together. I think it’s quite common in the military for soldiers to work together in squads. In fact, soldiers are sometimes referred to as squaddies. In football, a squad is the list of players that a club submits to the league that the manager selects a team from. Premier League squads have a maximum of 25 players. Before the last word cup, the 32 teams had to register their squads with a maximum of 26 players including three goalkeepers.

OK. I have focused on 9 bits of vocabulary today. They are:

• false nine,
• media,
• senior,
• suburb,
• worthy,
• prominent,
• debut,
• dribble,
• and
• squad.

Listen to the three descriptions of the players one more time to hear these words again in context.

Kai Havertz

Kai Havertz was born in Aachen in Germany on the 11th June 1999. He was signed by his local team when he was 10, but moved to Bayer Leverkusen when he was 11. He made his debut for Leverkusen when he was 17 and stayed there for 4 seasons, scoring 36 goals in the Bundesliga.

In 2020, he moved to Chelsea, making his debut on the 14th September. Just over a week later, he scored his first hat trick for the club and scored his first Premier League goal a few weeks later. On the 28th June 2023, Havertz signed for Arsenal.

Havertz is a technically gifted attacking midfielder who is comfortable on either foot and is happiest playing as a false nine and has a talent for finding spaces between players and making the right runs.

When he was playing in the Bundesliga, the German media gave him the nickname “Alleskonner” which means someone who can do anything. Arsenal fans are excited to see how well he fits in at the Emirates and what his skills bring to the team.

Havertz made his debut for his national under-16 team in 2014. He played in the German under-16, under-17 and under 19 teams before being called up for the senior team in 2018. He has 37 caps for Germany and 13 international goals.

When he’s not playing football he likes playing the piano.

Christopher Nkunku

Christopher Nkunku was born in Lagny-sur-Marne, a suburb of Paris on the 14th December 1997. He joined the youth team AS Marolles when he was six and then moved first to Fontainbleu and then to Paris Saint-Germain. He made his professional debut at the age of 18, coming on as a late substitute in a Champions League match against Shaktar Donetsk. In 2019, he transferred to the Bundesliga team RB Leipzig where he played three seasons and scored 47 goals. On the 20th June 2023, Nkunku signed for Chelsea.

Nkunku is an attacking midfielder. While at Paris Saint-Germain, he had to prove himself worthy of a space on the field alongside two of the world’s most expensive players, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. He managed an impressive 77 appearances before moving to Leipzig where he could take a more prominent role.

Nkunku is most effective playing through the middle where he has a wide range of passing options. He is also impressive on the ball and has a record of dribbling past his marker, taking advantage of a low centre of gravity, a strong core and fast feet.

Nkunku has represented France at under-16, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels. He has 10 senior international caps.

Nkunku is Pochettino’s first Chelsea signing since taking over the Blues.

When he’s not playing football, he likes listening to music and playing basketball.

Dominik Szoboszlai

Dominik Szoboszlai was born in Székesfehérvár, Hungary on the 25th October 2000. He played his way through the youth system in Hungary, playing for Videotron, Fonix Gold and MTK Budapest before moving to the Austrian team FC Liefering. He made his professional debut for Liefering, scoring 16 goals in his first season before moving to Red Bull Salzberg for three seasons and then to RB Leipzig for two seasons. On 2nd July 2023, Dominik Szoboszlai signed for Liverpool.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s father played in the lower leagues of Austrian football and started training his son from the age of three. He positioned plastic bottles on the ground and had young Dominik dribble the ball between the bottles.

Szoboszlai has represented his country as an under-17 player, an under-19 player, an under-21 player and now as a senior player. Despite his young age, he was made captain of the national squad and scored his first goal as captain against Bulgaria. He has 32 senior caps and has scored 7 international goals.

When he’s not playing football, he likes playing football video games and watching anime.

Language Challenge

Right, now it’s time for you to think about the language again. I have spoken about 9 useful words. I have found examples of these words in news stories online and edited them slightly. I have removed today’s vocabulary so I want you to fill in the gaps with the language from the podcast.

Number 1. A ____________ Russian journalist and a lawyer were attacked and suffered serious injuries after several masked men forced their car to stop on Tuesday.

Number 2. Here we take a look at what the Liverpool _________ could look like against Chelsea on the opening weekend as Jurgen Klopp looks to add to Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Number 3. Arsenal youngster Khayon Edwards revealed which _________ player has impressed him most in training.

Number 4. Is there a better teacher to learn how to play the ____________ position in a Liverpool system than Roberto Firmino?

Number 5. The family of the victim have criticised the role that ___________ and social media played during the police investigation, and have accused the press of running stories just to sell more papers.

Number 6. Picking up the ball just before the 10th minute, the Liverpool wide-man went on an emphatic run, ____________ past four opposition players along the way.

Number 7. To inaugurate its first Louis Vuitton spring summer 2024 collection, Pharrell Williams organised a show __________ of a Hollywood production.

Number 8. Ocean views, sought-after schools and hardly a property for sale in sight. Some of Sydney’s most tightly held ___________ had only a handful of sales within the past year.

Number 9. Although Disney’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny hit the top spot on domestic box office charts, the producers may be disappointed having collected an underwhelming million in its _________ weekend.

Leave your answers to the language challenge in the comments section on the Premier Skills English website.

Football phrase

Now it’s time for this week's football phrase.

This week’s football phrase is a *******. When a player transfers to a new club, they are often described as a ******* for the club or the clubs’ latest *******. It comes from a verb which means to write your name on a contract to show that you agree with it.

If you know the answer, be sure to leave it in a comment on the page for this podcast on Premier Skills English.

Before I finish, I am going to go through the answers to last week’s language challenge.

Number 1. Dyche loves a grafter, a really hard worker – his motto is “the minimum requirement is maximum effort”.

Number 2. Intrepid Travel has been named in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential companies in the world. The escorted touring specialist appears in the ‘Leaders’ section of the list, and is commended for its approach to “responsible globetrotting”.

Number 3. The five-piece band from Essex will perform 'The Paul Simon Story' in a tribute to Paul Simon as one of the best songwriters and performers of his generation.

Number 4. Drive down the hill until you get to the bottom of the valley then keep going straight ahead and climb up the other side until you finally go through a gate and out onto the main road.

Number 5. How does the Manchester Derby compare to football's fiercest rivalries?

Number 6. A new "exciting" app to help visitors and residents explore a county's local history and cultural heritage has launched.

Number 7. The owl is a spirit guide that represents wisdom, deep connection, and intuitive knowledge.

Number 8. The total area of cultivated land in China saw a net increase in 2021 as the country has reversed the trend of reduction in farmed land in recent years.

And that’s all I have time for today. Before I finish, I just wanted to say that I hope you found this podcast useful, and I hope all of you stay fit and healthy and safe.

Bye for now and enjoy your football.