NobleSports administrator popularly known as ‘Adii Noble’ congratulates Jamie Vardy and Juventus for their success run.
Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has become the Premier League’s oldest Golden Boot winner at the age of 33 after finishing the 2019-20 season with 23 goals.
On the other hand, Juve who became the League leaders for the 9th times in a row were well appreciated.
Juventus won Serie A for the ninth season in a row when Cristiano Ronaldo set them on the way to a 2-0 win over Sampdoria on Sunday although the Portuguese veteran missed a late penalty.
Below was his remarks;
“Great! Impressive season for Juventus despite Flaws and tragic moments”
He said on juve. While also simpatising with Danilo and Dybala for severe injury sustained.
And for Vardy he said;
“Being the oldest oldest player in EPL to win The Golden boot alone explains his greatness!, He’s well deserved.
There have been reports that the pro wrestling icon, now 45, is ready to step away from in-ring competition soon.
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His contract is set to expire in September and judging by WWE’s latest announcement, it seems unlikely Mysterio will be signing a new deal.
During Monday’s episode of RAW, the following message was posted on WWE’s social media:
“Next week on RAW, Rey Mysterio will have his retirement ceremony.”
That tweet was followed up shortly after by the reveal that Seth Rollins will be hosting the segment.
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“UPDATE: Seth Rollins will be the host of Rey Mysterio’s retirement ceremony next week on WWE RAW,” they tweeted.
While the rumours about Mysterio being close to retirement are real, it seems that this ‘ceremony’ could well be part of a storyline.
The Master of the 619 has been feuding with Rollins in recent weeks and was recently written off television suffering an injury at the hands of the Monday Night Messiah.
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Fans seem certain this won’t be Mysterio’s real retirement and many have responded to the announcement.
Rollins and Mysterio have been feuding recently “Hey, there you go, make it completely obvious that he isn’t actually retiring,” one wrote underneath the tweet about Rollins hosting the ceremony.
“Why spoil that it’s a work a week before lmao,” another added.
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A third person simply wrote: “I don’t trust it.”
It seems that all signs are pointing towards a ‘work’, with many fans already predicting WWE are swerving us.
Rollins has tormented Mysterio recently Let’s be honest, next week’s segment is probably going to lead to a match between Rollins and Mysterio at the Backlash pay-per-view, isn’t it?
Barcelona will listen to loan offers for Ousmane Dembele in the summer such is the desire to get him off the wage bill and to stop his value nose-diving, reports Mail.
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There is huge confidence at the club in the ability of 20-year-old Francisco Trincao, signed from Braga in January, and 17-year-old Ansu Fati, to push on next season.
If the Portuguese forward hits the ground running and Fati continues to develop then Barcelona feel they can allow Dembele to leave even if he doesn’t immediately bring in a fee.
The club are open to a similar deal to the one that took Philippe Coutinho to Bayern Munich last summer. Bayern paid around 12m euros (£10.7m) for the one-year loan, plus the player’s wage believed to be around 12m. They had the option of buying him for 120m euros when the season ends.
Barcelona never expected that offer to be taken up but they gambled on his time in Germany being so successful that his value would return the sort of levels it was at when they signed him in January 2018 for £145m.
Barcelona signed Dembele five months before Coutinho. They paid £96million to Borussia Dortmund with an additional £35million in add-on payments. His wages are, like Coutinho’s, around 12m euros and he has since played just eight full 90-minute games in two-and-a-half seasons.
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He has suffered 10 injuries since joining the club from Dortmund where he had few fitness problems. Barcelona coach Quique Setien believes if the injury problems can be solved he can recuperate the second biggest signing in Barcelona’s history but the club’s priority is reducing its wage bill in the face of the coronavirus pandemic crisis and the loan option is being seriously considered.
The club feel they have no alternative but to try to set deals in place before the end of this truncated season because of financial pressure created by the interruption of the campaign and the likelihood that they will have no spectators inside the Camp Nou until next year.
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The problem will be in finding the right loan club. El Mundo Deportivo speculated on Monday that Juventus had asked after the 23-year-old. And on the same day Diario Sport reported that Paris Saint Germain have an interest.
Both scenarios would be ideal because Barcelona want Juventus midfielder Pjanic and still cling to faint hopes of signing Neymar. But the rumoured interest is likely to be optimistic on Barcelona’s part. Weaving a Dembele loan into either deal would solve some of the club’s problems but both Juventus and PSG will take some convincing even on loan terms to gamble on Dembele turning his career around.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has praised key workers for putting their lives at risk during the Covid-19 pandemic and urged fans to continue staying safe.
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The Premier League was shut down more than two months ago by the coronavirus outbreak but it is hoped that football in the top division could restart behind closed doors midway through June.
City’s first-team squad returned to the Etihad Campus last week and Guardiola says the players are keen to return to action when they can do so safely.
“All the fans around the world are waiting for football to come back. We want to come back but now the priority is other things,” he said.
“The message is still stay safe, be careful and when everything is possible we will come back. First I think without [the fans], but hopefully we come back to a routine.
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“But now the most important thing is to follow the instructions. If they say use a mask, stay at home, social distance – we have to do it. Because there are many, many people in the NHS, who put their own lives at risk to save ours.
“It’s incredible what they have done, and we have to follow them. Now, we cannot do anything wrong.”
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Guardiola’s first team were training in small groups at the weekend having been tested for coronavirus, with the Catalan watching on, wearing a face mask and surgical gloves.
Among the training group were Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane, who were recovering from injuries before the shutdown, and Guardiola said the players had come back in good shape.
“It’s nice to come back of course,” he said. “We follow the rules we have to. This is the most important thing. We don’t do anything special.
“[The players are] really good. I think they have been looking forward to coming back and training again and do what they like. They came back perfectly.”
Guardiola’s mother Dolors Sala Carrio sadly passed away aged 82 after contracting coronavirus in April.
He donated €1 million (£920,000/$1.08 million) to help buy medical supplies in the fight against coronavirus in his home of Catalonia.
Philippe Coutinho may not play again for Bayern Munich – as Premier League clubs weigh up a summer move for the Brazilian.
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Coutinho, who is on loan at Bayern from Barcelona, is still recovering from an ankle injury and may not be available for the club’s remaining fixtures.
He is two weeks away from playing, so does have a chance for the last four Bundesliga matches, should boss Hans-Dieter Flick wish to pick him.
But Bayern did not take up the option to make his loan permanent before the contractual deadline last week, as Coutinho continues his recovery in Germany.
Chelsea, along with fellow Premier League clubs Arsenal and Tottenham, are among the clubs that have been offered the chance to sign the 27-year-old, who moved to Barcelona from Liverpool for £145m two years ago.
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But he would command a big fee, with three years still to run on his Barcelona deal, and he is said to be earning as much as £250,000 per week (€15m per year).
Coutinho’s loan contract at Bayern will end on June 30 but both the player and his agent Kia Joorabchian have previously shown a willingness to extend that, if the Champions League resumes in August.
Comparing Erling Haaland to Robert Lewandowski is premature, Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick has said ahead of the Bundesliga top-of-the-table clash.
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Erling Haaland cannot yet be compared to Robert Lewandowski, according to Hansi Flick, though Bayern Munich’s coach firmly believes Borussia Dortmund have a star in their ranks ahead of Der Klassiker, which will be played behind closed doors due to coronavirus protocols. Haaland has hit the ground running since his move to Dortmund in January, continuing the stellar form he showed in the first half of the season for Salzburg.
The 19-year-old has scored 10 goals in 10 Bundesliga appearances, propelling Dortmund on in the title race.
Lucien Favre’s side sit four points behind leaders Bayern heading into Tuesday’s behind-closed-doors Klassiker at Signal Iduna Park.
Haaland’s form has been touted as a potential match for former Dortmund striker Lewandowski, who netted his 41st goal of the season in all competitions in Bayern’s 5-2 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, yet Flick believes it is too early for such comparisons to be made.
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Flick: Haaland is “greedy, enormous but still agile” “It is [Haaland’s] first season, so comparing him now is too early,” Flick told reporters. “Robert has always been at a world-class level in recent years. But Haaland is a huge talent. He is a young player, but he has a huge pull towards the goal. He just wants to finish.
“He has a brilliant dynamic. He is greedy, is an enormous size but is still agile. But we don’t just have to watch out for him [on Tuesday].”
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Flick, who is anticipating a resilient Dortmund performance, also acknowledged the peculiarity of playing such a pivotal match in front of no supporters, due to the coronavirus crisis.
“It is a very special game,” Flick said as he was asked if playing behind closed doors could present an advantage to Bayern.
“The atmosphere can inspire any team. It is about how you can cope with it. You have to accept the current situation. You can’t look for an excuse. We have to implement the match plan.”
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Thomas Müller has been in scintillating form since Flick took charge of Bayern, and was at his best once more against Frankfurt, providing his 17th league assist of the season before helping himself to a seventh goal of the campaign.
“Thomas is a player who can lead a team very well and gives commands over and over again,” Flick added.
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“He played very well against Frankfurt and was always available – he brought dynamism into play. Thomas has enormous experience but wants to win every game.
“He embodies ‘Mia san Mia’ perfectly and knows that he has to go to the limit again and again to win games.”
Training under Pep Guardiola is like going to university, according to veteran goalkeeper Willy Caballero.
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The Argentine worked under Guardiola at Manchester City before moving on to Chelsea, where he has recently received a contract extension.
And according to Caballero, at the Etihad, every day is a school day.
“Pep Guardiola is like going to university,” Caballero told TNT Sports.
“I spent a year with him at City, learning something new every day.
“On the playing field, watching videos or at any time, when he approaches you and explains things to you.
“He has no problem teaching someone at 34 years old, as I was, like someone who is 18. He is a great teacher.”
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Caballero’s year under Guardiola was the last of his three seasons at Manchester City, having moved from Malaga in 2014.
He followed manager Manuel Pellegrini, who had made the same switch a year earlier.
Caballero only made 23 Premier League appearances for City but was a regular in the cups, memorably saving three penalties in the shoot-out win over Liverpool in the 2016 League Cup final.
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“Manuel Pellegrini had convinced me to go with him to Manchester City,” he explained.
“I was doing very well at Malaga, but I accepted. He had promised to keep me as a starter in the cup, although in the league, the starter was Joe Hart, the England national team’s goalkeeper.
“We reached the final and we had to play it against Liverpool. There was a lot of pressure for Hart to start the game.
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“But Pellegrini said, ‘I’d rather lose a title than lose my word.’ It kept me going and we won the cup.”
Caballero also spoke about his new contract at Chelsea, which will see him stay at Stamford Bridge until 2021.
“I really appreciate having renewed for another year with Chelsea at 38,” he said.
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“I always look back because I had a hard time getting to where I am. When I started at Boca, as well as when I got to the national team, I felt it was the top of the mountain, but they turned me around and I had to start from scratch.
“I went back to the second division in Spain and it served to give value to what I have now.”
Ibrahimovic sustains injury in training & could be sidelined for long time, per Sky Italia reports.
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Sky Italia among others (via MilanNews) are reporting that Ibrahimovic injured himself in training on Monday morning and that the Swedish forward will undergo tests to establish the extent of the problem.
The fear is that he will be out for a long time, and considering his age and his contract situation at Milan, instantly the thought is that he may have played his last game for the club or even his career.
It happened in a training match where Ibra made an attempt to reach a long throw, and there is a real possibility that he has overstretched his calf, a problem he had in January and February.
Milan hopes that the injury has not involved the Achilles tendon, but the risk is there. The attacker left Milanello without crutches, but dark in the face.
Cavani’s future continues to be up in the air, and that means he’ll continue to be linked with a move to Manchester United.
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The 33 year old’s contract at PSG expires at the end of June and he’s of interest to several clubs. Sunday’s edition of L’Equipe reports Inter Milan, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Atletico Madrid are in the picture as potential destinations.
Cavani will not ‘rule out’ moving to Old Trafford, and the same goes for other options on the table. The French newspaper states Manchester United have been interested since January, which makes some sense given their search for a striker at the time.
PSG priced Cavani out of a move in the winter market, with it being reported at the time they asked Atletico Madrid for as much as €30m to sign the Uruguayan. The failure of that transfer reportedly angered Cavani, and it may well be that he’d prefer Atletico should they make another attempt this summer.
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Manchester United need to decide what to do regarding Odion Ighalo, and whether they even need a new striker given Marcus Rashford will be fit for the start of next season.
If they do want to sign a short term option, and if Cavani would accept a short contract, then he could be a solution.
Pirelli chief Marco Tronchetti has advised Inter to bring in both Edinson Cavani and Timo Werner if Lautaro Martinez leaves for Barcelona.
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The two forwards have been increasingly linked with Inter in recent weeks, although it appeared the Nerazzurri were treating the pair as separate targets.
Nonetheless, Tronchetti urged the club to pursue both strikers and Antonio Conte to make better use of Christian Eriksen.
“Pireli will remain linked to Inter,” he told Gr Parlamento, referring to his company’s shirt sponsorship possibly ending next year.
“We don’t know how yet, but their projects will remain ambitious with Suning.
“Conte has extraordinary ability. We’ve left the old world, but we still don’t know what the new one will be like.
“For example, we left Inter with a ‘regista’ who was supposed to change the team in Eriksen.
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“Cavani’s been able to do extraordinary things and I hope he can repeat them in Nerazzurro.
“It’s clear that selling Lautaro would hurt, but with Cavani and Werner we could be stronger than with Lautaro and Icardi, especially if Eriksen returns to his Tottenham form.”
Joao Felix sprained ligaments in his left knee during Atletico Madrid’s training session on Monday and that will keep him on the sidelines for roughly three weeks.
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In principle, the 20-year-old will not miss any game time as Los Rojiblancos’ first LaLiga Santander match after the restart will come away at Athletic Club in just under three weeks’ time.
“Joao Felix has suffered a low grade medial collateral ligament left knee sprain, as confirmed by tests he underwent at the Clinica Universidad de Navarra,” Atletico’s statement read.
This is the third injury suffered by Joao Felix in his first season at Atletico.
First it was a sprained ankle against Valencia that made him miss four games in LaLiga Santander and two in the Champions League.
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Then, a muscle injury before the Madrid derby at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu saw him miss three league games and the Champions League first leg against Liverpool.
These two ailments mean that Joao Felix has only been able to play in 28 games so far this season.
Top 15 players with most trophies from different club is listed below, According to universal believe, Legendary players like Pele,Ronaldo Nazario, Ronaldinho Guacho,Maradona,Cyruff,Romario,Pirlo,Puyol, Eto’o and Thierry Henry Should without doubt be included.
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Bringing it to football advancement, Top players like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andres Iniesta,Xavi,Pepe,Pique, Ramos, Alexis Sanchez Should without doubt be included too.
Here are the Top 15 Players with most trophies in football history:
Arsenal have reportedly opened talks with the agent of Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho ahead of launching a bid this summer.
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Coutinho is on a season-long loan deal at Bayern Munich but the Bundesliga club have revealed they won’t activate the option to make the move permanent.
That means the Brazilian will return to Barcelona at the end of the season, where he appears unlikely to regain a place in the starting XI.
Coutinho moved to the Nou Camp from Liverpool three years ago but has failed to secure regular first team football and looks set to leave this summer.
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According to Le10sport.com, Arsenal have made the 27-year-old one of their top transfer targets and opened talks with his agent, Kia Joorabchian.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is believed to be a huge admirer of Coutinho, who can play either in an attacking midfield role or as a left sided forward.
It was in those two roles that he rose to prominence at Liverpool, where he spent four seasons before moving on to Barca in a £142 million deal.
During his time at the Reds, Coutinho scored 41 goals in 152 games and established himself as one of Europe’s most highly-rated attacking talents.
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Now he’ll be determined to reestablish his reputation and Arsenal could provide the opportunity to do just that as Arteta looks to rebuild the Gunners squad he inherited when he replaced Unai Emery in December.
Arsenal could face competition for his services from a host of top European clubs, as well as Premier League rivals Chelsea who are also reported to be weighing up a move.
Barcelona are working on two new signings – Lautaro Martinez and Miralem Pjanic.
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Both players have been on the Blaugrana’s wish list for a while, but the Juventus midfielder is one man they’ve had their eye on for some time.
This is the fourth time Barcelona have tried to sign Pjanic and both parties hope that it will be the last.
The Catalan club made their first move for him in 2016, when he would’ve reunited with former Roma boss Luis Enrique.
The Bosnian international started 29 of his 30 appearances for Luis Enrique as a 21-year-old at the Stadio Olimpico.
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However, Juventus were more convincing that summer, paying 32 million euros to bring him to Turin.
At the end of the 2016/17 season, Luis Enrique left the Barcelona job, but Pjanic’s name was still linked with a move to the Camp Nou.
In the summer of 2017, Barcelona had money to spend after selling Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain and, despite Pjanic’s willingness to sign, a transfer didn’t happen.
In 2018, after being rejected by Antoine Griezmann, Barcelona tried to strengthen their midfield and once again showed interest in Pjanic, but their pursuit of him remained unsuccessful.
Fourth time lucky Never before have talks between Barcelona and Pjanic been so intense as they are now.
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Barcelona have decided to sign him and the player himself doesn’t want another opportunity to play at the Camp Nou to pass him by.
Juventus are in discussions with the Barcelona board over players that can be exchanged.
The Italian side wanted Arthur Melo in return for letting Pjanic go, but the Brazilian doesn’t want to leave the Blaugrana.
~Miralem Pjanic
If he’d have accepted to move to Turin, Pjanic would already be a Barcelona player.
Nonetheless, the Barcelona board are confident that, one way or another, they’ll eventually agree a deal that will see the midfielder finally move to the Camp Nou
After rumurs in the Italian media about the future of Barcelona midfielder Arthur, his people have got in touch with Diario Sport to put his position straight.
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They say that he is only looking forward to succeeding at Barcelona and he has no other plans.
Tuttosport had claimed that he was closer to a Juventus move, which would help Barca sign Pjanic. However, Arthur’s people say that it is not true and that he is in good shape, and really looking forward to getting back into action for the Catalan giants.
Barcelona’s hopes of landing Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic have been boosted with the Italian club reportedly keen to bring Ousmane Dembele in the other direction.
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The 23-year-old has been blighted by injury and loss of form since joining the club from Borussia Dortmund for £138million in 2017.
Those lingering injury issues remain a cause for concern and so Juventus, according to the front page of Monday’s Mundo Deportivo, have asked Barcelona about the potential for a season-long loan with an option-to-buy Dembele as part of the Pjanic negotiations.
Barcelona need sales this summer to raise funds for their top players with Pjanic, Lautaro Martinez and Neymar their three preferred signings.
To get these players, Barcelona are acutely aware of the need to shift some of the big earners who are not meriting their spots in the team.
All in all Dembele has 74 appearances and 19 goals in his Barca career and is believed to be earning around £200,000-a-week.
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Juventus’ hopes for a loan move for the Frenchman would appear to suggest they want to see how his body fares under the rigours of Italian football and an option-to-buy would arrive when he has a year left on his deal with Barcelona.
Barcelona boss Quique Setien has reportedly been keen to work with Dembele and maximise his potential.
But with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann, Ansu Fati and Martin Braithwaite, as well as the pursuit of Inter Milan striker Martinez, Dembele could be used as a crucial bargaining in getting a deal for Pjanic over the line.
Juventus had made Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo the top choice of player they wanted from the Nou Camp for any swap deal.
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But reports in Spain reiterate that he does not want to move to Italy and so Barcelona need to find another player of interest to Juventus to keep the deal alive.
Pjanic, 30, is highly-valued by Juventus and they are unlikely to compromise their €60m (£53.6m) valuation despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Bosnian has been a major success at Juve since arriving from Roma in 2016, winning three Serie A titles and two Italian Cups.
Although there will be question marks surrounding Pjanic’s advancing years, Barca instead see his age as a positive in terms of experience that would be invaluable to the likes of young talent including Riqui Puig.
Real Madrid are reportedly ready to offer any one of seven players to Borussia Dortmund in an attempt to bring down the price for Erling Haaland. Haaland has been the subject of Madrid transfer interest ahead of the summer, having blitzed the Bundesliga ever since his arrival from Red Bull Salzburg in January.
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The Norwegian has continued his form in Germany and has already racked up 10 goals in the German top tier and is now attracting interest once again from all the top teams in Europe.
According to Diario Madridista, Real want to sign the 19-year-old sensation and are ready to offer one of seven players in exchange. Oscar Rodriguez, Dani Ceballos, Alvaro Odriozola, Brahim Diaz, Lucas Vazquez, Mariano Diaz, and Takefusa Kubo could all be used in any deal.
Real Madrid To Offer Up To Seven Players For Erling Haaland The La Liga giants are already circling the Borussia Dortmund striker, just months after he joined the German side.
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Whilst those might not be the most steller names that Los Blancos have within their ranks, or even high profile players like James Rodriguez who the club clearly want to sell, the players do all fall in Dortmund’s usual area of expertise, young talented players they can improve.
Oscar, Ceballos, Odriozola, and Kubo are all currently on loan from the club with none of their current sides having the option to buy at the end of the season.
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Right back Odriozola, currently with Dortmund’s rivals Bayern Munich, could be of particular interest to the German side considering that Achraf Hakimi is set to return to the Bernabeu this summer when his two-year loan spell with Lucian Favre’s side ends.
Dortmund are unlikely to want to sell their latest star having only just signed him, and Real and any other interested party may have to wait another two years. The former Red Bull Salzburg striker has a €75million release clause but that reportedly doesn’t activate until summer 2022, by which point Haaland will just be turning 22.
Higuain and River have been vocal in their admiration for one another throughout the coronavirus lockdown, but the Argentine side could be facing competition from Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
As per Tuttojuve, Juve are prepared to sell the striker this summer but for no less than €18m to ensure they do not make a loss from his sale on their balance sheet.
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The Bianconeri paid €90m to take him from Napoli in 2016, and he has repaid them with 63 goals in 139 appearances, eight of which have come in the current campaign.
On the other hand, he can leave the Old Lady for nothing when his contract expires in June 2021.
On July 24, 2019, Marco Asensio suffered an ACL injury during Real Madrid’s pre-season that was set to rule him out for close to the entire 2019/20 campaign.
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However, the coronavirus-related pause in the season means that he is almost recovered from that injury and there are still 11 rounds of LaLiga Santander action to go.
His left knee has passed all the tests it has been put through so far and Asensio can continue to recover without feeling rushed.
The 24-year-old is feeling confident about his return and he is ready to show that he can live up to the potential the whole world of football spoke about when he burst onto the scene in 2016.
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Florentino Perez visited Real Madrid training this week and logically spent a lot of time speaking with coach Zinedine Zidane and captain Sergio Ramos, but the other player he had a very lengthy chat with was Asensio.
The president and those in charge at the club have Asensio’s back, as they also supported him in 2018/19 when he struggled to live up to expectations that he could help fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Zidane has been a big believer in Asensio’s talent over the years too and now the man from Mallorca is keen to repay the faith that has been placed in him.
When competitive action returns, Asensio could play as a second striker if Luka Jovic and Mariano are still out injured, while he also has the advantage of being versatile enough to start across the front line.
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Luis Enrique is a fan too and Asensio will be looking to impress the Spain coach, but the priority right now is to return properly and to help Real Madrid fight for the league title.
In this sense, Asensio is like a brand new mid-season signing for Los Blancos.
The 2018-19 season was the first that Lionel Messi assumed full duties of being captain of Barcelona after Andres Iniesta left the club.
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The Argentina forward become the best-paid player in La Liga in November 2017 by agreeing a new deal to extend his stay at Barcelona until 2021.
Despite underwhelming performances at international level with Argentina, Messi remains a talisman in Barcelona.
But exactly how much is Messi worth now? While it’s difficult to get an exact figure, we can accumulate plenty of information from what has been reported and compare his earnings to his rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi’s net worth is estimated to be around £309m ($400m) as of 2020. These figures are speculative, though, especially as his business interests tend not to be widely publicised.
Forbes ranked Messi first among athletes on their list of the 100 highest-earning celebrities of 2019, putting his income for the year at $127m (£98m), and fourth overall, making him the best-earning footballer and athlete in the world. He was $18m ahead of Ronaldo and $22m ahead of Neymar, the next athletes on the list.
The Barcelona forward’s latest salary package will certainly keep him among the richest active sportsmen on the planet over the next few years.
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Messi’s latest contract is reportedly worth a net £500,000 ($610k/€565k) a week.
Before signing this deal, Messi was estimated to be on around £336,000 ($410k/€397k) a week.
Ironically, Messi has Neymar to thank for his new and improved terms. His departure to Paris Saint-Germain not only brought Barca a massive windfall but also took his wages off the books.
Before that – when club president Josep Maria Bartomeu was insisting a deal had been agreed despite the fact that it had not been signed – Barca had admitted that Messi’s new salary would take their wage spending above what is generally recommended by UEFA.
“The LFP and UEFA make recommendations but nobody sets a salary cap,” Bartomeu said. “We are above what is recommended but the important thing is to be sustainable. We can afford it.”
Much like Ronaldo, Messi’s many sponsorship deals are too numerous to list in their entirety but the most significant is with the makers of his boots. Their rivalry continues in the battle between Nike (Ronaldo) and Adidas (Messi) off the pitch.
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A couple of months or so after Ronaldo signed a “long-term” deal with Nike in 2016 that is rumoured to be similar to the lifetime agreement penned by basketball star LeBron James – and potentially worth $1 billion – Messi, lo and behold, did similar with Adidas. The exact terms were not disclosed, but reports in Spain suggest it will take him through at least until the end of his playing career.
Messi has also been part of prominent campaigns with Pepsi, Gillette and Turkish Airlines. As part of their 2019 celebrity rich list, Forbes valued his endorsements at $35m (£27m) for that year in total.
Part of Messi’s appeal, of course, is his image as a pure footballer who takes little interest in the lavish lifestyle available to him off the field. His apparent lack of desire to branch out into other ventures and create a personal brand has in some ways become a brand in itself, and is attractive to sponsors.
But while Messi does not push lines of underwear, shoes and fragrances like Ronaldo, he has invested in property. Around his birthplace of Rosario in Argentina, for example, he has put money into the Azahares del Parana project (a set of gated communities out of the city) as well as an apartment building in the city centre.
There’s almost certainly much more than that, but – as tends to be the case with Messi – it is kept pretty private.
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As is the case with his business interests, Messi’s charity work is considerable but tends to be focused through sources and ventures he trusts.
He has his own organisation, the Leo Messi Foundation, which he asked for donations to instead of wedding gifts when he married long-term partner Antonella Roccuzzo.
The initiatives Messi backs are generally related to vulnerable children and their healthcare, and he was appointed an ambassador for Unicef in 2010 having worked with them since 2004.
Messi boasts extremely popular Facebook and Instagram pages but is not on Twitter, save for a ‘Team Messi’ account created by sponsors Adidas.
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He does, however, play second fiddle to Ronaldo when it comes to social media presence. Messi has the second-most popular Facebook page among athletes of any sport, with 90 million likes, and is the third-most followed male personality on Instagram (152 million) after Ronaldo and Dwayne Johnson.
Ronaldo, for comparison, has 122 million Facebook likes and 220 million followers on Instagram.
The Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo is closer to Juventus. That’s at least what is being reported in the Italian newspaper Tuttosport on Sunday. A report claims the Barcelona coach, Quique Setien, has given the green light to the signing of the Bosnian Miralem Pjanic and the two clubs are close to an exchange agreement.
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According to this information. Barça and Juve have valued both midfielders at 60 million euros, which would see both clubs bring in an ‘important’ amount of money. Both Juve and Barcelona also feel it’s a good deal on a sporting level. The Turin-based side plan to bet on the Uruguayan, Rodrigo Bentancur, 22, and have decided to let Pjanic, 30, leave.
The only problem for Juventus is that Arthur remains reluctant to leave Camp Nou. The same is not true of Pjanic. The Bosnian has given his permission to the deal. The main reason is the chance to play alongside Lionel Messi.
Barcelona have a genuine dilemma with Ousmane Dembele. No one doubts his incredible ability but injuries and a passive attitude have heled him back at the club. The Frenchman is still recovering from his latest injury and won’t be ready until next season. The club have taken care of him, aware he could be a key player, but they won’t close the door on an exit.
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Paris Saint-Germain, in that sense, could be important. The French club want more French players in their squad and are interested in the winger — which could play into Barça’s hands when negotiating for Neymar.
Dembele would be a risky signing. His muscle injuries have been continual and serious. But PSG are convinced he can move on from them. In Paris, they are up to date on his recovery and believe, like Barça, they’re related to his growth. From now on, there’s a belief that things will stabilise and he will able to play more consistently.
He is still young and has a long career ahead of him. PSG wanted to bet on him last summer and his name was on the table in talks for Neymar to bring the cost down. PSG boss, Thomas Tichel, knows him well from his time at Borussia Dortmund and knows that he can get the best from him and help him develop.
In addition, PSG are one of the few clubs that can pay his salary, which is around 10 million euros net per season. Barça are aware of the interest but won’t make any move. Despite reports in France and Italy saying Dembele is on the market. the reality is Barça have not offered him out. It’s about waiting because he will not be fit again until August.
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Dembele’s exit won’t be seen as too traumatic if it’s related with Neymar’s return. And, in addition, it would make space for La Masia graduates like Ansu Fati or Alex Volado. In fact, Ansu is already ahead of Dembele and could become a star if he’s given minutes on the pitch. It remains to be seen what PSG will do and if they would be open to swapping for Neymar, who will once again be at the centre of any talks.
Chelsea have reportedly joined the race for Inter striker Mauro Icardi, as PSG continue to haggle over the €70m purchase option.
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The forward spent this season on loan in Paris at a cost of €13m, scoring 20 goals in 31 competitive games.
There is a €70m clause to make the move permanent, but Paris Saint-Germain are trying to negotiate a discount, seeing the €50m plus €10m in bonuses offer rejected.
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Juventus and Napoli are both eager to bring Icardi back to Serie A, while Manchester United had until now been the only real Premier League interested party.
Now Sun Sport claim that Chelsea are also in the running for the 27-year-old Argentina international.
~Mauro Icardi
He came up through the Barcelona youth academy before moving on to Sampdoria, joining Inter for €13m in the summer of 2013.
Icardi scored 121 goals in 219 Serie A games, along with 30 assists.
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