List of All Articles with Tag 'al'

Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has been linked with a move away after being dropped for David Raya, with Chelsea monitoring the goalkeeper's situation.

Katy Perry sold her entire music catalog for $225 million, Travis Hunter out three weeks, Patrick Mahomes reworked his contract and more in the Roundup.

Rafael Nadal responds to questions about becoming Real Madrd president in the future.

Barcelona were interested in signing Uruguay youth international Fabricio Diaz prior to his surprise move to Qatari outfit Al-Gharafa, while he was also wanted by Brighton, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd,

As Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup in Doha, Kylian Mbappe was “livid”. It of course wasn’t because of his former team-mate’s success. It was that Mbappe had missed his only chance to emulate Pele and win two World Cup finals by the age of 23. The Paris Saint-Germain star is said to be more aware of his legacy than perhaps any previous major player in history – certainly much more than Erling Haaland. It is why he is now so singularly focused on the Champions League. That’s why he ultimately wants to go to Real Madrid. Watching Haaland lift it in June will have only added to that, all the more so because the Manchester City forward clearly doesn’t care quite as much. That isn’t to say he didn’t greatly want it, of course, but it’s one growing difference with Mbappe. The Norwegian said only last week he didn’t care for that projected rivalry, either, and that might well be true. Those differences between Haaland and Mbappe will still define the next decade of football in the same way those between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo did the last decade. That all might seem rather neat since this is the first Champions League season without either of its greatest players, but then the fact the Haaland-Mbappe doesn’t fit so neatly only makes it more alluring. While the French star is perhaps considered closer to Messi as an all-round playmaker, it is Haaland who is closer to the Argentine in terms of mindset. Those who know both say their approach to it all is more rudimentary. Both Messi and Haaland basically think that they are gifted so they will win. Everything becomes just an expression of their talent, meaning it’s not like they think about the game all the time. Haaland drew laughter at the recent PFA awards when he spoke about the series he watches, only revealing the Tyson Fury documentary At Home With the Furys. He is said to be more invested in Fortnite, in the way Messi was with football games. Mbappe is by contrast more like Ronaldo in how “obsessive” he is. He doesn’t allow it to flow as easily, because he thinks about it so much more. Mbappe turns inward when things don’t go his way. The outward expressions then become much more emotional, and angry. This has been evident in the last few years at PSG. Mbappe hasn’t come close to the Champions League so he has made it clear what he wants the team to look like. That has often been difficult for those around him, just as it often was with Ronaldo. Now at the peak of his physical powers, Mbappe wants a much faster and intense style of play. There may well be another twist in that Mbappe finally gets the team he wants in Luis Enrique’s youth-driven game, in what is set to be his last season at PSG.It removes some of glamour and soap opera from the Qatari project, but that might well make them a more serious proposition. That is perhaps essential to give City something resembling proper opposition this season, and to give this campaign some competitive life. In part because of the way Pep Guardiola has adapted around Haaland, the Abu Dhabi project have become such a supremely functioning machine. The Norwegian is allowed to do all he really cares about in football, which is just scoring and scoring. Even Guardiola reshaped his ideals around him, such is that finishing talent. This is what Mbappe has so far lacked in his career outside the French national team. It might be what he gets with Luis Enrique. On that, there was simply never any prospect of the French star going to the Saudi Pro League, or PSG benching him. He has too much power, he is too concerned with his legacy. It mercifully means Mbappe is still in the Champions League this season, just as Messi and Ronaldo step out. Haaland won’t have the stage to himself. Really, though, this season is only a sub-plot in a greater play. Read More Manchester United are a mess — and it could be about to get even worse From ‘unpromotable’ to the Champions League: Union Berlin fairytale is perfect antidote to modern football Ramsdale or Raya? Mikel Arteta’s unorthodox solution to Arsenal’s problem Rumours: Clubs look to sign Ramsdale after Arsenal drop him as Man Utd track Gnabry Germany beat France as Italy reignite Euro 2024 hopes Big-spending Saudis contribute £700million to record £6billion transfer total

Brentford would consider selling Ivan Toney 'if the right price is there', according to head coach Thomas Frank. The striker is the subject of interest from Chelsea and Arsenal.

MLS has terminated Matko Miljevic's contract with CF Montreal.

Jenni Hermoso has accused the Spanish football federation of ‘intimidation’ and making ‘threats’ after the governing body called up a host of players who asked not to join up with the women’s national team. Hermoso was not selected in Spain’s first squad since lifting the Women’s World Cup, but 15 of her title-winning team-mates were included in the 23-player group named on Monday despite announcing a boycott last month. That followed the storm created by RFEF president Luis Rubiales kissing midfielder Hermoso on the lips as Spain’s players celebrated their World Cup final win against England on August 20. Hermoso insists she did not consent to the kiss. New Spain head coach Montse Tome said Hermoso had been left out of the latest squad for her own protection during a press conference, while there was a fresh twist on Monday evening when players released a statement refusing their call-ups. Hermoso then released a separate statement on social media, saying the RFEF has demonstrated that nothing has changed since Rubiales resigned from his post last week. The 33-year-old posted in the early hours of Tuesday: “We have spent weeks, months, searching for protection from inside the RFEF that never came. “The same people who ask us to trust them are those who today announced a squad with players who asked NOT to be called up. Protect me from what? And from whom? Jenni Hermoso “The players are certain that this is yet another strategy of division and manipulation to intimidate and threaten us with legal repercussions and economic sanctions. “It is more irrefutable proof that shows even today, that nothing has changed.” She added: “I would like to make something very clear: A claim was made today stating the environment within the federation would be safe for my team-mates to rejoin, yet at the same press conference it was announced that they were not calling me as a means to protect me. “Protect me from what? And from whom? “I want to once again show my full support to my colleagues who have been caught by surprise and forced to react to another unfortunate situation caused by the people who continue to make decisions within the RFEF. “This is why we are fighting and why we are doing it this way.” A group of 81 players, including all 23 members of the World Cup squad, indicated three weeks ago that they would not play for Spain again while Rubiales remained RFEF president as a result of his behaviour at the final. Amid increasing pressure, Rubiales finally resigned from his post last week but 39 players, including 21 of Spain’s World Cup winners, released a statement on Friday saying that was not enough to trigger their return to national-team duty. The players said they were not yet “in a safe place” to return and that the problems at the RFEF ran far deeper than Rubiales. Rubiales has been banned from going within 200 metres of Hermoso as the national court in Madrid considered a complaint of sexual assault – something the 46-year-old denies. Tome had been due to name her squad on Friday, but the announcement had to be delayed. Barcelona’s Mapi Leon and Patri Guijarro, who were not included in Spain’s World Cup party after signing a letter protesting against former manager Jorge Vilda, who was sacked during the fallout of Rubiales’ actions, were listed in Monday’s squad. Tome said Spain were still “counting on” Hermoso, despite her omission. “We stand with Jenni,” she told a press conference. “We believe that the best way to protect her is like this, but we are counting on Jenni. “It’s the start of a new phase, the clock is ticking. There is nothing behind us and we really want to connect with these players.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live It’s like a hurricane – Phil Mickelson opens up on gambling addiction On this day in 2015: Japan stun South Africa at Rugby World Cup Forest boss Steve Cooper hails Callum Hudson-Odoi’s ‘moment of brilliance’

Saudi Arabia’s football spending spree may have transformed it into one of the world’s biggest transfer markets, but

Manchester City start their Champions League title defence at home to Red Star Belgrade. Pep Guardiola’s side could not have got their domestic season off to a better start, they have won all of their first five matches and are already top of the league with a two-point gap to Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal. Last season, the trophy they most coveted - the Champions League - which had evaded them was finally in their grasp as they held it aloft for the first time following a 1-0 win over Inter Milan. They became only the second English club to win the treble last season, and it remains to be seen if anyone can stop them repeating the feat this campaign, and they could even surpass it with the addition of the Fifa Club World Cup. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash. Plus you can get all the latest football betting sites offers here. When is Man City v Red Star Belgrade? The match kicks off at 8pm BST on Tuesday 19 September at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. Where can I watch it? Man City v Red Star Belgrade will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 2 and TNT Sports Ultimate. it will be streamed live on the Discovery+ app and desktop website for subscribers. What is the team news? Guardiola said after his side’s win at West Ham at the weekend that he would be forced to make changes to his line-up in the upcoming weeks to protect players, something which could come as soon as Tuesday. City are due to play four matches in just 11 days, a tough ask for any team, especially considering that comes off the back of an international break that saw many members of the team travel as far as South America. They will continue to be without the injured Kevin De Bruyne, while the match could also come too soon for John Stones, Jack Grealish and Mateo Kovacic. Predicted lineup Man City XI: Ederson, Walker, Akanji, Ake, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Foden, Alvarez, Doku, Haaland Odds Man City 1/25 Draw 12/1 Red Star Belgrade 35/1 Prediction Red Star can be difficult opponents in the Champions League, but usually only at their home ground and they are likely to struggle to impose themselves against City. They will try to utilise a vocal travelling support, but will be unable to stop the home side. Man City 3-0 Red Star Belgrade Read More Pep Guardiola promises major changes for Man City team amid gruelling schedule Pep Guardiola hails impact of Jeremy Doku in Man City’s win at West Ham Sergio Ramos in tears as he is unveiled to fans on return to boyhood club Sevilla Rumours: Clubs look to sign Ramsdale after Arsenal drop him as Man Utd track Gnabry What will the new Champions League group stage look like next season?

What the papers say England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, 25, is attracting transfer attention after being dropped to the bench for Arsenal’s match at Everton. The Daily Mail reports that Chelsea and Bayern Munich are keeping an eye on the situation as he battles David Raya for the Gunners’ starting role. Newcastle are lining up a potential £52million move for Brazil midfielder Lucas Paqueta, 26, according to the Daily Mail. Paqueta had been linked with an £80m move to Manchester City this summer but, amid an investigation into alleged betting breaches, he ended up staying at West Ham. Real Betis are the latest suitors for former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, 32, reports Fichajes in Spain. Chelsea have secured one of their young talents for another year, according to the Evening Standard. Defender Alfie Gilchrist, 19, has reportedly extended his contract until 2025. Social media round-up Players to watch Jose Maria Gimenez: Manchester United are being linked with Atletico Madrid’s Uruguayan defender, 28. Serge Gnabry: United are also reportedly lining up a bid for the Germany forward, 28, from Bayern Munich. Read More Martin Odegaard believes competition for places is healthy for Arsenal Ramsdale or Raya? Arteta tempted by unorthodox solution to Arsenal’s problem Criticism has not affected Harry Maguire, says England team-mate Aaron Ramsdale

There was a rare wistfulness around the Champions League draw in Monaco, where football’s most powerful and wealthy gathered in a fittingly ostentatious setting. An era was about to pass. If the competition’s group stage has recently become a round to pay minimal attention to, this is a season to really savour it. That is because it’s the last one before the introduction of the Swiss system. This will be the last campaign we go through the satisfying symmetry of the round-robin, hoping it builds up to one of those final matchdays – part of a lexicon that is the stage’s legacy – where it is anything but symmetrical and chaos reigns. The clean nature of the format has produced some wonderfully untidy endings. Appropriately, a returning Arsenal will aim to relive how often they got through under Arsene Wenger. Newcastle United will doubtless be seeking to build atmosphere by showing Faustino Asprilla’s hat-trick against Barcelona in 1997-98, as well as the stirring comeback in 2002-03. Manchester United, the English club perhaps most associated with how thrillingly exacting the group stage used to be, are back for one final fight. It might not be easy, but that may not prove such an obstacle to getting through. This is, of course, a large reason why this is the last group stage. All it has really got left is nostalgia. There have been fewer and fewer nights where you feel the old tension. On average, 15 of the 16 wealthiest usually get through every season. It was arguably why Manchester City’s long-awaited victory was the real start of a new era, more so than this end to the traditional groups, or the fact this is the first campaign since 2002-03 without Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. The defending champions are the first state-owned club to win the competition, capping how the entry of such interests and an escalation of a very Western form of capitalism have had such a transformative effect on European football. This is why the group stage was changed. The constant raising of the financial threshold has made so much of it so predictable. Altering the format is, of course, addressing the wrong issue. The problem isn’t the structure but structural financial inequality. Through that, City’s win coincided with how the Champions League was already losing some of its lustre. That sense of suspense is gone. Its world feels smaller, with fewer and fewer clubs able to realistically think they can win the trophy. Can anyone really think that at all this season outside City? Has there ever been any time when one team were such overwhelming favourites, without anyone close to a comparable heavyweight? Barcelona 2009-10 or 2010-11, perhaps, but even that was in a less financially-stratified football world. That economic structure is one factor explaining City’s power. Consider Barcelona’s own group stage from 2009-10, and how testing it was. They lost at home to Rubin Kazan, and came close to going out. The other side is just how good Guardiola has made this City, and how they brutalised both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid last season. Wenger’s description of AC Milan as “super favourites” to his Monaco staff in the 1990s doesn’t feel like it adequately describes the current champions. Even in regards to potential flaws in the City side, last season’s victory has already removed virtually all of the self-doubts that made their European ties more enthralling. One of the dominant recent storylines has ended, Pep Guardiola is instead seeking to fortify the argument that he is the greatest of all time by retaining the trophy for the first time in his career and matching Carlo Ancelotti with his fourth as a manager. It’s hard to imagine anyone in the modern game wanted the Champions League as much as Guardiola over the last decade, but that sense of yearning is now most felt around Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe. Sprinting into the breach left by Messi and Ronaldo, Mbappe knows the trophy is crucial to his own legacy. He is said to be more aware of this than any previous player, even those two totems. It’s partly why he wants to go to Real Madrid, although his own last season at Paris Saint-Germain may well coincide with the club finally putting in place a team that has a football logic. That, in turn, means that the soap opera element of this sportswashing project could have gone, maybe making PSG less interesting. Under Luis Enrique, though, a hard-running young team look more capable of going the distance. That prospect is why Kane has gone to Bayern Munich, and the fact that the final is being staged at Wembley only adds to one of this campaign’s more enthralling individual narratives. Jude Bellingham will be looking at it the same way with Real Madrid. Beyond that, though, it doesn’t feel like there are many other foreign clubs that can really challenge the Premier League’s power. This is how the world of the Champions League has got smaller, with the solution to bloat the opening stage next season. There is still a sense that Xavi’s Barcelona are that level below. Atletico Madrid are resurgent but not the resilient force of almost a decade ago. Milan are, again, promising, but the problem is that they are in the most difficult group of all, along with PSG, Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle United. It’s a particularly challenging group stage for Eddie Howe. He’s not just going to have to adapt to European football – although the modern game makes that far less drastic an adaptation than previous – but also the schedule European football involves. That will be sapping, even as the very theme ringing around St James Park will be invigorating. It is likely to be the main source of suspense. This European outing will also be fraught with emotional investment since there are many in football – and not just in England – willing Newcastle United to fail due to their owners. There remains a general disgruntlement about the summer, and how much the Saudi Pro League disrupted the game while still spending most of its money in the Premier League. It has had the most disruptive effect on the European game since the expansion of the Champions League itself. The distortion that the competition’s own prize money has caused can’t be overlooked. It is central to its power. That power is also why there is a widespread belief around the European game that the Saudi Pro League eventually want into the competition itself. Uefa are currently adamant it will not happen. The prospect does hang there, though. It could be described as a point of no return, but there’s not exactly much prospect of going back to what football was. This season marks a bit of a time capsule in that sense since it is also the last of 32 teams. Next year’s move to 36 might also be the last of the “top four” in the Premier League, as the competition’s coefficient strength could perpetually bring five qualifiers. There is a tremendous amount of symbolism in how Napoli and Real Madrid meet in this last group stage. It was that very fixture, in 1987, that provoked Silvio Berlusconi into pushing for change to the old European Cup in the first place. It was that which led to the group stage, and a round that was for so long the “television spectacular” the Italian magnate wanted. There are similar historical echoes in some other fixtures: United-Galatasaray, Arsenal-Lens, Barcelona-Shakhtar Donetsk. None of them sound like what they used to be, though. There isn’t the same sporting peril. There are some potentially interesting stories, like Union Berlin or Real Sociedad, but most of the groups are fairly predictable. Those involving Arsenal, City and United actually look the worst for that. The usual statement at this point would be that the competition always has the capacity to surprise, but that is, at this point, a hope, rather than an expectation. There’s no longer much to be wistful about, other than what European football used to be. That is an issue that goes beyond the format of the group stage. For now, it means most have to wait beyond even the last-16 for true drama. Read More Manchester United are a mess — and it could be about to get even worse From ‘unpromotable’ to the Champions League: Union Berlin fairytale is perfect antidote to modern football Ramsdale or Raya? Mikel Arteta’s unorthodox solution to Arsenal’s problem Delayed arrival in Milan ‘no big deal’, insists Newcastle boss Eddie Howe UEFA Champions League 2023/24 schedule - every game in the group stage Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino understands Thiago Silva’s frustration