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Ligue 1, Ligue 1, Sports

PSG confirms Lionel Messi is exiting the club this summer.

This was as certain as death and taxes.

Argentine football legend, Lionel Messi will leave Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) this summer, the club has officially confirmed.

“After two seasons with PSG, the adventure between Leo Messi and Paris Saint-Germain will come to an end at the end of the 2022-23 campaign. The Club wishes Leo, with undeniable emotion, many more accomplishments for the rest of his career. has confirmed that Leo Messi leaves the club.” The club said on it’s social media page.

“I would like to thank Leo Messi for his two seasons in Paris. To see a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner in the Rouge & Bleu and at Parc des Princes, winning back-to-back Ligue 1 titles and inspiring our younger players has been a pleasure. His contribution to Paris Saint-Germain and Ligue 1 cannot be understated and we wish Leo and his family all the best for the future.” Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, Chairman and CEO of Paris Saint-Germain stated.

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Messi also expressed his gratitude, “Thanks to the club, the city of Paris and its residents for these two years and I wish them the best in the future”.

While in Paris, the FIFA World Cup winner was crowned a French league champion, clinched the France Football’s prestigious Ballon d’Or award. In the 2022–23 season, he netted 16 goals in 31 Ligue 1 games, became the league’s top assist provider, with 16 assists to his name.

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 English Premier League, Sports

Chelsea announce Mauricio Pochettino as new coach.

Mauricio Pochettino has returned to the Premier League.

Chelsea FC have announced the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino as the the new  manager for the 2023/24 season.

‘Mauricio’s experience, standards of excellence, leadership qualities and character will serve Chelsea Football Club well as we move forward.  He is a winning coach, who has worked at the highest levels, in multiple leagues and languages. His ethos, tactical approach and commitment to development all made him the exceptional candidate.’

Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley, Chelsea’s co-sporting directors, said in a statement released on the club’s website.

The 51 year-old Argentine was former Tottenham boss.  He guided Paris Saint-Germain to a Ligue 1 title and the Coupe de France. He begins his new role on 1 July 2023 on a two-year contract,

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 English Premier League

Southampton officially relegated from the Premier League.

Southampton have been relegated from the Premier League after an 11-year spell in the top flight. Goals from Fulham’s Carlos Vinicius and Aleksandar Mitrovic inflicted the defeat on them. 

It’s disappointing but it’s a moment that has been coming, We’d put ourselves in a difficult position and I thought we did well to take it to this stage of the season. When these sorts of things happen, you go away individually and as a club and reflect on whether we did everything we could to achieve our goal. I don’t think we have and that’s a shame as I feel it is about having no regrets and leaving everything out there.

“Over the course of the season that has caught up with us. Ultimately, that’s why we are where we are now.” “I’ve been on a journey with the club since I was eight years old – I’ve seen the ups and downs, the good times and the bad. This is a bad time, but I’m sure with the good people at the club it will be back in the Premier League in no time.” Midfielder, Ward-Prowse dejectedly stated.

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 Sports

Lionel Messi breaks silence following suspension from the club.

Argentine star, Lionel Messi has issued a statement following his suspension from his club.

The former Barcelona forward was suspended without pay for two weeks by PSG after travelling without permission. The World Cup winner visited Saudi Arabia at the beginning of the week on what he considered was a day off only to be told he had missed training after the day off was called off by the club.

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 “I thought we were going to have a day off after the game as always. I had this trip organized and I couldn’t cancel it. I had already canceled it before. I apologize to my teammates and I’m waiting for what the club wants to do with me”. He said in a video which is now making rounds on social media.

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 Seria A, Sports

“In 10 years time, you will know what you’ve done.” Balotelli tells Osimhen

The name Victor Osimhen will forever be revered in Napoli and the reason isn’t far-fetched. He scored the title winner

The Nigerian forward ushered Napoli into their first Serie A title, the Scudetto title after 33 years. His equalizer in Napoli’s 1-1 draw with Udinese on Thursday is the club’s first since the Diego Maradona era.

Osimhen has also now equalled Ballon d’Or winner, George Weah’s record for the highest African goalscorer in Serie A with 46 goals, broken Cameroon legend, Samuel Eto’o’s record for the most goals scored by an African player in a single Serie A season. With 22 Serie A goals, 4 assists in 27 games this season, he will become the first African to win the Serie A Golden Boot.

Former Italian player, Mario Balotelli, congratulated the man of the moment on his Instagram live session on Thursday,  adding that  he would realize how huge of a feat it is later on.

 “I have been calling some friends from Napoli, it is crazy. Trust me, you did something incredible. You still don’t know what you did. You will realise with the years. Not tomorrow, not next year. In ten years, you will understand what you did.” Balotelli said.

Reacting to the victory, the forward tweeted, “A Prophecy Fulfilled! GOD Is The Greatest.”

We can safely say he has become the greatest Napoli player in the club’s history.

Take a bow champ!

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 English Premier League, Sports

Haaland breaks Salah’s record

 Erling Haaland has broken the record for the most goals scored by a player in an English Premier League season (38 games), surpassing Mo Salah’s record of 32. 

The 22-year-old Manchester City striker achieved this feat in the 95th minute of a 4-1 win against Arsenal, bringing  his total goals for this season to be 33 in 29 appearances. The Norwegian has now provided as many Premier League assists this season as Martin Ødegaard (7).Image

Haaland who moved from Borussia Dortmund to Man City is now directly involved in 57 goals (49 goals, 8 assists) in 43 matches in all competitions this season, 15 more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues, scoring or assisting every 58 minutes on average.

 

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 Bundesliga

Marco Reus extends Dortmund contract until June 2024

Talk about unfeigned loyalty

Dortmund legend, Marco Reus has signed a one-year contract extension with the club until June 2024. The 33-year-old who has been at the Bundesliga club since 2012 has never won the Bundesliga in his career but Borussia Dortmund are just 5 wins away from their first Bundesliga title in a decade. 

“Right now, we as a team, just like all of our fans, have one big goal in mind on which all of our concentration lies: We want to become German champions, and for that we need every single Borussian.” The midfielder said

The club’s captain has scored 6+ goals in each of his 11 Bundesliga seasons with Borussia Dortmund, while no other Dortmund player has managed to score 6+ goals in as many consecutive seasons in the history of the competition. He reportedly agreed to lower his annually salary from €12 million to €7 million.

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 La Liga, Sports

Barcelona to move to Olympic stadium next season

The Camp Nou is undergoing a facelift soon

Barcelona FC  have confirmed €1.45 billion in funding for a redevelopment plan of the Camp Nou stadium on 1 June. The stadium which first opened in 1957 and remains the largest in Europe is expected to be fully completed by 2026.  Expectation for annual revenue from new stadium is €247m while capacity will be 105,000 spectators.

Recall that the new Camp Nou model was unveiled  7 years ago. Whilst renovations occur at Camp Nou, Barcelona will be moving to the Olympic Stadium next season and hope to be back at Camp Nou by November 2024, which coincides with celebrations for the club’s 125th anniversary.

“Club assets were not used as a guarantee and a mortgage was not taken out on the stadium, the money is re-payable in different instalments to be paid progressively at five, seven, nine, 20 and 24 years, with a flexible structure, including a grace period, the club will start to repay the operation once work has been completed on the stadium, using income generated by Camp Nou.” The Blaugrana confirmed in a statement on Monday.

The new stadium will have a retractable roof covered in 30,000 square metres of solar panels. This energy will be used to power the new 360-degree screen that will run around the entire interior of the stadium, as well as various security systems. In another effort to improve the ground’s sustainability, rainwater will also be collected and recycled.

Some of the investors include Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Key Capital Partners, Legends, JLL, Perez-Llorca, IPG 360, and DLA Piper.

 

 

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 Sports

Argentina to host FIFA U-20 World Cup 2023

Argentina, the most successful nation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup with six trophies will host the 2023 edition. 

This development is coming after Indonesia lost the hosting rights after the Bali governor refused to host Israel’s team. The draws will be held on Apr 21 in Zurich with the tournament scheduled from May 20 – June 11. 

“FIFA is delighted to announce that this year’s edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup will take place in Argentina, as the home of the world champions opens its doors to the tomorrow’s superstars of world football, I would like to thank the AFA and particularly its President Claudio Tapia, as well as the governmental authorities, for their commitment to hosting this magnificent event at such short notice. The U-20 World Cup plays a key role in FIFA’s efforts to promote youth football across the world. Since 1977, this tournament has featured some of the greatest players of the past decades, including Diego Armando Maradona, Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, Erling Haaland and many others. Having this year’s edition taking place in a country that lives and breathes football will be a tremendous inspiration for the stars of tomorrow.” A statement from FIFA President, President Gianni Infantino is quoted

Argentina have won the tournament a record 6 times – 1979, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2007.

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 Seria A, Sports

Victor Osimhen to join Bayern Munich this summer

Super Eagles player, Victor Osimhen is set for a sensational switch to German side, Bayern Munich this summer. The 24-year-old who joined Napoli from Lille for a club-record fee of €75m in 2020, still has two years left on his contract and is currently valued at €100m.

The serie A top marksman who has netted 21 goals in 23 games is expected to replace Lewandowski  at the club. 

Victor Osimhen, who suffered an injury while on international duty with Nigeria will miss Napoli’s #UCL quarter-final first-leg against AC Milan tomorrow evening due to an abductor injury.

“Victor is not in the conditions to play, unfortunately — so we hope to have him back for return fixture at the Maradona on April 18”,  Aurelio De Laurentiis, Napoli President disclosed.

He has four goals in five UCL games this season

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