New moves by the Premier League to remove betting firms as front of shirt sponsors have gained significant headlines in recent days.

Since the announcement, sports business experts have speculated about the consequences of this decision. Limiting the sponsorship options for one of the industry’s major partnership categories is likely to have a significant impact.

The Premier League has announced that it will once again allow players to take a drinks break during this weekend’s fixtures. Temperatures in the UK are set to exceed 30OC during the majority of the games, meaning the policy to allow for a break midway through each half is activated.

The issue of fixture congestion and player welfare, perhaps predictably, came back to the fore recently as it seems to at this time every year. Multiple managers, and most notably Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, have spoken out about the demands on players during the festive period. The usual debates surrounding fatigue, recovery, and injury have now been heightened by squad depletion that has hit many teams due to Covid-19.

The Premier League is set to resume on the 17th June, subject to continued government approval. It marks the latest step in the much publicised Project Restart. If all goes to plan the season commences with midweek games between Aston Villa and Sheffield United and Manchester City vs Arsenal before a full round of weekend fixtures between 19th - 21st. The last Premier League action took place on 9th March. For the players, this will mean a gap of over 3 months since they were last involved in competitive action.

Premier League players returned to training in small groups this week as part of the ongoing Covid-19 return to play protocols. The improvement in the weather offered a pleasant backdrop for coaches, players, and a limited number of sport scientists to be out on the training ground. It also gave media teams a valuable opportunity to capture content for the many behind the scenes training videos being produced to satisfy fans’ thirst for content.

This weekend sees the Premier League make way for the 5th round of the Emirates FA Cup. Only 7 Premier League teams have reached this stage leaving a number of clubs with the opportunity for a winter training camp.

Talent identification is the Holy Grail of sport science. Being able to apply scientific understanding to spot and develop young athletes and turn them into future champions is the goal of every major sporting organisation. But it is not only sport science that cares about talent development. With the huge transfer fees now being applied across European and particularly Premier League football, fans, agents and owners are now very aware of the value of talent identification. Yet the number of home grown players taking to a Premier League field each week is falling, so what can be done to arrest the decline?