European Leagues

PSG withdraw interest in €80 million-rated Bernardo Silva

PSG have swooped in late for Ousmane Dembele, and everything suggests the Barcelona attacker will soon move to the French capital.

Shortly after speculations over Dembele’s future exploded, it was suggested that Barça may finally go after Bernardo Silva, one of their dream targets in the market.

Bernardo Silva pursuit: A big boost for Barcelona
Barcelona have received a major boost in their bid to sign Bernardo Silva. According to The Telegraph, it appears PSG have backed out of the race to sign the Man City star.

The French champions were touted as the frontrunner to sign Silva due to their finances.

But the team has withdrawn from the pursuit, giving Barcelona the license to go all out after the Portuguese international.

The Catalans have remained keen on signing Silva for a long-time, with Xavi identifying him as the ideal man to reinforce the team’s ranks in the interior midfield position.

Silva himself has hinted at his desire to leave Etihad and embrace a new adventure elsewhere, and it has been reported that the 28-year-old dreams of a move to Barcelona.

Do Barça’s finances add up?

Barcelona have failed to sign Silva multiple times in the past due to their poor finances. What’s different this summer?

For starters, the club are expecting a revenue boost from the sale of Dembele. If they can earn a big fee for the Frenchman, the club would be in a position to go after the Portuguese international.

Reports suggest Barça could end up earning €40-50 million from Dembele’s sale to PSG, which could free up €25 million in terms of the Financial Fair Play margins.

However, the biggest obstacle for Barcelona will be Manchester City.

The reigning English champions have remained steadfast in their bid to keep hold of Silva and are likely to hold out for a hefty price tag of around €80 million, thus making life difficult for Barcelona.

The coming days could be crucial as Barcelona look to engineer their way into signing the former AS Monaco starlet this summer.

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