Latest news with #PaulPogba
Arab Times
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Arab Times
Reports: Pogba attracts interest from Saudi Club Al-Ittihad amid potential comeback
RIYADH, June 21: Media reports have revealed a new opportunity for French midfielder Paul Pogba to return to football next season, with Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad showing serious interest. According to transfer market specialist Santi Aouna, while AS Monaco made a strong bid to sign Pogba during the summer transfer window, Al-Ittihad has recently emerged as a major contender in the race for his signature. 'Al-Ittihad returned to the forefront a few days ago, beginning preliminary talks with Pogba,' Aouna reported. However, he added that despite the interest, the Saudi champions have yet to take official steps toward signing the player, citing internal issues at the club as a reason for the delay. Pogba has not played competitively since September 3, 2023, due to off-field issues and injury setbacks. Still, his recent social media activity has fueled speculation about a comeback. A series of posts on Instagram, showing the 2018 World Cup winner in top form and training while wearing a Boca Juniors shirt, attracted significant attention and sparked enthusiasm among fans, particularly those of the iconic Argentine club. The potential move to Saudi Arabia would mark a new chapter for Pogba, who continues to draw global attention despite his extended absence from the pitch.
Washington Post
a day ago
- Business
- Washington Post
List of most expensive soccer signings in history
Florian Wirtz became one of the most expensive players in soccer history when the Germany playmaker joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen on Friday for a fee of up to 116 million pounds ($156 million). Neymar : $262 million (222 million euros) Paris Saint-Germain shattered the world-record transfer fee by signing the Brazil superstar from Barcelona in August 2017. It was more than double the outlay of Manchester United to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus for $116 million a year earlier. It remains the record transfer fee.
New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Football's possible doping problem, Messi magic at the Club World Cup, and Mbappe's hospital scare
The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic's daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. Hello. As a Premier League star stares down the barrel of a possible four-year ban, we're asking: how concerned should football be about performance-enhancing drugs? On the way: 💉Doping: under control, or not? ✨ Magic Messi keeps Miami alive 🏥 Mbappe's hospital scare 🥜 Nutmegging the greatest The implications for footballers accused of doping are not remotely trivial. Many of those charged protest their innocence vehemently, but since anti-doping agencies apply strict liability principles and apportion responsibility irrespective of intent, the consequences hit hard. Paul Pogba is almost two years on from the positive test for dehydroepiandrosterone that culminated in an 18-month ban and the end of his second stint at Juventus. Once the world's most expensive player, he's free to resume his career again but is yet to find a club, stuck outside the tent with his thirties in full flow and time passing him by. Advertisement In Germany, Mario Vuskovic, a Croatia Under-21 international, found himself in a similar boat after a four-year suspension for returning a sample with EPO (erythropoietin) in it prompted Bundesliga side Hamburg to tear up his contract. He's 23 and, since 2022, has been inactive in his prime. They are two examples for Mykhailo Mudryk to dwell on with his own doping case pending. As with Pogba and Vuskovic, the Chelsea winger denies deliberate wrongdoing and says the prohibited substance he is accused of taking late last year, meldonium, was not ingested knowingly. But while intent can affect the severity of a sanction, it does not guard players against sanctions per se. An English Football Association charge against Mudryk will be dealt with in due course and the potential impact on him and Chelsea is obvious. The most extreme punishment the 24-year-old could receive is a ban spanning four years. But these cases (fairly isolated in the sport) invariably call for analysis of how common doping is in football. Based on the numbers involved, the assumption is not very — but are we seeing the full picture? Phil Buckingham took on the subject for an excellent article published this morning. It's fair to say, as he reflects, that as a team game in which technical skill matters as much as physicality (and 22 athletes are on the pitch), the illicit gains promised by doping are perceived to be smaller than in individual pursuits. At a distance, the data is encouraging. For a start, footballers are closely monitored. More than 2,000 samples were taken across the Premier League and the EFL last season, and every squad member at the 2022 FIFA World Cup took at least one test. But dig a little deeper and some of the findings are more opaque. Advertisement For instance, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that two Premier League players returned adverse tests in 2023-24, as did two others in the season before it. None received penalties. We don't know their identities, the nature of their adverse tests, or the reasons no action ensued. The English FA said only that it takes 'anti-doping in English football extremely seriously'. UEFA, meanwhile, enforced more than 15,000 tests over a five-year period leading up to 2024, but Europe's governing body wouldn't tell The Athletic how many of those returned positive findings. Mudryk's adverse sample came during a UEFA tournament while he was representing Ukraine in the Nations League in November. His next move is either to accept the FA charge or request a hearing, a £62m signing with another six years on his club contract at risk of a long stretch on the sideline. All eyes are on him, but more broadly, his case has us thinking again about how far doping in football — unintentional or otherwise — really stretches. The obstacles to Club World Cup supremacy are getting biblical. For the third time in 72 hours, thunderclouds forced a match delay yesterday, suspending Palmeiras' Group A win over Al Ahly for 40 minutes. The Gods aren't conspiring against FIFA entirely, though. Last night, we got our first proper upset as South American champions Botafogo did what virtually nobody has done for the past six months and figured European champions Paris Saint-Germain out. A deflected goal from Igor Jesus (coming to the Premier League soon) fulfilled Botafogo's promise to bury PSG in the 'cemetery of favourites'. And just when it seemed like FIFA's must-have participants, Inter Miami, might drop out of the tournament without making a dent in it, up stepped Lionel Messi to keep them in business. There's no greater clutch player in the history of the sport and the sensational finish that gave Miami a 2-1 victory against Porto proved once more that a free kick in the hands of Argentina's finest might as well be a penalty. It had more whip on it than Indiana Jones. The tournament was waiting for a moment like that. Miami were waiting for a moment like that, and so was the reputation of Major League Soccer. Take out the stench around FIFA shoe-horning Miami into the competition and there's no denying that any event is enhanced by Messi's genius. Fun and games in Canada's Gold Cup camp, where head coach Jesse Marsch is under investigation over an alleged confrontation with a Concacaf official during Tuesday's 6-0 beasting of Honduras. What's funny about this is that Marsch wasn't even on the touchline. He was serving a two-match ban after prior fun and games (and a red card) in Canada's Nations League win over the USMNT in March. Canada Soccer says it is working to 'resolve the matter' — and to be fair, the circumstances leading to it sound more than a little ridiculous. Advertisement The good thing for Marsch? Canada looked in fine fettle and are well on their way to the knockouts. In front of them, the USMNT have already made it through after disposing of the solitary genuine threat in Group D: invitational guests Saudi Arabia. Chris Richards, above, got the only goal, but the power behind it belonged to Sebastian Berhalter's sumptuous (and very awkward to defend) delivery. I think that's what they call the corridor of uncertainty. (Kick-offs ET/UK time. All Club World Cup matches are shown on DAZN in the U.S. and UK, as well as the other channels stated.) Friday: FIFA Club World Cup: Group C: Benfica vs Auckland City, 12pm/5pm; Bayern Munich vs Boca Juniors, 9pm/2am — TBS, Fubo/Channel 5; Group D: Flamengo vs Chelsea, 2pm/7pm — TNT, Fubo (U.S. only); LAFC vs ES Tunis, 6pm/11pm. Saturday: FIFA Club World Cup: Group E: Inter vs Urawa Red Diamonds, 3pm/8pm — Channel 5 (UK only); River Plate vs Monterrey, 9pm/2am — TBS, Fubo (U.S. only); Group F: Mamelodi Sundowns vs Borussia Dortmund, 12pm/5pm; Fluminense vs Ulsan HD, 6pm/11pm. Concacaf Gold Cup: Group B: Curacao vs Canada, 7pm/12am — Fox Sports, Fubo, ViX/Premier Sports. Sunday: FIFA Club World Cup: Group G: Juventus vs Wydad AC, 12pm/5pm — Channel 5 (UK only); Manchester City vs Al Ain, 9pm/2am — TNT, Fubo/Channel 5; Group H: Real Madrid vs Pachuca, 3pm/8pm — TNT, Fubo (U.S. only); Red Bull Salzburg vs Al Hilal, 6pm/11pm. Concacaf Gold Cup: Group A: Mexico vs Costa Rica, 10pm/3am; Group D: USMNT vs Haiti, 7pm/12am — both Fox Sports, Fubo, ViX/Premier Sports. Nutmegging Messi is no mean feat, and Porto's Fabio Vieira ticked that off his bucket list in Atlanta last night. Unfortunately, the on-loan Arsenal midfielder's next move was to slice a shambles of a pass with the outside of his left boot straight out of play. Just as the Louvre was making space for him, too…
The Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Ex-Man Utd wonderkid banished to train on his own and put through ‘torturous' sessions to force him out of club
A FORMER Manchester United hot prospect was forced into "torturous" training sessions in a bid to make him quit his club. But amid the brutal regime, he was driven on by a supportive coach urging him: "Don't let them break you". 3 3 Midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe is the player at the centre of the amazing claims Down Under. He was at Old Trafford from 2009-2014, featuring alongside future heroes like Paul Pogba and earning England caps at Under-16 and U-17 level. Tunnicliffe, now 32, went on to have decent spells with Fulham, Millwall, Luton and Portsmouth. But a move to Australian team Adelaide United on a two-year deal in 2023 went less than smoothly. And Tunnicliffe's troubles peaked when the club's technical director Ernest Faber wanted him out - according to 7NEWS Adelaide. The Australian broadcaster revealed whistleblowing claims by former assistant Travis Dodd. The former Adelaide player, 45, suggested that ex-coach Carl Veart was undermined by Faber last season. Dodd reckoned Faber asked players to pick the team without telling Veart. And it's reckoned Tunnicliffe was caught up in the situation. He only played four minutes last season before departing in May - with Veart also leaving after five years in charge, as well as Dodd. New Man Utd star Matheus Cunha runs rings around pals as he plays 5-a-side on streets in his hometown And it's alleged Tunnicliffe faced a bizarre ordeal as he struggled for game time. 7News Adelaide reported that Faber "forced unwanted import Ryan Tunnicliffe to train on his own, putting him through torturous running sessions in the hope he would quit the club". Dodd told the TV channel: "I said, 'Mate, don't let them break you'. He goes, 'I can do it'. "And, credit to him, for two weeks he rocked up when he was asked to rock up, did what he was asked to do, and seemingly Ernest (Faber) had had enough after two weeks and let him rejoin the first-team squad." Former Adelaide player Josh Cavallo alleged on the 7News Facebook comment section that he too suffered because of Faber. The ex-Socceroos U-20 ace, 25, claimed Veart was "under clear instructions by the people above him" not to pick him. 3
The Sun
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Chelsea star Mykhailo Mudryk charged by FA over doping and faces FOUR-YEAR ban from football
CHELSEA star Mykhailo Mudryk has been charged by the FA for violating anti-doping rules. The Ukrainian winger, 24, could now face a four-year ban from football. 2 Mudryk was provisionally suspended last December after testing positive for banned substance meldonium. With the FA having assessed the results of a B sample, the £97million signing has been formally charged, per the Telegraph. An FA spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Mykhailo Mudryk has been charged with Anti-Doping Rule Violations alleging the presence and/or use of a prohibited substance, in terms of Regulations 3 and 4 of The FA's Anti-Doping Regulations. "As this is an ongoing case, we are not in a position to comment further at this time.' Having provided a positive test last August, Mudryk denied any wrongdoing. The Chelsea star wrote on Instagram in December: "I can confirm that I have been notified that a sample I provided to The FA contained a banned substance. 'This has come as a complete shock as I have never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules, and am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened. 'I know that I have not done anything wrong and remain hopeful that I will be back on the pitch soon. I cannot say any more now due to the confidentiality of the process, but I will as soon as I can.' Mudryk is working with the same legal firm that represented Paul Pogba during the Frenchman's doping case. With the help of Morgan Sports Law, Pogba's initial four-year ban was reduced to 18 months following an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Banned Mykhailo Mudryk turns up in Chelsea kit unannounced on eve of Conference League final to shock of club The former Manchester United star is now eligible to resume his career, and has been strongly linked with Ligue 1 side Monaco. Mudryk, meanwhile, remains in limbo. The former Arsenal target made just seven Premier League appearances during the 2024-25 season - although he did score three goals in six Conference League outings. Mudryk headed to Poland for Chelsea's Conference League final against Real Betis - but SunSport understands that he did not join the celebrations or pick up a medal. The winger finds himself without a squad number, with his No10 shirt having been given to Cole Palmer. 2
