Manchester City are the latest club to freeze their prices for next season. That’s nine at the last count although it’s likely there’s going to be at least another who rise theirs.

Boubacar Kamara is being offered a new contract already, and let’s hope he signs it soon, willingly or not. Lamare Bogarde’s already signed one.

We’re getting the East End at Wembley, which meas we’ll love the Queen Mum, win the World Cup and only harm our own. The criteria for getting tickets is also announced and they won’t be popular whatever happens.

The biggest European tie we’ve played for forty-odd years and so far it’s going in much the same way as the last one. All those years ago we had a great team and one which could beat anyone on a good day. What we couldn’t do was beat an absolutely world-class team, with players to match, on one of their good days.

That’s what happened again on Wednesday, this time against PSG. They started off like a train and the best keeper in the world had to be on top form to keep them out, then Youri Tielemans hit a cross, Morgan Rogers was in the right place to meet it and suddenly we were in dreamland.

It couldn’t last, although a bit longer than four minutes would have been nice. But a shot that Conor Hourihane would have been proud of flew into the top corner and that was that. It didn’t take them long after the second half began to get another goal and we were really up against it. Martinez performed his usual miracles, everyone else defended desperately and then, when the end was almost in sight, PSG got a third. It isn’t over yet, but if they play like that again it will be.

There’s a story that we’re talking to UEFA’s club financial control body over a financial settlement after being found in breach of squad cost ratio rules last season. Which means we’re going to get fined, probably.

Down to Southampton and in a situation like this there’s bound to be some worries. After all, this is the Villa. So the team went out, did what they had to do and came home with the points. Marco Asensio missed a penalty and it was still goalless midway through the second half so we brought on three subs to change the match. Ollie Watkins, Donyell Malen and John McGinn. They all arrived, they all scored, although McGinn only managed it because Asensio had missed another penalty

No fuss, no particularly hard work, no injuries; a routine win away from home a few days before a big European match, inspired by bringing on substitutes as good as the players they replaced. Amazingly, this is the Villa we’re talking about.