The 2018 World Cup will have started before the end of the week, and the Squawka Talker is here to offer all the key stats and insight you could need. Who has the best team on paper? How far will England go? And which players will pick up Fifa's Golden Ball and Boot awards? Joined by Jake Entwistle, Muhammad Butt and sponsors BetBright's Dean Ryan, host Thomas Rooney is looking to shed some light.

Zidane decided to announce his Real Madrid resignation the minute after we finished recording, but this week's Squawka Talker still has a pretty tasty running order: Topics such as Frank Lampard's Derby appointment, Liverpool's Fabinho signing and England's upcoming World Cup prep match vs Nigeria are covered. Plus we rate five of the biggest transfer stories flying around right now.

Will Salah be licking his lips at the space on offer in Saturday's Champions League final? Who will Unai Emery build Arsenal around? And which team will become the Premier League's 20th participant for next season?

The Champions League final is a little over 48 hours away, so Squawka's Muhammad Butt and Jake Entwistle have joined AskFans' editor Sam Long to preview Real Madrid v Liverpool, the Championship play-off final, and discuss Emery's Arsenal arrival.

To preview English football's final domestic fixture of the 2017/18 season, the Squawka Talker team has re-assembled. 

Besides debating whether Man Utd are underrated (or the worst runners-up in Premier League history), Thomas Rooney, Muhammad Butt, Jake Entwistle and special guest Sam Pilger discuss England's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup. 

There are also questions from the listeners, a quiz and a preview of three league games across Europe well worth watching this weekend.

The Squawka Talker returns for an FA Cup semi-final special, as Thomas Rooney is joined by AskFans editor Sam Long, Squawka's Will Hall and chief writer Muhammad Butt.

Man Utd, Spurs, Chelsea and Southampton are all in action, but whose manager will be most desperate to avoid defeat?

There's also Copa del Rey chat as Barcelona look to make it four back-to-back Spanish Cup wins, and a debate on why the PFA awards might just need a rethink.

Rory Briggs is joined by Oli Young-Myles and Harry Edwards to discuss this week's Carabao Cup action and preview this weekend's Premier League fixtures as well as journey through the hot topics of European football.

Nic English is joined by Oli Young-Myles and Muhammad Butt for a deep-dive into the final stages of the international break.

There's also time to look at the Ballon D'Or nominees and as ever, your excellent questions.

Nic English is joined by Adam Hamdani and Hush Kerai to evaluate England's crawl to World Cup 2018 as well as the other home nations' performance.

Added to this is a re-run of Rory Briggs' very popular interview with James Montague about how football inspires his writing.