Why Donald Trump stopped Sir Keir Starmer from watching Arsenal against PSG

Sir Keir Starmer was unable to watch Arsenal crash out of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes last night due to an unscheduled phone call with President Donald Trump.

It has been confirmed on Thursday that the UK and the US have agreed a trade deal with Mr Trump confirming the announcement during a live broadcast of a phone call with Sir Keir. New agreements on car and agricultural exports have been made in a deal which the Prime Minister has labelled as the ‘first-of-a-kind’.

Speaking to the press on Thursday afternoon, Sir Keir was asked about the impromptu nature of the announcement and whether it was what he had been expecting to do today. He replied: “In relation to the timing of this, our teams have been hard at work for weeks on end. I’ve wanted to get a deal over the line, I’m not ashamed of that. I want it and know how important it was, particularly for JLR, that we made a deal and got it over the line in a timely manner. The last thing I wanted to do was to deliver a deal that didn’t come in time for those that desperately need it.

Sir Keir Starmer misses second half of PSG v Arsenal

“No, I didn’t know the exact day. I wouldn’t be having my phone call with President Trump halfway through the second half of the Arsenal v PSG game had I planned it better. That’s the way it turned out and that’s the discussion we were having late last night about how we proceeded with this deal.”

Sir Keir is known to be a big Arsenal fan and is regularly seen at the Emirates Stadium. The Prime Minister implied that he had been able to catch the first half of the meeting between Arsenal and PSG in the French capital.

The hosts went in 1-0 up at the break thanks to a Fabian Ruiz goal. That strike came against the run of play with Mikel Arteta’s men starting the stronger, the midfielder’s volley deflecting past a diving David Raya in the Gunners’ goal.

Prime Minister praises Gunners stars Myles Lewis-Skelly and Declan Rice

Sir Keir will have missed goals from PSG full-back Achraf Hakimi and Arsenal starboy Bukayo Saka, as well as a controversial VAR call that saw Luis Enrique’s men awarded a penalty. Raya saved that weak Vitinha shot, with Martin Keown admitting that justice had been done in the commentary box.

The Prime Minister had hoped that Arsenal could go all the way and lift the Champions League trophy. Speaking after his side dumped Real Madrid out of the competition, he told football.london: "Absolutely, phenomenal night at the Emirates. I think that's the best game at the Emirates since the stadium was put up. Probably an equally good game in the away leg as well because that required real resilience.

"An English club doing really well in Europe, and great English players on the pitch as well. Look at [Myles] Lewis-Skelly, look at Declan Rice, who was a player of the [Real Madrid] game for both legs. These are incredible players, [Bukayo] Saka, of course, really good English players. It was an amazing night. Just got to hope that we go all the way now."

In other news, Arsenal star who gifted PSG victory must be axed by Andrea Berta - opinion.