Data from world governing body FIFA's International Transfer Matching System (ITMS) has shown that agents' fees have climbed above the half a billion pound mark for the first time this year.

Chelsea suffered a second defeat in three Premier League games with their 3-1 defeat to Everton. So with their transfer ban now lifted, where could Frank Lampard now look to invest?

Liverpool will play their first match at the FIFA Club World Cup at the Khalifa International Stadium instead of at the Education City Stadium, which is not yet ready to host matches.

After being hit with a four-year blanket ban from international sporting competition, the door was left slightly ajar for a 'neutral' Russian team to play at the 2022 World Cup.

CLAIRE BLOOMFIELD: Colombia's hopes of hosting 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup may be over after the bid they submitted identified harrowing risks to teams, spectators and journalists.

While Liverpool are on the cusp of tearing up their own record books, one niche trophy continues to elude the Premier League and European titans. Is it now finally time the Club World Cup was ticked off?

MARTIN SAMUEL IN DOHA, QATAR: Late to the World Cup, late to the European Cup, it is no surprise that the Club World Cup continues to be regarded contemptuously by some back home.

KIERAN JACKSON: Ahead of Liverpool's venture in the Club World Cup, a look at all the factors at play and why English sides have notoriously struggled in the competition.

Bento Miguel Martins, 14, thought he was just accompanying his dad, Eduardo Martins, 38, to the airport in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday to wave him off for his flight to Qatar to watch the FIFA World Cup.

IAN HERBERT: If anyone was oiling the wheels it was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, rebuilding his career after an injury which cost him a place in two Champions League finals and a World Cup.

DOMINIC KING: Liverpool once again hauled themselves over the line when it appeared they would take a false step. This team do not trip up, as Roberto Firmino took the Superman role.

Liverpool clinched their first-ever FIFA Club World Cup title on Saturday after Roberto Firmino scored an extra-time winner to earn a 1-0 victory over Brazilian side Flamengo in Doha.

MARTIN SAMUEL IN DOHA: Liverpool have won the hearts and minds of sceptics by treating the crown of world champions as a prize to be fought for, and treasured after winning Club World Cup.

The Old Trafford-based club released the World Cup winner as the France international was reluctant to sign a new contract. He joined Juventus in the summer of 2012, before United bought him back.

EXCLUSIVE BY DAVID COVERDALE: The government are 'committed' to backing a British and Irish bid for the 2030 World Cup - even if they have to go up against China.

Every team has an unsung hero. Since he signed from Hoffenheim, Roberto Firmino has often played in the shadows - putting in some stellar displays but not always getting the recognition he deserves.

Emiliano Sala was killed in a plane crash as he returned to Wales from France just two days after his transfer from Nantes to Cardiff was announced on January 19 last year.

A new goalkeeper, winger and left back are thought to be high on Frank Lampard's wish list now he's made his first buy. So, if he gets what he wants, how Chelsea will line up at the start of next season?

Another spell on the sidelines beckons for Daniel Sturridge but this time, he cannot be left cursing his luck. His gambling ban means that Sturridge only has himself to blame.

With the season possibly extending into July, Sportsmail revealed on Saturday how out-of-contract players are on a collision course with their clubs due to the fact their deals expire on June 30.

FIFA and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have teamed up by launching a new awareness campaign where world stars call on people around the globe to follow five key steps to combat the virus.

The coronavirus outbreak has given plenty the chance to stop and take stock. Here, Sportsmail's experts offer their suggestions as to how football could improve once it returns.

England stars at all levels are set to battle it out in a FIFA 20 tournament to raise awareness for the National Emergencies Trust amid the coronavirus pandemic.

For almost a decade many of us have suspected, or known, that the hosting rights for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar were awarded after a corrupt process - and bribery.

MARTIN SAMUEL - CHIEF SPORTS WRITER: At some stage this week, the National League will make a decision on their competitions above tier seven of the pyramid system.

SPECIAL REPORT - JAMES SHARPE: Ronaldinho's trademark grin had vanished. His long, curly hair tucked up under a black hat as police ed him through the mass of flashing bulbs.

Brazil's Ronaldo won FIFA's World Player of the Year three times before the age of 21 but was eventually surpassed by his Portuguese namesake.

Sergio Aguero has been making sure he's getting in plenty of time on the pitch during lockdown, albeit the virtual one in the video game FIFA 20. He also has a somewhat unusual gaming setup.

Lionel Messi has won it all for Barcelona, including 10 La Liga titles and four Champions League's but an international honour with Argentina continues to elude him.

With football in England nearing a return with clubs slowly returning to training, Michel D'Hooghe has warned that footballers will have to change their mannerisms on the pitch for health reasons.

Germany's Bundesliga has plans in place, subject to approval from the federal government and state health authorities, to get going again on May 9 while other leagues are keen to follow suit.

It is a story that has passed into footballing folklore and now Graeme Souness and Matt Le Tissier have revealed the truth about one of the Premier League's most bizarre signings - Ali Dia.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: A few years earlier, many professions had been virtually all-male. In the City, women were not allowed on the floor of the Stock Exchange until March 1973.

Like Johnson, Churchill refined his image, endlessly practising his supposedly spontaneous quips. He, too, had conspicuous flaws, drank too much, told tall tales and played to the gallery.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: In my lifetime, Labour have published more than a dozen manifestos, some saner than others.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: Exactly 100 days since Jeremy Corbyn became Prime Minister, his Momentum fan club have sent red roses to mark the occasion.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: The 2010s has been a decade of increasingly strident and intolerant political correctness, with institutions such as the Church of England taking more extreme positions.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: Britain's departure shows the EU is not the end of history and it is perfectly possible to get off the train, however clumsy our departure may have looked.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: We've packed our bags and bought our tickets, and on Friday evening we are off. Whatever you think of the decision, there is no doubt this is a landmark in our modern history.

DOMINIC SANDBROOKE: This week, as Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan launches a 'consultation' to discuss the licence fee, the BBC's future genuinely seems more uncertain than ever before.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: The new slimmed down Royal Family is a good thing, though I don't for a moment underestimate the strain it has placed upon our 93-year-old Queen.

DOMINIC SANDBROOK: Even optimists admit that some businesses will not be replaced. Not every neighbourhood restaurant will reopen. Not every furloughed worker will stroll back into a job.

In what may be his final flight, Jay Hill, 24, talked to a passenger, known as Mr Douglas, travelling from LAX to Perth, who told him he had retired from work because he had terminal cancer.

Shirley Maclaren is one of 135 Australians on the Holland America Line Zaandam ship stranded in the Pacific Ocean off Central America, where four passengers have died from coronavirus.

Queenslander Karla Lake contracted the deadly virus while celebrating her 75th birthday with her husband Graeme on the virus-stricken Ruby Cruise cruise ship before it docked in Sydney.

Residents in two adjacent apartment buildings in Redcliffe, north of Brisbane, simultaneously cheered for all medical services staff around the country.

The 49-year-old was arrested on Monday night and spent the night behind bars.

Sarah Greig and her two sons returned from a trip to Jakarta on Sunday, and were immediately shuttled to the Novotel hotel in Brisbane.

The producer of children's program Bluey was left red-faced when his bare feet were revealed during an appearance on Channel Ten's The Project. 

Queensland police attended the event in Rochedale, south of Brisbane, on Saturday night and gave out 58 $1,334 fines for failing to comply with COVID-19 sanctions.