LONDON: Chelsea players will donate part of their Club World Cup winning bonus to the family of the late Diogo Jota, who died at the age of 28 last month.
However, a commendable act can be witnessed after the Blues stars chose to give up part of their bonuses to raise funds for Jota’s widow after the Liverpool player died in a tragic road accident with his brother, Andre Silva, and left behind three children.
Chelsea players and management made a joint decision to forgo part of their bonuses.
However, it is not yet clear what percentage of the bonus will be donated to Jota’s family.
However, the total bonus amount will be reduced by tax and social security deductions before the sincere contribution to Jota’s family is made.
MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola says his Manchester City team may start the season “not ready” as the club still have to offload several players before the transfer window closes.
City, who have 31 senior players, are in Sicily for a friendly against Palermo tonight without Jack Grealish, Stefan Ortega and James McAtee – three players who are expected to leave the club in the near future.
Everton are among the clubs interested in signing Grealish, while Nottingham Forest are leading the race to sign McAtee.
Guardiola also hinted that Rodri’s role in the opening weeks of the season may be limited.
“We need a smaller squad. I don’t like a squad that is too big, a lot of players have to leave.
“The transfer window is moving fast, a lot of things will happen. We will see and try to manage it as best as possible.
“The team’s mood is the same as during the Club World Cup. We may have missed a few friendlies to prepare, so the first three games against Wolves, Spurs and Brighton may not be perfect.
“But we chose to focus more on training sessions than playing matches,” said Guardiola.
Rodri, Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol were also left out of the second pre-season trip to Italy, with all three still not fully fit.
Rodri has returned to training after suffering a groin injury in the Club World Cup defeat to Al Hilal, but City are cautious about his recovery.
Guardiola expects the Ballon d’Or winner to only be fully fit after the September international break.
“Rodri is getting better but his injury is quite serious. He has been training better these days, and I hope after the international break he will be really ready.
“Maybe in the early matches he can play a few minutes, but the important thing is that he is free from pain. We don’t want him to come back and get injured. He is not ready to play 90 minutes,” he said.
MANCHESTER: Phil Foden admits Manchester City have had to undergo a major overhaul, spending almost 300 million pounds to restore the club’s dominance on the domestic and European stages.
City have already signed 10 new players in two transfer windows, including Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders who have been the main targets this summer.
This reshuffle comes after a poor performance last season which saw them fall 13 points behind Liverpool, who emerged as champions of the English Premier League.
“At some point, any club needs change and new players. This signing was necessary and the players who came in were all of high quality,” said Foden.
This summer saw several key players such as Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker leave the club, paving the way for players like Foden to take on more responsibility.
“I won’t try to copy what Kev did. Everyone knows his contribution is incredible. But I want to get back to the best level like when I won Player of the Year last season,” he said.
Foden, who returned to prominence in the Club World Cup with a stunning goal against Al Hilal, is determined to lead City’s comeback this season.
At the same time, a new player, Vitor Reis, will be loaned to Girona, while several other players are expected to leave the Etihad before the transfer window closes at the end of this month.
City manager Pep Guardiola currently has 26 players in main training, with three more injured ahead of Saturday’s pre-season friendly against Palermo.
Among those returning to training is Rodri, who previously suffered a groin injury during the Club World Cup in Orlando.
ATLANTA: Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim backed Bruno Fernandes’ criticism of the team’s performance after the 2-2 draw with Everton and said he would be happy for players to speak up if the team’s standards dipped.
Fernandes previously described some of the action at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium as ‘lazy’ and demanded that his teammates improve their level of play.
When asked if he agreed with the team captain’s statement, Amorim insisted that he had no problem if players ‘reprimanded each other’ in line with his efforts to improve the work culture at Old Trafford.
“I’m happy if the players feel that,” said Amorim.
“It shows they understand the real situation. So for me, that’s a good sign. I think the momentum of this tour is perfect.
“We’ve had a few weeks to work in a positive atmosphere and now we’re back at Carrington and about to start the new season.
“We will return with the realization that there is still much to improve.”
In addition to commenting on the performance against Everton, Fernandes also told NBC that he hopes the team can bring in ‘one or two more players’ before the transfer window closes.
“A team can always be improved with more players but we already have players who can create competition internally,” said Amorim when asked about Fernandes’ statement.
“What’s important is that we need to improve as a team. We have the potential to grow with the players we have and I’m very happy with this team.”
So far, United have spent millions to acquire Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, who made his debut against Everton.
They are also still interested in RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko.
HONG KONG: Luis Diaz was left out of Liverpool’s pre-season defeat to AC Milan as he is in talks for a lucrative move to Bayern Munich.
The Premier League champions, who lost 4-2 to Milan in Hong Kong, are expected to accept a second bid for Diaz after rejecting an initial offer of almost 58.5 million pounds. The Colombia international is believed to be keen to leave Anfield.
He was left out of Liverpool’s 22-man squad on Saturday, and manager Arne Slot confirmed the decision was made in light of the ongoing transfer speculation.
When asked if Diaz’s absence was due to his future, Slot replied: “In Lucho’s situation, yes. There have been a lot of rumours circulating lately and I can’t comment further.
“But he trained very well with us and we decided not to play him for now.”
Asked if Diaz wanted to move, Slot simply said: “I’m not the one to ask.”
Darwin Nunez, whose future is also unclear, was also not fielded in the match, but Slot explained that the Uruguayan player suffered a minor injury.
Wataru Endo and Alexis Mac Allister are also sidelined due to fitness issues, but are expected to be fit for the next match.
Meanwhile, defender Joe Gomez returned to England after injuring his Achilles tendon.
This situation leaves Liverpool with only two fit central defenders, increasing pressure on the club to make additional signings – despite having already spent 295 million pounds in this summer’s transfer window.
In the defeat to Milan, Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo scored for Liverpool, while Florian Wirtz and 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha were among the positives to be proud of.
Liverpool will fly to Tokyo for the second leg of their pre-season tour of Asia.