Month: September 2023

BUDAPEST: Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are shortlisted for the FIFA Best Men’s Player Award while Spaniard Aitana Bonmati is among the nominees for the Best Women’s Award after emerging as the best player of the tournament at the World Cup.

Six of the men’s nominees are players from the Manchester City squad that won the treble in the 2022-23 season, while City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola has been nominated for Best Men’s Coach.

Spain’s World Cup victory saw four of their players among the 16 candidates for the women’s award.

World Cup runners-up England have four players on the list, with Sarina Wiegman topping the list of best women’s coaches while Australia has three players.

World Cup winner Argentina’s Messi and Spain’s Alexia Putellas are the frontrunners for the best player award.

Candidates were shortlisted by a panel of football experts including former players Mia Hamm and Didier Drogba.

The draw for the eighth annual award opened last night on the FIFA.com website and ends in mid-October.

National team coaches, captains, journalists and fans were among the voters.

MANCHESTER: Manchester United are considering signing Dutch winger Anwar El Ghazi as a free agent following the uncertain situation involving Antony and Jadon Sancho.

El Ghazi left PSV Eindhoven last week and could join United outside the transfer window.

The 28-year-old, who has played for Ajax, Aston Villa and Everton, was at the Emirates Stadium during United’s defeat at the hands of Arsenal.

It is understood El Ghazi has also received offers from Saudi Arabian clubs, but United could give him a chance to return to the Premier League.

United manager Erik ten Hag is facing problems on the wing after Antony was sent on leave so the investigation into him regarding allegations of assault by three women was completed, and Sancho’s future at Old Trafford is in doubt following his affair with Ten Hag.

Ten Hag and Sancho clashed last night after the player labeled the manager a cheater for claiming he was dropped for Arsenal’s match due to not training well.

United are struggling to offload Sancho before the January transfer window, after the 23-year-old failed to go on loan to Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq last week.

It is also not certain that Antony will be able to act after the Brazilian is trying to clear his name from allegations of attacks on three women, including his girlfriend.

The Champions League is rolling again. UEFA has also made the draw for the group stages of the tournament on Thursday (31/8/2023) evening. Manchester City is again the favorite to win the 2023/2024 Champions League . As defending champions, City did not make many changes to its main squad.

In fact, they brought in several new players who could immediately become key. Including the arrival of Jeremy Doku and Josko Gvardiol.

The 2023/2024 Champions League also presents several hellish groups. For example, what happened in Group F.

In this group there are Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Newcastle United. This could threaten big teams to be eliminated early in this season’s Champions League .

Bola.com has a list of several big clubs that could fall in the Champions League group stages this season. Who are they?

AC Milan faces a tough challenge in the Champions League this season. I Rossoneri are in Group F with PSG, Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle United.

AC Milan is indeed proud of the seven Champions League titles they have. However, Milan should be careful if they don’t want to be eliminated too early.

Their recent performance is still unstable. Moreover, the Rossoneri made many changes to their squad.

Manchester United started this season badly. The Red Devils looked fragile at the back, especially when competing in the Premier League.

Unfortunately, MU got a tough group in the 2023/2024 Champions League. The Red Devols are in group A with the German giant, Bayern Munich.

Turkish champions Galatasaray and Danish champions FC Copenhagen are also in the group. Bayern is clearly the main challenge for MU.

However, Galatasaray and Copenhagen are very likely to hit Manchester United. These clubs have a different spirit when competing in Europe.