Connect with us

Finance

Man City ‘prepare’ second offer for £95m West Ham star

Published

on

Manchester City are reportedly set to submit a second bid for West Ham midfielder Lucas Paqueta after seeing an offer worth £70m rejected.

Pep Guardiola is keen to add another midfielder to his squad and has identified the Brazil international as his primary transfer target.

West Ham signed Paqueta from Lyon for a fee of £51m last summer. He has since made 41 appearances across all competitions, scoring five goals and making seven assists in the process.

David Moyes is understandably reluctant to lose another key midfielder, though. The Hammers have already sold star player Declan Rice to Arsenal for £105m this summer.

Moyes recently confirmed in an interview that there ‘had been an offer’ for Paqueta from Man City, but that it was ‘nowhere near’ meeting West Ham’s valuation.

Paqueta has already reached ‘an agreement in principle’ on a six-year contract with the Cityzens. Personal terms, therefore, won’t be an issue, so the only thing left is for Man City to agree a transfer fee.

With £70m not even coming close to West Ham’s price tag, Man City will have to put their money where their mouth is to get a deal over tje line.

According to reputed transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, Man City will submit a second bid for Paqueta imminently.

On Twitter, he wrote: “Understand Man City are preparing new bid for Lucas Paqueta — negotiations will advance with West Ham.

“Paqueta has reached an agreement on personal terms with City and wants the move. Opening £70m bid rejected but City will submit new one.”

Previous reports suggest West Ham will only accept an offer of £95m for Paqueta. Man City may include one of their players in the deal to reduce that price, though.

As reported by TEAMtalk, Guardiola is considering including Cole Palmer in a part-exchange deal.

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder has bags of potential and has already made 40 appearances for Man City. He also came off the bench in the Cityzens 3-0 victory over Burnley on Friday.

Whether or not Man City will include Palmer in their new bid for Paqueta remains to be seen. If not, it will be interesting to see if West Ham stand firm on their £95m valuation.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Finance

Record-breaking Lamine Yamal now worth €1 billion at 16 years of age

Published

on

By

Lamine Yamal is now worth €1 billion (£866m/$1bn) at just 16 years of age, with Barcelona inserting a huge release clause in his new contract.

The talented teenager, who has continued to rewrite the record books at Camp Nou and with the Spain national team, has committed to fresh terms through to 2026. Barca have moved to ensure that they will remain the ones to benefit from Yamal’s undoubted potential.

Barca have said on the club’s official website: “Lamine Yamal has whizzed up through the youth ranks and is regarded as one of the hottest properties to come out of La Masia in recent years.

He was just 15 years, 9 months and 16 days old when he made his league debut against Betis on 29 April 2023, making him the youngest player ever to appear in a competitive fixture for the team. Xavi Hernandez has gradually been using his services more and more, and after joining the squad for its preseason tour, he become the youngest ever starter for FC Barcelona in a game against Cadiz this season, and against Royal Antwerp he became the second youngest player ever to appear in the competition.

And despite his youth, he has already won his first international cap for Spain. In a game against Georgia he not only became the youngest player ever to play for ‘La Roja’, but also the youngest ever goalscorer.”

Yamal is following in some illustrious footsteps after stepping out of the famed La Masia academy system – with fellow graduates including Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol and Pep Guardiola.

Barca have made a habit of tying hot prospects to deals with mammoth release clauses – having had their fingers burned when Paris Saint-Germain triggered a €222m (£192m/$234m) option on Neymar’s contract back in 2017 – with similar terms having been thrashed out with the likes of Ansu Faiti, Pedri and Gavi.

Continue Reading

Finance

Sports Ministry Will Prioritise Funding For All Sports – Minister Enoh

Published

on

By

The Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh has reiterated that his administration prioritizes the funding of sports in the country, as the Ministry will work with all sports federations to determine focus areas, through budgetary submissions.

The Minister made this known during a briefing with pressmen in Asaba, the host city of the 7th National Youth Games. He stated that his experience in this area, while serving as the Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation (Federal House of Representatives) led him to proactively direct on the necessary steps to take for the proper funding of sports in the country.

“The only way to provide for the proper funding of sports is to look at the number of federations, an itemization of their peculiar activities, and to provide as needed,” Senator Enoh said. “For example, if in 2024, a particular sport will undertake pieces of training, and participate in competitions (both local and international), the only way to solve the incident problem of lack of funds, athletes missing out on competitions because of finances, is to provide for all of these ahead of time,” he added.

“As much as possible, I am going to push for this to be done, because it is the only way that we can properly budget for sports development. The ministry is desirous of making credible progress in this regard,” The Honourable Minister concluded.

Continue Reading

Finance

Man United fans fly ‘Glazers Out’ banner over Tampa NFL stadium

Published

on

By

Man United fans fly 'Glazers Out' banner over Tampa NFL stadium

A group of Manchester United supporters based in the United States have flown a banner reading “Glazers Out” over the Raymond James Stadium in Florida.

The banner was seen over the stadium ahead of the Monday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — the NFL franchise owned by the Glazer family, who also own Premier League giants United.

The banner was organised by Manchester United supporters groups based in Pittsburgh and Tampa. Footage of the plane and its message was shared online before the match, which the Eagles won 25-11.

The move is the latest protest against United’s owners by fans who are keen for them to sell the club.

The Glazer family, who have owned United since 2005, announced last November they were considering “all strategic alternatives, including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions.”

This led to bids being lodged by prospective buyers, but despite receiving several offers, the Glazer family are still yet to make a final decision on whether to sell their stake in the club.

United have failed to win the Premier League since legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, with their last Champions League success coming in 2008.

Former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag was appointed as the club’s new head coach last year. United won the Carabao Cup in Ten Hag’s first season in charge and reached the FA Cup final while securing Champions League football with a third-place finish in the league.

However, United have endured a difficult start to the new season, losing three out of their first six Premier League games.

The United manager’s problems have been exacerbated by several off-field issues.

Brazil winger Antony has agreed to a leave of absence from the club in order to address accusations of abuse made by three women, while fellow winger Jadon Sancho is training away from the first team group following a public spat with the Dutch head coach.

Forward Marcus Rashford walked away unhurt after being involved in a car crash following United’s 1-0 win over Burnley on Saturday.

Continue Reading

Trending