Sports

Kylian Mbappe teases future Real Madrid move

Published

1 year ago

September 6, 2022

Kylian Mbappe has refused to rule out a future transfer to Real Madrid, admitting that the club “feels like your house.”

After his previous contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired this summer, it was widely anticipated that the French forward would join the Santiago Bernabeu on a free transfer. Instead, he signed a massive three-year extension with the Ligue 1 giants.

Mbappe made his decision after speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron, who got involved in the transfer saga in an effort to persuade Mbappe to reject Real’s advances.

“I never imagined I’m gonna talk with the president about my future, about my future in my career, so it’s something crazy, really something crazy,” he told The New York Times. “He told me: ‘I want you to stay. I don’t want you to leave now. You are so important for the country’.”

Mbappe also revealed that Macron told him: “You have time to leave, you can stay a little bit more.”

Mbappe acknowledged the effect Los Blancos have had on him personally and left the door open for a future transfer when asked if playing for Real was still appealing to him.

“You never know what’s going to happen,” he said. “You’ve never been there, but it seems like it’s like your house, or something like this.”

La Liga and Ligue 1 engaged in a protracted legal dispute over Mbappe’s decision to re-sign with PSG because La Liga believed financial fair play regulations must have been broken to offer the striker such a lucrative contract.

ALSO READ LAMATA appears before Lagos Assembly over non-use of Yoruba language in Train announcement

There have been numerous claims that Mbappe only stayed with PSG for the money, but he refuted those claims by stating:”Everywhere I go, I’m going to get money. I’m this type of player everywhere I go.”

Additionally, he acknowledged that he had been “annoyed” by claims that he had asked for a say in who would lead the team as coach or which of his teammates should be sold.

“That’s not my job,” he said. “And I don’t want to do this because I’m not good at it. I’m good on the pitch. Outside the pitch, that’s not my role. There are so many people that are better than me.”

Up Next

Reach out for fight, Joshua tells Tyson Fury

Don't Miss

Paul Pogba to return from knee injury January

Click to comment

Sports

2024 WAFCON qualifier: Super Falcons arrive Praia for Cape Verde clash

Published

19 hours ago

December 4, 2023

Seun Okerayi

Ahead of Tuesday’s second leg of the 2024 Women’s African Cup of Nations qualifier, Nigeria’s Super Falcons have landed in Praia for the game.

The Nigerian side dominated and won the first leg 5-0 at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abuja on Thursday and the result gave them hope to scaling the hurdle to the competition.

Super Falcons departed the shore of the country on Saturday and safely arrived at the Praia, the capital city of Cape Verde in the early hours of Sunday.

Falcons are willing to qualify and do better in the competition next year after they finished in the 4th position in the last edition that was held in Morocco.

The game against the Blue Shark of Cape Verde is scheduled to take place on Tuesday with the winner over the two legs reaching the competition slated for Morocco.

ALSO READ VIDEO: How MC Oluomo Loyalist Ariku Was Killed In Mile 12

Sports

Osimhen won’t renew Napoli contract

Published

4 days ago

December 1, 2023

Seun Okerayi

Nigeria international Victor Osimhen’s departure from Napoli is almost looking certain after Italian football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano said the striker was unlikely to renew his contract with the Italian champions,

Osimhen has been linked with several European clubs with English Premier League duo, Chelsea and Arsenal, leading the race for the Nigerians.

Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, had on several occasions said that the club’s most prized asset would not be sold this summer even if their valuation of €200m was met.

“Osimhen will stay here. He won’t leave,” he told Sky in August.

ALSO READ AAUA NIFES Relaunches Bethel radio

Sports

Super Eagles drop two places in latest FIFA rankings

Published

5 days ago

November 30, 2023

Seun Okerayi

The Super Eagles of Nigeria have dropped by two spots in the latest FIFA ranking to place 42nd in the world.

In the ranking table on the website of the world football governing body, on Thursday, the Eagles dropped 16.04 points to rank 1474.44 points as against 1490.48 in October.

However, the drop did not affect the team’s placement on the continent, as it still remained the 6th team on the continent, behind Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt, respectively.

The drop in ranking comes after the Super Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw in their two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Lesotho on Nov. 16 and Zimbabwe on Nov. 19.

Although Argentina (1st) still leads the way ahead of France (2nd), England (3rd, up 1) is now in the trio of teams at the front of the pack, followed by Belgium (4th, up 1), who have also climbed one place.

Although Brazil (5th, down 2) have lost ground following back-to-back defeats by Colombia and Argentina, they have clung on to their place in the top 5.

The Netherlands (6th, up 1) and Portugal (7th, down 1) have traded places in the top 10, which is once again completed by Spain (8th), Italy (9th) and Croatia (10th).

Uruguay (11th, up 4) have made solid progress, but they have to be content with a place just outside the top 10.

The Comoros Islands (119th, up 9), meanwhile, enjoyed an even better month with wins against the Central African Republic and Ghana, and have two reasons to celebrate as they are now in 119th place, their highest-ever position.

ALSO READ 'The Mane Effect' - Reactions as Bayern Munich batter Bochum 7-0

Kosovo (101st, up 4) may not have climbed as many positions as the Comorans, but the Kosovans are also now higher in the ranking than ever before.

Guinea-Bissau (103rd, up 7), Azerbaijan (114th, up 6), Libya (120th, up 6), Malaysia (130th, up 7) and Rwanda (133rd, up 7) are the other big movers in the November ranking.

The ranking also had the re-entry of Samoa (187th), American Samoa (188th) and Tonga (196th), who were all playing international football again following months of inactivity.

The ranking took into consideration FIFA World Cup qualifiers that took place in African countries as well as in Asia and South America.

The other confederations’ schedules considered included UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying matches, Concacaf Nations League 2023-24 encounters and the Pacific Games 2023.

These matches all had a significant effect on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, including on the make-up of the podium.