Footybite

LONDON: Manchester United are set to listen to offers for Antony next summer as the Brazilian winger’s career at Old Trafford looks to be over.

United, however, may struggle to recoup half of the £86 million (paid to Ajax Amsterdam 18 months ago, making him the second most expensive player in the club’s history.

Antony has started just once in the last eight games – at Newport County in the FA Cup – and was a substitute again when United lost to Fulham at Old Trafford last Saturday.

Teenager Omari Forson was selected instead and manager Erik ten Hag fielded three substitutes including another teenage winger Amad Diallo, before bringing on Antony in the final minutes of stoppage time.

Antony has now played 20 English Premier League games this season without any goals or assists for his team.

As new co-owners INEOS monitor the cost and effectiveness of United’s squad following Jim Ratcliffe’s £1.3 billion investment, the player’s stats are indeed in the spotlight.

Ten Hag returned to his old club Ajax to sign Antony in the summer of 2022 and it is understood the Dutchman has not yet given up on the player, believing he still has the ability to turn his career fortunes around in England.

But Ten Hag admitted last month Antony was affected by allegations of domestic abuse, which he vehemently denies, which led to him being dropped by Brazil last September and spending several days in South America to clear his name.

Following the defeat to Fulham, the United boss was candid in his explanation of playing Alejandro Garnacho, Forson and Diallo instead of the failed Brazilian.

“It has nothing to do with fitness level,” Ten Hag said. “He is fit but we have a lot of options on the right.

“You’ve seen Antony’s performance and he needs to step up. I saw it in the training session but Omari Forson, Amad Diallo and Garnacho deserve to play.”

PARIS: Kylian Mbappe has agreed to a significant reduction in his salary to join Real Madrid next summer.

The 25-year-old, who earns a net salary of 25 million euros in Paris, will earn 15 million euros a season at Madrid, but is still the club’s highest-paid player behind the scenes. large number of pieces.

Mbappe has agreed to personal terms with the Spanish club even though neither Paris Saint-Germain nor Madrid will make an official statement when the two clubs can still compete in the Champions League.

Despite the huge cut to his basic salary, Mbappe will receive a signing fee believed to be more than 100 million euros and will receive 80 percent of the image rights share in any commercial agreements he signed after becoming a Madrid player.

He also broke the tradition of 50-50 distribution that the club usually imposes on new players.

Mbappe is expected to wear the number 10 jersey currently worn by Luka Modric next season with the 38-year-old Croatian star not being offered a new contract.

Marca reported last night Modric was offered the opportunity to remain at the club as part of the coaching staff under Carlo Ancelotti.

The confirmation in Madrid of Mbappe’s presence ends their seven-year hunt for the World Cup winner with France.

His decision to leave Paris was welcomed in the Spanish capital as the final straw for Ancelotti to lead a team that could dominate European football for the next decade.

MIAMI, United States: The final match of the 2026 World Cup will be held in New York on the website of the American football teams, the New York Giants and the New York Jets, world soccer’s governing body FIFA announced earlier this morning.

The 48-team World Cup, which ends July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, is co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Canada will host 13 matches in total, including 10 in the group stage held between Toronto and Vancouver.

Mexico also got 13 matches, including 10 in the group stage in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

The remaining matches in the tournament will be held in 11 US cities.

Toronto, Mexico City and Los Angeles will host the opening matches for each of their respective national teams.

The final’s open-air stadium, which opened in 2010 and has a capacity of 82,500, hosted the Copa America Centenario final in 2016 when Chile denied Lionel Messi and Argentina a second time through penalty kicks.

FIFA however does not announce the kick-off for each match.

The 2026 World Cup will feature 104 matches instead of the traditional 64 matches, including the addition of a knockout round following the previous announcement increasing the number of teams to 48 from 32.

LIVERPOOL, England: Liverpool remain in the hunt to give Jurgen Klopp four farewell trophies after thrashing Norwich 5-2 in the English FA Cup earlier this morning, with the manager admitting he would have to be “made of wood” not to be touched by what he went through.

Klopp was greeted with an emotional “You’ll Never Walk Alone” before kick-off and a thank you banner in the first game since the German announced his decision to leave the Merseyside club at the end of the season.

The 56-year-old manager made the surprise announcement last Friday of his departure hoping “the best memories will live on” after winning the Premier League and Champions League during his tenure.

If Liverpool qualify for the FA Cup final, Klopp’s last game will be at Wembley and they are favorites to qualify for the quarter-finals after being drawn at home to face either Watford or Southampton in the last 16.

“It’s emotional but I have to keep calm. I’m getting too many messages. I’m not made of wood,” Klopp said of his efforts to deal with emotions in recent days.

“There will be a moment at the end of the season where we will say ‘goodbye’ and it will be emotional, but between now and then we have a big job to do.”

Klopp’s counterpart, Norwich boss David Wagner, was his best man on his wedding day after the pair played together at Mainz.

The two briefly embraced in the tunnel before kick-off, but Liverpool showed no mercy for Wagner’s men despite Klopp giving some of his youngsters the chance to shine.

James McConnell was handed his full debut in midfield and the 19-year-old opened the scoring when his cross was headed in by Curtis Jones.

Norwich hit back moments later when Ben Gibson fired a powerful shot past Alisson Becker following Gabriel Sara’s corner.

Liverpool led 2-1 at the break when Darwin Nunez headed home his 11th goal of the season after Conor Bradley’s hard work down the right wing.

The Reds have so far not felt the absence of Mohamed Salah following the Africa Cup of Nations to lead by five points at the top of the English Premier League and chase three more trophies – the League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League.

Diogo Jota did his goal-scoring duties in Salah’s absence and the Portuguese fired home after Gibson headed the ball towards him.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s corner was headed in by Virgil van Dijk to make it 4-1 after an hour.

Borja Sainz’s powerful shot from outside the penalty box reduced the deficit for Norwich but the hosts did not remain silent when Ryan Gravenberch scored the fifth goal in stoppage time.

LIVERPOOL: The start of 2023 was the worst period in Jurgen Klopp’s career – who entered his sixth year with Liverpool – losing to Brentford and failing to win an English Premier League game until February 13.

After overcoming a lackluster start – his side also lost twice to Brighton and 3-0 at Wolves – the Premier League leaders have gone from strength to strength and ended the year on a high note.

“I’m six times happier (compared to the same time last year). It was the worst period. We were sixth and maybe seventh or eighth. It feels better now.

“This season, the team is trying to do something and we will try to do it as well as possible,” said Klopp ahead of the meeting with Newcastle on Monday.

Klopp will also have the touch of Alexis MacAllister back who started training after recovering from injury at Sheffield United on December 6.

The return of the World Cup champion with Argentina is just in time after another midfielder, Wataru Endo will return to Japan to lead his country’s challenge in the Asian Cup.

Mohamed Salah will also be with the Egyptian team for the Africa Cup of Nations campaign.

Diogo Jota also returned to fitness and came on as a substitute to seal the three points at Burnley on Boxing Day.

LONDON: So far this season Chelsea have been regarded as a team in the making but one thing is for sure they can no longer be called boring – last night’s late 3-2 win with 10 men over Brighton saw them collect 23 goals in their last four games.

When the final whistle blew in the wintry rain at Stamford Bridge, players and coaching staff rushed onto the pitch in relief after the visitors pressed the Blues throughout in another roller-coaster game.

The twelve goals Mauricio Pochettino’s men have scored in their last four games – against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Newcastle United and Brighton – have boosted confidence among Blues supporters that their long attacking drought is over.

But the 11 goals they conceded prove that Chelsea are still far behind the elite teams of the English Premier League.

“Yes, we conceded but to win you have to score. It’s entertaining, that’s football. People like to watch two attacking teams in action,” Pochettino told reporters.

“Of course, I want to score 10 goals and not concede at all but if you want to attack, sometimes you have to take risks and allow the opposition to create chances. But it’s about winning,” he said.

Chelsea looked comfortable again after being beaten 4-1 by Newcastle last weekend when Enzo Fernandez and Levi Colwill both scored their first league goals for the club in the 17th and 21st minutes.

A curling goal drew the visitors from Facundo Buonanotte and Chelsea captain Conor Gallagher’s second yellow card just before the break clearly threatened the hosts’ position.

Fernandez’s goal from the penalty spot in the 65th minute restored a two-goal lead for The Blues, before Joao Pedro’s late header set off a flurry in the final minutes, including a penalty kick for Brighton that was disallowed after a VAR review.

Pochettino praised his youngsters for handling the challenge of playing half a game with 10 men, although he felt Gallagher did not deserve a second yellow card for a tackle from behind on ex-Chelsea player Billy Gilmour.

“I told them at halftime… I’m glad it happened because it’s a great opportunity for us,” he said.

“It’s a big challenge. Come on, now we have to prove ourselves as a team. It’s something that will definitely help us improve.”

Chelsea, who are 10 points behind the top four in 10th place, face Manchester United at home early Thursday morning.