European Leagues

$332m offer: Mbappé rejects chance to meet with Al Hilal

Kylian Mbappé has refused to meet with representatives of Saudi Arabian team Al Hilal, who have made a world-record bid for the France striker, sources confirmed to ESPN.

The Paris Saint-Germain player wouldn’t meet with Al Hilal officials, who were in the French capital to sign Brazilian forward Malcom.

The news was first reported by French sports daily L’Equipe.

Al Hilal made a record €300 million ($332 million) bid for Mbappé on Monday but sources have told ESPN that the World Cup winner is not interested in joining the Riyadh-based club.

Instead, he plans to walk away as a free agent at the end of the upcoming season, when he is widely expected to join Real Madrid.

Sources told ESPN that should Mbappé go to Real Madrid on a free transfer next summer, he would potentially get a €100m signing on fee. He would also get an €80m bonus this September should he opt to stay with PSG.

PSG want to cash in on the World Cup star now rather than let him walk for free a year from now when his contract expires.

However, Mbappé’s PSG teammate Marco Verratti has now agreed to join Al Hilal, sources have told ESPN.

While PSG and Al Hilal have yet to agree a transfer fee and remain some way apart in their valuations, the Italy international midfielder is expected to become the latest big name to move to Saudi Arabia.

Al Hilal missed out on Lionel Messi, who joined Inter Miami after two years at PSG.

LaLiga

How Xabi Alonso’s Tactics Will Reshape Real Madrid

Xabi Alonso used a different formation and tactics than Carlo Ancelotti. He will be bringing fresh ideas to Real Madrid, but can those help the club improve?

It’s tough being a manager at Real Madrid. Carlo Ancelotti won the Champions League and the La Liga with the Spanish team last season, but they have decided to move on from him after failing to win either of the two in the ongoing season.

Real are already out of the Champions League. They lost to Arsenal in the quarter-finals and La Liga leaders Barcelona are ahead of them by seven points and only three games left.

Real are now set to appoint former midfielder Xabi Alonso as their new manager, while Ancelotti joining the Brazilian national team is almost a certainty .

Alonso had been Bayer Leverkusen’s coach in the Bundesliga since October 2022. Under the Spaniard, Leverkusen won the Bundesliga title for the first time in 2023-24.

At Leverkusen, Alonso also won the 2023-24 DFB Cup and the 2024 Supercup besides the Bundesliga while setting the European record for consecutive unbeaten competitive games (51).

Firstpost.com

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Romanian Referee To Handle PSG-Inter Champions League Final

Romanian Istvan Kovacs will be the main referee for the UEFA Champions League final between Paris St-Germain and Inter Milan, which will be played on May 31 in Munich.

The match will be Kovacs’ third European final in the last 4 years. The 40-year-old referee has previously officiated the UEFA Europa Conference League final in 2022 (the first edition of the competition), disputed between Roma and Feyenoord 1-0, and the UEFA Europa League final in 2024 between Atalanta and Leverkusen 3-0.

This season, Kovacs has refereed 7 other Champions League matches.

He will be assisted by linesmen Mihai Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi. The fourth official will be Bruno Alves Jesus from Portugal. In the VAR room will be Dennis Higler (Netherlands), Cătălin Popa, and Paulus von Boekel, according to FRF.

UEFA has also announced the referee teams for the other European competition finals. Felix Zwayer (Germany) will officiate the Europa League final, Tottenham – Manchester United (May 21), Ivana Martinčić (Croatia) will officiate the Women’s Champions League final, Arsenal – Barcelona (May 24), and Irfan Peljto (Bosnia and Herzegovina) has been appointed for the Conference League final, Chelsea – Real Betis (May 28). Additionally, this year’s Nations League final will be refereed by Sandro Schärer (Switzerland).

PSG secured their spot in the final after completing a 3-1 aggregate win over Arsenal, while Inter narrowly beat Barcelona for its place. The clash between the two established teams promises to offer much enjoyment to football fans.

Romania-insider.com

Premier League

Can You Name The 30 Highest-scoring African Players In EPL History?

There have been some amazing African goalscorers during the Premier League era – but how many of the 30 highest-scoring players from the continent can you name?

The continent has been a reliable source of Barclays legends throughout the last 30-odd years, with plenty of African players becoming worldwide names by banging in the goals on our shores.

From trophy-guzzling machines to cult heroes in some unexpected places, we’ve seen a wide variety of African footballers grace the Premier League since 1992 – but how many of the top 30 goalscorers from the continent can you remember?

There are some truly legendary names here, so we’re expecting a good score. We’ve even given you the clubs they played for and their total goals as clues, so there’s no excuse.

You’ve got 15 minutes to name the top 30 and the score to beat from our office is 27/30. An asterisk denotes the player that is still active in the Premier League.

If this gives you the taste for another quiz, have a go at naming the highest-scoring South Americans in PL history.

Planetfootball.com