According to Il Corriere dello Sport, Roma have chosen OGC Nice’s Florent Ghisolfi as their new sporting director.

The Giallorossi parted ways with Tiago Pinto in February 2024 and according to Il Corriere dello Sport, they are on the verge of hiring Florent Ghisolfi to replace the Portuguese.

According to the report, multiple sources confirm that the 39-year-old has been chosen for the job. Over the last few months, other candidates have been linked with the role, including Monza’s François-Joseph Modesto, Nicolas Burdisso, and Frederic Massara.

Il Corriere dello Sport claims Roma owners have been evaluating different candidates since February with the support of Retexo Intelligence, a company that helps football clubs study and identify the personnel that match their requirements.

Ghisolfi reportedly ticks all the boxes for Roma, especially the club’s desire to remain competitive and financially sustainable.

French media confirmed that Roma representatives met Ghisolfi twice over the last few weeks, and the French director’s plan for the team’s development satisfied the Giallorossi owners and directors.

Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly boosted Mauricio Pochettino’s chances of being kept on as manager next season as he praised the “beautiful” football being played by the team.

Speaking at a Sportico event in Los Angeles, Boehly – whose Clearlake Capital consortium purchased the club from former owner Roman Abramovich in May 2022 – said the “commentary has changed” surrounding the team in recent weeks, following a tumultuous first two years of his leadership.

The Blues have enjoyed an upturn in fortunes since they were hammered 5-0 by Premier League leaders Arsenal at the end of April, recovering to take seven points from their next three matches to give themselves a chance of European qualification.

Reports had suggested that returning the club to Europe is the minimum expectation if Pochettino is to see the second season of his two-year contract.

But after a creditable draw with Champions League-chasing Aston Villa and excellent home wins against London rivals Tottenham and West Ham – the second of which was a 5-0 procession – Boehly indicated his satisfaction that they are at last living up to the expectations set by a more than £1billion transfer spend.

“We’ve seen, over the last two and a half games at least – the second half of Aston Villa, Tottenham and West Ham – where we played just beautiful football,” he said. “It was so fluid. It was exactly the way we drew it up.

“The number of shots we had on goal in those two and a half games, you could really start to see what we were working on coming together. Our goal is obviously to win.

“And the commentary has changed over the last two and a half games. I’ve never seen anything change so quickly than prospective on how a team does.”

Chelsea play Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday looking to leapfrog Newcastle into sixth, the last spot that is guaranteed a place in Europe next season, before travelling to Brighton next week and finishing up at home to Bournemouth.

The Argentine looks set to smash several single-season benchmarks in his first full campaign in the U.S.

When Lionel Messi does hang up his boots – and that day is coming sooner than many are willing to accept – he’ll have made his mark on the record books, to say the least. Messi basically tore up everything that preceded him during his time at Barcelona, so much so that the sport can now basically be defined by two eras: pre-Messi and post-Messi.

The MLS and Inter Miami record books are obviously much newer. The league is still in its infancy compared to its European counterparts, while compared to Barcelona, Miami is essentially a newborn. Their records are still being written and none are particularly set in stone.

He’s less than a year into his Miami career, but Messi is already taking down MLS marks left and right. The Argentine is destroying all in his path to start this season, and he’s showing no signs of stopping.

On current pace, Messi looks set to challenge some of the league’s top marks, and while nothing is guaranteed, particularly with a Copa America coming this summer, it seems like MLS’ record books are being rewritten before our very eyes by a player that’s no stranger to rewriting them.

Messi missed about a month of MLS games due to injury. If you look at his stats, though, you’d have no idea. The Argentine has more than made up for lost time, scoring goal after goal to open his MLS campaign. In seven matches, including six starts, Messi has directly contributed to a total of 16 goals. All of that has come in just 585 minutes, which means Messi is averaging a goal or an assist every 36.5 minutes. Even by Messi standards, that’s absurd.

He’s scored nine of his own and set up seven more, contributing to all-but four of the goals scored in the games he’s played for the Herons. With Messi on the field, Miami have dropped just four points from those seven appearances.

Despite missing time, Messi is leading the league with his nine goals, one more than Real Salt Lake’s Chicho Arango and D.C. United star Christian Benteke. In assists, Messi is also the league leader, level with Arango and Minnesota United playmaker Robin Lod.

All of that despite missing four matches due to injury. It’s no surprise, though… just Messi being Messi.

It’s not just the volume of goals, but rather the consistency. When Messi is on the field, you can basically guarantee multiple goals for Miami.

In his seven MLS appearances so far this season, Messi has contributed to more than one goal in all-but one. His most recent effort? A two-goal, one-assist explosion against the New England Revolution, matching a previous two-goal, one-assist explosion against Nashville SC just one week prior.

With his performance against the Revs, Messi became the first player in MLS history to record multiple goal contributions in five consecutive games. He also earned some unsurprising recognition from those at the league office…

On Monday, MLS made it official… not that we didn’t know it was coming. Messi was named MLS Player of the Matchday for Match 11, meaning the Argentine has claimed the award in two of the last three weeks.

By winning the prize, Messi joins Luis Suarez in winning it twice in this young season. The South American duo are the first pair of teammates to earn multiple Player of the Matchday honors in the first 11 matchdays since Landon Donovan and David Beckham did so for LA Galaxy. That’s decent company, for sure.

Additionally, Miami are the first club to have earned four of the first 10 Play of the Matchday honors since 2021, when the Galaxy did the same. It’s safe to assume that Messi isn’t done, though. There are plenty of goals and records still very much in his sights.

Credit: Goal.com