Mpira

Paris Saint-Germain are prepared to do whatever it takes to keep Lionel Messi at the club this summer. Messi’s future continues to be a major talking point in Paris with his current contract set to expire at the end of June with no progress over an extension. PSG have an option to offer Messi an additional 12 months, as per the terms of their original deal, but the 35-year-old is rumoured to be ready to leave. Barcelona’s chances of bringing him back to the Camp Nou have been boosted since the start of 2023 with club vice president Rafa Yuste confirming they are in talks with his representatives. However, as per reports from Mundo Deportivo, PSG will offer Messi a blank cheque, as part of the incoming negotiations, on whatever terms he wants. PSG are willing to increase his salary, and sign on for more than one year, depending on the situation, as the Ligue 1 giants are determined to retain him as a priority.

CHELSEA spent a whopping £98million to sign Mykhailo Mudryk with the Ukrainian's pace considered one of his biggest assets. But he's NOT the fastest man in the Premier League - with that accolade going to a lesser-known star. The international arrived at Stamford Bridge in January and it did not take him long to showcase how rapid he is. He set a record for the fastest speed in the Prem this season in his debut against Liverpool, despite spending just 20 minutes on the pitch. Mudryk, 22, clocked in at an astonishing 36.3km/h, per Squawka - beating the previous quickest speed of Anthony Gordon by 0.2. But the winger has since been usurped by Nottingham Forest star Brennan Johnson, who boasts a top speed of 36.7km/h. Johnson is a newcomer to the top flight having been promoted with Forest last season, but he has impressed with seven goals in 27 games. Meanwhile, Kieran Tierney is the only defender to make the top ten list with a speed of 35.99km/h. He just pips his Arsenal team-m...

Manchester United are prioritising a search for an elite-level centre-forward and Benfica’s Goncalo Ramos is one of the strikers being linked with a move to Old Trafford this summer. The Reds would be required to pay triple the amount needed to prize Goncalo Ramos away from Benfica last summer. The Portuguese striker has been a standout performer for the Eagles, providing the vast majority of their goals this season after Darwin Nunez’s transfer to Liverpool. Ramos has 34 goal involvements in total this term, 24 of those goals, across all competitions. According to Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias (page 38 via PressReader), Benfica won’t sell Ramos unless his transfer release clause (€120m) is met. The 21-year-old has also been linked with a move to Newcastle, but there’s no way they would win a race for his signature if United were seriously interested. It’s said that Ramos had an asking price of just €40m at the start of the season, but he has become a star player and they are...

Mikel Arteta has been named the Barclays Manager of the Month after guiding Arsenal to a perfect March. Arteta helped the Gunners stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League table to eight points above Manchester City. His team scored an incredible 14 goals in four matches, beating Everton, AFC Bournemouth, Fulham and Crystal Palace.  The Spaniard had a big influence on the incredible 3-2 turnaround win over AFC Bournemouth, bringing on Reiss Nelson to set up the equaliser before scoring the winner. Arteta wins the award for a fourth time this season, moving just one behind Jurgen Klopp's record of five in a single campaign, set in 2019/20. It makes it a double sweep for Arsenal, after Bukayo Saka won the EA SPORTS Player of the Month award. Arteta beat fellow nominees Roberto De Zerbi, Unai Emery and Pep Guardiola after votes from the public were combined with those of a panel of experts. 2022/23 Barclays Manager winners August: Mikel Arteta (ARS) September: Erik ten Hag (...

Neymar's poor injury luck has carried over to online gambling, as he lost €1m (£900,000) in just one hour of online casino which he streamed on his Twitch channel. The Paris Saint-Germain star - who earns £3.2m-per-month -  has been left to his own devices after he was ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury. Neymar is not averse to gambling during his spare time - something of which he has plenty of, as he recovers following his surgery. Though he is more known for his love of poker, Neymar often tries his luck in online games on his Twitch platform. However, it was a rough night for Neymar, who hilariously reacted upon realising how much he lost. The 31-year-old pretended to cry as a mock Titanic theme began to play when his realisation set in - music which is often used on social media as a meme for moments of sadness. In a couple of seconds we saw a range of mock emotions as his crying turned into laughter, before he shouted out in anguish - putting his finger...

The Scout looks at the Red Devils’ displays with and without the Brazilian ahead of Double Gameweek 29 A suspension for  Casemiro  (£4.9m) has ruled the midfielder out of Manchester United's Double Gameweek 29 fixtures against Newcastle United and Brentford in Fantasy Premier League, along with the home meeting with Everton in Gameweek 30. close TV Info Broadcasters The Red Devils had one of the poorest defensive records in the league prior to Casemiro’s first start of the season in Gameweek 10. They conceded an average of two goals per match over Gameweeks 1-9 as the players took time to adjust to the tactics of new manager Erik ten Hag.  After making his full debut in Gameweek 10, Casemiro has been a standout performer. He has won a team-leading 53 tackles from that point, while his 64 clearances, blocks and interceptions (CBI) are more than double the total of any other Man Utd midfielder. Those displays have helped United keep a clean sheet in seven of the 15 matches ...

Increasingly managers tend to be the protagonists in top level football, as the spokesperson for clubs and the ones often designing an overarching style of play. Increasingly, the best in their class are being paid like stars. L’Equipe, as carried by Sport, have revealed the best-paid managers in the world, with several large names from Spanish football involved. At the top of the list, is none other Diego Pablo Simeone, who earns a reported €34m per year. The only other manager from La Liga in the top 10 is Carlo Ancelotti, who is bringing in €11m per season. Meanwhile other familiar faces like Pep Guardiola is earning the second-most, with €22.4m per season, and Xabi Alonso of Bayer Leverkusen earning €5m. He sits at the bottom of the top ten. With Barcelona’s finanacial situation written large, Xavi Hernandez is 12th on the list, earning nearly a third of Carlo Ancelotti’s wages. However Barcelona are looking to negotiate a new deal with the Catalan coach.

Scott McTominay will be back in a holding midfield role for Man Utd this weekend after his goalscoring exploits for Scotland. After his goalscoring heroics from a marauding midfield role for Scotland, it will be back to the Manchester United day job for Scott McTominay on Sunday. At Hampden Park we saw the best of McTominay. The all-round midfield with a knack of timing his decisive runs forward and adding the finishing touches to moves. After one goal in 37 caps for his country, he scored four goals in 61 minutes of football against Cyprus and Spain. In the dying stages of Tuesday night's famous win against a lacklustre Spain he was still bursting into the final third, making runs to try and get in a position to have a go at his hat-trick. With the security of a back three (or sometimes a back five), the United midfielder had the licence to make those surges forward that are a real weapon in his game. But he will have to rein that in against Newcastle on Sunday. With Casemiro stil...

Former Napoli fitness chief Corrado Saccone has told AC Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic to forget all thoughts of retirement. At 41, Saccone says the Swedish great still has several years ahead of him at the top of the game. This despite Ibrahimovic having only just returned to action for club and country after undergoing knee surgery at the end of last season. Saccone saw plenty of Ibrahimovic when working in Serie A and has followed the centre-forward's career. To see Ibrahimovic fight back from his knee injury and return as successfully as he has over recent weeks is no surprise given the way he looks after his body, says Saccone. Indeed, the Italian says World Cup 2026 is not out of reach for Ibra. “I can tell you about this," he told Tribalfootball.com. "The player who takes care of himself during his time as a player will be in form for longer and will play longer. "Ibrahimovic is a player who always has been careful regarding his body. He has so much experience,...

In a season that Man United have already ended their trophy drought, they are also in the FA Cup semi-finals and Europa League quarter-finals and favourites to finish third in the Premier League. David de Gea Despite the odd lapse, De Gea has been in matchwinning form on a couple of key occasions for United but his kicking has got worse amid greater scrutiny. 7 Diogo Dalot Dalot was one of the best right-backs in Europe in the first half of the season but he has failed to regain form since sustaining a hamstring injury in Portugal's World Cup defeat to Morocco. 7 Aaron Wan-Bissaka The first four months of the campaign were a write-off for Wan-Bissaka but he has had a decent run since returning to the United side in December and he has developed an unlikely alliance with Antony. 6 Raphael Varane United's resurgence started with Varane's recall against Liverpool. His performance level is consistently excellent and after big games he often leaves the pitch as one of the most i...

The party that Argentina organized for its national team to celebrate the World Cup title achieved in Qatar had a special prize for Lionel Messi, who passed the 100-goal barrier by scoring one goal against Panama and three against Curacao, reaching 102 goals with the Albiceleste. The Argentine is the third player to reach that figure after Iran's Ali Daei (109) and Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 122 goals for Portugal. FIFA Ranking 1) Brazil 2) Argentina 3) France 4) Belgium 5) England 6) Netherlands 7) Croatia 8) Italy 9) Portugal 10) Spain But the question is to verify which of the leading scorers of world soccer has scored more goals against the most important teams according to the current FIFA ranking. So, we've taken as a reference the last statistical publication from FIFA, which was still led by Brazil after its last update. Messi's 15 goals in the FIFA top ten 1) Brazil (five) 2) France (three) 3) Croatia (three) 4) Spain (two) 5) Netherlands (one) 6) Portugal (one) On...

Man United are looking to tie Marcus Rashford down to a new contract despite the uncertain ownership situation. Marcus Rashford has hit out at a report claiming he wants to become the highest-paid player in the Premier League. United are continuing attempts to agree on new contracts with both David de Gea and Rashford despite the uncertain ownership situation around the club. The club have already triggered an option to extend the England international's contract by another year, keeping him with the Reds until June 2024. However, they are desperate to agree new terms with academy product Rashford, who has hit world-class form with 27 goals for the club this season. The Manchester Evening News  revealed last week that talks are progressing despite the delicate stage of the takeover and Rashford has now taken to social media to hit out at claims he will demand a record wage for his services. A report from The Daily Star claimed Rashford wants to become the highest-paid star in the P...

Manchester City have reportedly joined the race for in-demand Celta Vigo attacker Gabri Veiga. The 20-year-old has been in impressive form for his Spanish club during the 2022-23 campaign, scoring nine goals and registering three assists in 28 appearances in all competitions. Veiga has a contract with the Sky Blues until June 2026, but there is a €40m (£35.4m) release clause in his current deal, and the Spanish club's president Carlos Mourino has admitted that a summer exit is likely. Mourino has said that he is desperate to keep the youngster at the club, but the buy-out fee means that he is expected to depart ahead of the 2023-24 campaign. "We don't want to sell Gabri Veiga, but they are going to buy him from us. And we can't do anything there,"  Mundo Deportivo  quotes Mourino as saying. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on March 18, 2023 © Reuters "We know some of his offers and it is impossible to reach them. Gabri is a Celta player, he has that feel...

Chelsea star Kai Havertz has revealed why his teammates nicknamed him ‘donkey’. The 23-year-old forward was involved in one of Chelsea’s most memorable moments after netting the winner in the 20/21 Champions League final. Despite his heroics, many feel that Havertz’s Chelsea career has so far been slightly disappointing. But he is starting to find form in recent weeks, with the Blues starting to gel under Graham Potter. Now, the German has revealed his love for animals, and the heartwarming reason behind being nicknamed ‘donkey’ by his Chelsea teammates. He explained to The Guardian: “Some of my teammates call me Donkey. It’s not because of my football. “From day one, I felt a special relationship with donkeys. It’s a very calm animal: maybe I personalised myself in them because I’m calm too. “They chill all day, don’t do much, just want to live their life. I loved them always. And when I lost, I would go to the sanctuary. You look at the animals, see something human in them. It was a ...

Game is over and the final score is Argentina 7 - 0 Curacao. Here is the match report. 2023 Friendlies 7  -  0 Messi (20') N. Gonzalez (23') Messi (33') Enzo Fernández (35') Messi (37') Di Maria (78' PEN) Gonzalo Montiel (87') Match Events 20' GOAL! Argentina 1-0 Curacao (Messi) 23' GOAL! Argentina 2-0 Curacao (N. Gonzalez) 33' GOAL! Argentina 5-0 Curacao (Messi) 35' GOAL! Argentina 5-0 Curacao (Enzo Fernández) 37' GOAL! Argentina 5-0 Curacao (Messi) 55' CLOSE! Lautaro's shot stopped 56' Lautaro's shot stopped by goalkeeper again 70' CHANCE! Gonzalez's shot stopped by goalkeeper 72' Messi goes down in the box but ref says no penalty! 78' Penalty Goal! Argentina 6-0 Curacao (Di Maria) 85' Messi's shot stopped 87' GOAL! Argentina 7-0 Curacao (Gonzalo Montiel) Line-ups Argentina  XI: Messi, Otamendi, E. Martinez, Pezzella, Acuna, Lo Celso, Lautaro, Gonzalo Montiel, N. Gonzalez, Mac Allister, Enzo F...