Category: Sport News

MADRID: Real Madrid are close to agreeing a contract extension for Vinicius Junior after talks began in January following interest from Saudi Arabia to buy the FIFA World Player of the Year in a record-breaking deal, sources said yesterday.

Although the Brazilian forward’s current contract expires at the end of the 2026-27 season, the Spanish champions contacted the player’s agent last month to begin new negotiations, thus curbing Saudi interest that had been ongoing for more than a year.

Sources close to Vinicius said that despite several calls from Saudi Arabia showing interest in a move to Al-Ahly, a formal contract offer was never discussed and Saudi confidence has waned in recent months.

Real denied being contacted by the Saudi club but a source close to the Madrid club said they were approached by officials from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) during the Spanish Super Cup in Jeddah earlier last month asking about Vinicius.

However, the European champions are not interested in negotiating a transfer, citing a €1 billion buyout clause as the only scenario they would allow the Brazilian to leave Madrid.

“I don’t know anything, nobody has spoken to me about it (the Saudi offer),” Vinicius told TNT Sports after Real’s 3-2 win at Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League play-off on Tuesday.

“They need to talk to the (Real) president. I hope I can stay here for a little longer,” the player said after the match.

“It’s always exciting to be able to negotiate with Real Madrid about a contract renewal. I have a contract until 2027, but I always talk about my passion to play here for longer to be able to make history here.”

Real announced Vinicius’ final contract extension in October 2023, a four-year deal reportedly worth 13.5 million euros in terms of annual salary.

He opted for a shorter, incentive-based deal, compared to the five- to six-year contracts that most Real players typically sign.

LONDON: Arsenal’s bid to win the Premier League (EPL) may face a tortuous path after Kai Havertz was reportedly forced to miss the rest of the season.

The German striker suffered the injury during a training camp in Dubai and is scheduled to undergo a more detailed examination once the club returns to England.

Media reports suggest the 25-year-old has suffered a hamstring injury and could miss the rest of the season.

Arsenal, however, has yet to comment further on the extent of Havertz’s injury.

The potential for being sidelined for an extended period of time seems to be a blow to manager Mikel Arteta after Arsenal’s attempts to strengthen their attacking line-up during the January transfer window came to a standstill.

The club failed in their attempt to sign Ollie Watkins from EPL rivals Aston Villa.

Arsenal have already lost several key players including Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

The Gunners currently only have three striker options, namely Leandro Trossard, Raheem Sterling and Ethan Nwaneri.

Arsenal are currently second in the league, six points behind leaders Liverpool who still have a game in hand.

LONDON: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insists there is no disagreement with his old friend Pep Guardiola ahead of a crucial clash against Manchester City this weekend.

Previously, City players accused Arsenal of using dirty tactics in a tense match that ended in a 2-2 draw last September.

In the match, City midfielder Rodri suffered a serious knee injury while Arsenal were forced to play with 10 men after Leandro Trossard was sent off.

The match also saw a tense incident in which City striker Erling Haaland sparked controversy by throwing the ball at Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes after a late equaliser by John Stones.

Arteta, who was Guardiola’s assistant at City before taking over at Arsenal in 2019, denied their relationship had suffered.

“I was there for four years. I know how competitive they are. They win and win, that’s what I mean,” he said at a media conference today.

Commenting further on speculation of a strained relationship between them, Arteta said: “If there was a problem, we wouldn’t be on the phone or texting. But that’s what happened, so there’s no issue.”

Guardiola has previously dismissed claims of a strained relationship, describing his friendship with Arteta as “extraordinary.”

This Sunday’s match is important for both teams in the English Premier League.

Arsenal, who are currently in second place, are six points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

City, meanwhile, are in fourth place and are looking to close the gap in points in their bid to defend the league title.

PARIS: Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admitted that his team was dominated by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) when they lost 4-2, which affected their hopes of advancing to the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Guardiola’s men squandered a two-goal lead early on as PSG stormed to a four-goal second-half comeback.

The result saw City drop to 25th place, one place outside of play-off qualification.

They now need to win when they host Club Brugge in the final group stage match on January 29.

“We had our moments and they had their moments, but they were better,” he told TNT Sports.

“They were quicker, quicker, they won the ball, we couldn’t handle it. They were very fast. The best team won. This game was never what we wanted.

“To play you have to play. To defend you have to hold the ball – we didn’t have it. They had it more, they attacked better, that’s why it was more difficult.”

The defeat was reminiscent of City’s shock defeat against Feyenoord two months ago, when they squandered a three-goal lead late in the match before drawing 3-3.

When asked about the possibility of City – Champions League winners in 2023 – not qualifying, Guardiola said: “It could happen. We’ll see.

“If we don’t win (against Brugge) we don’t deserve it. All the away games we have are difficult, but that’s the reality. We haven’t collected enough points.”

MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United suffered a humiliating 3-1 defeat at home to Brighton in the English Premier League just now after opposing winger Yankuba Minteh scored one goal and assisted another.

The hosts were not helped by an embarrassing mistake by goalkeeper Andre Onana.

Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter were also on the scoresheet in the second half for Brighton, who were unaffected when Joao Pedro’s goal was ruled out by VAR for a foul.

Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty for United to equalise in the 23rd minute to make it 1-1 at half-time but after Brighton took the lead for a second time, Onana made a mistake following a swipe into the penalty area, allowing Rutter to tap in the rebound in the 76th minute.

Brighton jumped to ninth on 34 points, four points clear of the top four.

United, on the other hand, fell one place to 13th place with 26 points from 22 matches.

Meanwhile, David Moyes won his first game at Goodison Park since returning as manager of the Toffees last week by beating Tottenham 3-2 while Nottingham Forest strengthened their position in third place by beating Southampton also 3-2.