This evening marks the end, finally, of the 2019/20 football season. The Estadio da Luz in Lisbon plays host to the Champions League final, with Paris Saint-Germain taking on five-times winner, Bayern Munich at 8pm. For those considering a cheeky punt, it has not been all triumph and glory for the Bavarian juggernauts, given they have lost as many European finals as they have won. On the flip side, for the first time, Paris Saint-Germain are one victory away from winning Europe’s top club competition and realising the great ambition of their state-owned benefactor, Qatar Sports Investments. They have won eighteen major domestic trophies since QSI bought the club in 2011, but the Champions League is the hardest trophy to buy. Just ask Manchester City! PSG’s owners have made no secret of the fact that the Champions League is the holy grail for them and, after years of under-achievement in the competition, it could be written in the stars for them to pull off their crowning glory in the club's 50th anniversary year. QSI have certainly put their money where their mouth is, investing a staggering £1.1 billion so far, with their current squad alone costing more than £700 million to build. Will that investment be worth it come 10pm tonight? If things don’t go to plan, PSG can at least console themselves that the next edition of the tournament has already started!

“More House of Fraser store closures on the cards”. “UK commercial property investment down 60% for July compared to the same period last year”. “Footfall remains around 40% down year-on-year”. “Increase in European office vacancy rates”. “London office rents predicted to plummet 40%”. These are a small selection of the more depressing property-related articles this week. And the truth is, finding positive and uplifting news stories from the world of property has been challenging of late. But one sector experiencing a boom is the residential sector, with the market having its busiest month in over a decade. £37 billion worth of deals were signed in July alone. According to Rightmove, transactions for July surged 20% on the previous high of March 2008, while the weekly sales agreed figure for last week soared 60% compared to the same week in 2019. So, what is driving this apparent boom? Have we turned to home-buying just to fill our summer holiday void? Have we forgotten that the country is experiencing its deepest recession on record? There is no doubt the release of pent-up demand due to the suspension of the housing market during lockdown has played a major part. So too has the stamp duty holiday introduced by the Government, although interestingly, the sales being agreed are across all price sectors of the market. And then there is the added layer of additional demand due to people’s changed housing priorities after the experience of lockdown, notably being larger homes to facilitate home working and with greater outside space for the children. Expectations that interest rates will remain low for the foreseeable future will have also helped. But the big question now is for how long can the UK’s residential market keep resisting economic forces from pulling prices down?

We’ve all been asked the question “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Fireman, doctor, TV presenter, Chartered Surveyor are all common answers, of course. The Weekly can categorically say that it never considered wanting to be a gardener with a specialism for building the world’s fastest shed or wheelbarrow! Yes, you did read that correctly. Step forward Mr Kevin Nicks who is now the proud holder of both records. A couple of years ago, Mr Nicks decided he wanted to give his VW Passat a make-over. But rather than giving it a lick of paint, installing a new CD player and hanging some furry dice, he decided to surround it in wood, and now boasts the world’s fastest shed (which can travel at speeds up to 88 mph). Bonkers! But not satisfied with this venture, Mr Nicks, now believes that he set a new speed record last Sunday morning on the back of his wheelbarrow! His contraption, called the ‘Barrow of Speed’, reportedly set a new record by travelling at 44.6 mph (77 kph), although this record needs verifying by Guinness World Records in six weeks’ time. Apparently, the wheelbarrow was built to inspire others to be creative and distract them from bad news surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Fair play, but The Weekly will be sticking to filling your inbox every Sunday morning as our way of contributing.