Football

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed the Spanish club is 1.35bn euros (£1.15bn) in debt, describing the situation as "very worrying". The club's wage bill currently accounts for 103% of total income. Laporta blames predecessor Josep Maria Bartomeu for the debt, accusing him of leaving a "terrible inheritance". Extending Lionel Messi's contract would have made the wage bill accountable for 110% of revenue, which La Liga refused to accept. Messi announced an emotional exit from the Nou Camp last week and signed for Paris

Kane - heavily linked with a move to Manchester City - sat out this pulsating encounter but Pep Guardiola wasted no time in throwing in his British record signing from Aston Villa. It was Son Heung-min who gave new manager Nuno Espirito Santo the perfect start to his reign with a low shot that snaked beyond Manchester City keeper Ederson 10 minutes after the break. Spurs fully deserved their win as they survived a shaky opening phase to play with real purpose, already

France striker Kylian Mbappe, 22, has turned down a six-year extension to his contract with Paris St-Germain, which expires next summer, and would prefer to join Real Madrid this summer. (Marca - in Spanish) Mbappe did not join his team-mates for Ander Herrera's birthday party on Sunday and is set for a meeting with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi on Monday. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish) Spain centre-back Pau Torres, 24, has rejected a move to Tottenham Hotspur as Spurs cannot offer Champions League football this season and his hometown club Villarreal can. (Marca - in

Bayern Munich and Germany legend Gerd Muller has died at the age of 75. The striker scored 68 goals in 62 appearances for West Germany, including the winning goal in the 1974 World Cup final against the Netherlands. Muller also spent 15 years at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, scoring 547 goals in 594 competitive games for the club. "Today is a sad, black day for FC Bayern and all of its fans," Bayern president Herbert Hainer said. "Gerd Muller was the greatest striker

The former Barcelona star was presented with fellow signings Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum and Achraf Hakimi. Messi watched from the stand as Mauricio Pochettino's side made it two Ligue 1 wins from two. Goals from Mauro Icardi, Kylian Mbappe, Julian Draxler and Pablo Sarabia ensured PSG's victory. Strasbourg, three goals down inside half-an-hour, had the better chances in the second half, and pulled the score back to 3-2 thanks to headers from Kevin Gameiro and Ludovic Ajorque. But after Alexander Djiku's second yellow

Bale, back from a loan spell at Tottenham, was in former Everton boss Ancelotti's first starting XI. Eden Hazard set up Benzema's opener with a nice flick and Nacho doubled the lead with a volley. Benzema scored again and Joselu slotted a penalty for Alaves before Vinicius Jr scored a late fourth for Real. David Alaba made his Real debut at left-back after his free-transfer move from Bayern Munich - and set up that late Vinicius goal. Real laboured in the first half

Romelu Lukaku's agent, Federico Pastorello, says he and his family received threats while he was working on the striker's £97.5m Chelsea move. Lukaku, 28, left Inter Milan after helping the club end its 11-year wait for a 19th Italian title. Pastorello says talk the deal was "engineered" or "forced" for financial gain "is leading everyone astray". "Many of those who today insult me and threaten me, thanked me wholeheartedly for bringing him to Milan," he said. "I have always accepted - and will continue

Real Madrid say reports the club has looked in to leaving La Liga for the Premier League are "completely false, absurd and impossible". On Saturday, Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo said Real had been "studying for weeks" the possibility of leaving Spain's top flight. It added that club president Florentino Perez's favoured option was the Premier League but information had also been compiled on Serie A and the Bundesliga. Real denied the reports in a statement. It added such information "only intends to disturb, once more,

Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe and Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowksi have made UEFA's shortlist for the best men's forward in the Champions League last season, European soccer's governing body said on Friday. Norway international Haaland led the scoring charts last season with 10 goals in Dortmund's run to the quarter-finals, two more than French World Cup-winner Mbappe. Poland's Lewandowksi, the winner of last season's award in the category, had five goals. Champions Chelsea, who won the trophy by beating

No one epitomized the resurgence that drove Liverpool on to secure an unlikely Champions League berth in May more than Trent Alexander-Arnold - so can that impressive late-season run now be a springboard to success this time around? After a morale-sapping 1-0 home defeat against soon-to-be-relegated Fulham on March 7, Liverpool's top-four hopes appeared in tatters, only for the club to then embark on a 10-match unbeaten Premier League run to close out the season. That title-winning form included eight wins as Jurgen

Star forward Lionel Messi has joined French giants Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal following his departure from FC Barcelona. Star forward Lionel Messi has joined French giants Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal following his departure from FC Barcelona. Messi, the 34-year-old Argentine forward, who recently bid a tearful goodbye to Nou Camp, where he spent 21 years of his life at, also has the option of a third year. The exact details of Messi's financial terms were not declared but it

In a tearful press conference, Messi, 34, recently announced that he is leaving Barcelona this summer, with the club unable to afford his wages even if he were to take a 50% pay cut. Now Barcelona’s legal team is claiming that PSG cannot sign the six-time Ballon d’Or winner on account of their own financial difficulties. Lawyer Juan Branco has confirmed the complaint, tweeting the following statement: On behalf of FC Barcelona partners, my firm has prepared a complaint with the European Commission and demands

The Qatari national football team advanced 16 places in the FIFA rankings, to 42nd in the world, behind the Russian team, which ranked 41st. This distinguished position came after the high level presented by the team in the Gold Cup championship, in which it reached the semi-final stage, where it narrowly lost against the US team, which won the title at the expense of the Mexican team. The Qatari team had played five matches in the Gold Cup, winning three, drawing one and

Almoez Ali of Qatar National Football Team earned the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup Top Scorer Award, after finishing as the top scorer in the 2021 Gold Cup with four goals in five games. The Gold Cup award is the second Almoez Ali has won at a continental tournament. The Qatari footballer was named top scorer at the AFC Asian Cup in 2019 with a record of nine goals, becoming the first player in history to be the top scorer in two continents. Almoez

Gyasi Zardes might not be the perfect all-around player, but he cannot be accused of failing to produce goals as he's matured in his late-20s, and on Thursday night, he provided yet another crucial finish to bail out the U.S. men's national team. The 29-year-old, so often criticized for other aspects of his game, scored the Gold Cup semi-final winner for the USMNT after 85 minutes to earn a 1-0 victory and end Qatar's Cinderella run as CONCACAF visitors. Qatar was, in many

Qatar's star Al Moez Ali became the top goal scorer the CONCACAF Gold Cup after the quarter-finals with four goals. Al Moez scored in Qatar's first match against Panama, which ended in a 3-3 draw. He also scored in the 4-0 win against Grenada. He then scored a brace in the victory against El Salvador. Another Qatari goal scorer on the list is Abdulaziz Hatem, who scored three goals. He is second on the goal scorers' list. Source: QNA

LONDON: Manchester City have cancelled a pre-season friendly in France against Troyes due to British quarantine requirements, the Premier League champions said on Wednesday. Anyone arriving in Britain from France must quarantine at home or in other accommodation for five to 10 days, under British government rules. "Both clubs explored all avenues to be able to play the game, but the recent UK government changes to quarantine rules for travellers returning from France has made the required restrictions too difficult to overcome," City

Gold Cup debutants Qatar defeated Honduras in a tightly contested 2-0 match to decide first place in Group D of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup on Tuesday at BBVA Stadium in Houston. The win at the BBVA Stadium meant Felix Sanchezs side finished top of Group D with seven points, one ahead of Honduras, with both sides advancing to the quarter-finals. Honduras came into the tie on the back of consecutive victories. At the same time, Qatar playing in the competition on an

You were part of the gold medal-winning team for Cameroon at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. How did it feel to stand on top of the podium? It was an incredible feeling, especially because we had some difficulties during the tournament. I want to take this opportunity to say thank you again to all my teammates, my ”fellow soldiers”, during this tournament. Because it was really tough – but in the end we won the gold medal by beating Spain despite trailing by

MILAN: Outspoken Italian coach Gennaro Gattuso regretted on Monday having been unable to defend himself amid an online campaign by some Tottenham Hotspur fans accusing him of being homophobic and racist. The 2006 World Cup winner had looked set to succeed Jose Mourinho as manager of the Premier League side before the accusations. "I had to accept a story that hurt me more than any defeat or suspension," Gattuso told Il Messaggero. "My regret is that I did not have the opportunity to