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Peterborough owner Darragh MacAnthony has backed Cristiano Ronaldo to follow Lionel Messi to Major League Soccer, as he plans to buy an American team.

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Ronaldo backed to move to MLSMessi starring at Inter MiamiPosh owner wants to buy US teamWHAT HAPPENED?

With Ronaldo out of contract at Al-Nassr in the summer of 2025, speculation has built over whether the 39-year-old plans to retire or if there is another move left for him. Now, Peterborough chairman MacAnthony says he plans to buy a side in the the United Soccer League, which is below the MLS, with players like Inter Miami's Messi making the sport in North America more attractive to investors.

AdvertisementGettyWHAT DARRAGH MACANTHONY SAID

When asked if football was growing in the United States, he told talkSPORT: “Massively. I’m going to buy a USL club potentially in the next two years because I think with the World Cup on the horizon and the Olympics on the horizon out there, it's already becoming a top-four sport. Parents are spending fortunes sending their eight, nine and ten-year-olds to weekend camps of football, money is going into it. They still have it wrong in MLS where they don’t have a pyramid. If somebody in the MLS convinces those owners to open up the pyramid like we have in England, that would be the second-most watched football around the world."

He added: “I believe valuations are taking off in the next ten years with the Apple deal with the Messi effect and Cristiano Ronaldo will probably go out there when he’s finished in Saudi Arabia. Football will be on the map in America in a big way and I believe if I get a USL club right now for £8-10million, even though it's not in MLS, that could be worth double or triple in the next five years."

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Ronaldo and Messi, 37, are the poster boys of the Saudi Pro League and MLS respectively but it remains to be seen how much longer the footballing legends will continue playing. But Messi's presence in the MLS and America hosting the 2026 World Cup is doing wonders to boost the sport's profile in the United States. If Ronaldo were to play in the same division as Messi, that would cause the league's popularity to skyrocket again.

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Goal/GettyImageWHAT NEXT?

While MacAnthony's Peterborough are preparing for the new League One season next month, Argentina ace Messi is currently on the sidelines with an ankle injury, while Portugal star Ronaldo is enjoying his summer break after the Euros.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has warned that he will not be babysitting AC Milan's star players as the former striker opened up his new role at the club.

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Ibrahimovic working as advisor at AC MilanWarned players he is not there to look after themSwedish icon rules out becoming head coachWHAT HAPPENED?

After finishing his playing career with the Italian side, Ibrahimovic has been taken on as an advisor and operating partner to the company that owns the club. He was part of an advising group that convinced the club's majority shareholder to hire Paulo Fonseca as head coach this summer after Stefano Pioli departed.

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Many members of the current squad were team-mates with Ibrahimovic before he hung up his boots and he has warned the likes of Rafael Leao and USMNT star Christian Pulisic that he is not at San Siro to take care of them.

WHAT IBRAHIMOVIC SAID

He told : "I’m not a babysitter. My players, they’re adults and they have to take responsibility. They have to do 200 per cent even when I’m not there."

Ibrahimovic says he has no intention of taking on a coaching role, adding: "You see my grey hair? Fully grey hair is after one week as a coach. A coach’s life is up to 12 hours per day. You absolutely don’t have free time. My role is connect everything; to be a leader from above and make sure the structure and organisation works. To keep everybody on their toes."

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PATRICK T. FALLONWHAT NEXT?

After finishing a distant second to Inter in Serie A last season, Ibrahimovic will hope Milan put together a genuine race for the Scudetto in the coming season. Their league campaign kicks off with a game against Torino on August 17.

Du Plessis and de Villiers have been in talks about the batsman’s reintroduction to the national side

Firdose Moonda15-Jan-2020AB de Villiers is set to play in at least one of South Africa’s T20 series before the T20 World Cup, where he is expected to make an international comeback. De Villiers, who retired in May 2018, and long-time friend and current T20 captain Faf du Plessis have been in talks since before Mark Boucher took over as head coach about the possibility of de Villiers playing at the tournament. Now, they only need to sort out some of the finer details of de Villiers’ reintroduction to the national side.”We spoke about it, and I was very keen to have him back. That was even before the new coaching staff was on board,” du Plessis said. “Then it was the process of what does the next year look like in terms of T20 cricket — how many games; where, when, what? And then trying to unfold that in a way that we can get him back. He’s keen to come do that I don’t know when. I can’t give you that answer yet because that decision hasn’t been taken. But there would be a series we would like to get him back to play.”South Africa are due to play 11 T20Is before the World Cup (three each against England and Australia at home in February and five against West Indies in August) which leaves plenty of opportunities for de Villiers to play in-between his other commitments. He is currently playing for the Brisbane Heat at the Big Bash, which ends four days before the first T20 against England. De Villiers will also play at the IPL, which does not clash with any South African fixtures.The advantage of having de Villiers in the team is obvious, but South Africa have turned him down before. When de Villiers made himself available to play in the 2019 fifty-over World Cup on the eve of the squad announcement, South Africa’s selection panel decided it was too late to make room for him. News of de Villiers’ offer broke after South Africa had already lost their first three matches.They went on to lose two matches to become the first team to be eliminated and recorded their worst-ever World Cup performance. They do not want to make the same mistake at the T20 World Cup, which is also likely to be du Plessis’ swansong.South Africa’s squad is far from confirmed but du Plessis wants to start finding a blueprint as soon as possible and getting them used to each other’s playing styles. “In an ideal world we would like to try and make sure that we can play our best 11, 12 or 13 players for a few games or series together leading up to the T20 World Cup,” du Plessis said. “A learning curve for me with the 50-over World Cup last year was that we never had the combinations we were looking for. As a new coach, Ottis Gibson didn’t know a lot of the players. There was a search for a lot of layers and finding combinations. If I could do that over again, I would try and settle into the combinations a little earlier so the guys can play as many games as possible together.”Not only was the fifty-over World Cup squad dogged by uncertainty, but it was also plagued by injury. Dale Steyn was included despite carrying a shoulder injury and did not play a game before being sent home, Lungi Ngidi missed crucial matches with a hamstring injury and Hashim Amla was concussed in the first match and missed the next two. Steyn has since staked a claim for inclusion in the T20 World Cup with strong performances in the Mzansi Super League and Big Bash and could bowl alongside Ngidi, who is currently recovering from another hamstring niggle. Amla has retired, leaving a gap at the top of the order which de Villiers could fill. If all that comes together, South Africa could have some big names as they look to break their major trophy drought.

It was an odd day for Arsenal on Sunday. While they dropped two points away from home and surrendered top spot to Liverpool, there is a renewed sense of belief in the club's Premier League title credentials.

Mikel Arteta's men finally ended their dreadful run of results at the Etihad, took a point back to north London and stopped Manchester City from scoring at home for the first time since October 2021.

It wasn't an entertaining game, not by any stretch, but it was a defensive masterclass from the Gunners, and one of the shining lights, as he so often has been this season, was Declan Rice.

Declan Rice's game in numbers

While the game produced very little attacking football to excite fans – just three shots on target proves as much – it did provide plenty of brilliant defensive performances to analyse, with Rice's efforts just in front of his back four worthy of notable praise.

This is an opinion shared by the Standard's Simon Collings', who awarded the Englishman an 8/10 on the night, writing that he 'put in a big shift' when out of possession and that he 'broke up play so well' despite having to play 'deeper than he has recently.'

The Englishman's numbers from the match, while not spectacular at first glance, help to reveal how vital his role in the team was. In his 95 minutes of action, the £105m man played one key pass, maintained a passing accuracy of 86%, succeeded in his one dribble, won four of eight ground duels, made three tackles, and took 45 touches – the third most in the team.

Minutes

95'

Key Passes

1

Passing Accuracy

25/29 (86%)

Dribbles (Successful)

1 (1)

Ground Duels (Won)

8 (4)

Tackles

3

Touches

45

It wasn't a vintage performance that'll be clipped up for fans to watch in ten years, but the 25-year-old titan was everywhere for the Gunners, led from the front and played an essential role in Arteta's plan to stifle the treble winners, which is precisely what he did.

That said, there was another starter who was just as, if not more important for the visitors, a player who has a genuine case for being the most important player in the team this year.

Gabriel Magalhães' importance to Arsenal

The player in question is Brazilian centre-back Gabriel Magalhães, who has been quietly putting in brilliant performances all year for the north Londoners, while the attention has been on his teammates like William Saliba and Rice.

Yesterday was no different. While the Gunners' defensive unit was seriously impressive overall, he stood out and made arguably the best striker in the world – Erling Haaland – look distinctly average.

After the game, Collings awarded the 26-year-old an 8/10, rightfully named him his 'star player', claimed he 'made countless blocks and tackles' and described him as a 'warrior at the back.'

However, it wasn't just yesterday that the former LOSC Lille ace was a titan at the back for Arteta; he's been one all year.

The club have conceded just 23 goals in the 37 games the São Paulo-born ace has started, which works out to be around 0.62 goals per game.

In contrast, in the four games the "unstoppable" star, as talent scout Jacek Kulig described him, wasn't on the pitch, the club conceded three goals, which works out to around 0.75 goals per game.

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Ultimately, it can be quite tricky to summarise a defender's importance to a team through statistics, but Gabriel's importance to Arteta's title-challenging Arsenal side cannot be ignored, and if they can get over the line in May, it'll have a lot to do with him.

Reliable Leeds United journalist Phil Hay has suggested that Daniel Farke may soon fully unleash a promising youngster, as he also makes a comparison with exciting breakthrough starlet Archie Gray.

Leeds chase promotion as Gray enjoys meteoric rise

The 18-year-old is now a Leeds mainstay and ever-present in Farke's starting elevens, with the Whites chasing immediate promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

"I'm told" – Leeds United target open to joining on promotion condition

Daniel Farke’s side have further incentive for promotion.

ByBen Browning Mar 11, 2024

Gray has started the overwhelming majority of his appearances this season and has really impressed, with Farke stating that the sky is the limit for him.

"All the praise has to go to Archie," said Farke on Gray's performances this season. "You can work with a player, back the player and trust the player, but we can only bring him to the door and he has to make that step through it. How he's done that, with the maturity and consistency he has, is outstanding for a 17-year-old.

Sunderland (home)

April 9th

Blackburn Rovers (home)

April 13th

Middlesbrough (away)

April 22nd

QPR (away)

April 26th

Southampton (home)

May 4th

"He's still unbelievably grounded, humble and has good habits. That is so crucial that you don't get over the moon after just one or two good games or a couple of good months. It is so far, so good. But quality is always defined over the long term, and he has to keep going in order to speak about a really quality season.

"I've worked throughout my career with fantastic young players. I don't like to compare that much, but it is fantastic what he's doing. When you are that young and getting that much praise it is not always easy to handle, but he's so, so grounded and so open to developing and working hard each day.

"The experience in his family helps a lot, and I have to give many compliments to the Gray family. They are doing fantastically well with him."

Gray has been praised by others on countless occasions this season as well, and has played a key role in Leeds' battle for a top-two spot. However, there are other Elland Road academy prospects who could find themselves in the spotlight alongside Gray soon.

Hay tips Farke to fully unleash Joseph soon

One of them is Mateo Joseph, who has featured regularly off the bench for Leeds this season. Reliable journalist Hay suggests that Farke could fully unleash Joseph at Leeds soon by offering up starting opportunities.

"He’s becoming a really big impact player off the bench and I don’t think it’s going to take too much time before he starts to put himself strongly in contention to start as well," said Hay on The Square Ball podcast.

“For the time being the structure with Bamford up front is what’s worked really well for Farke since January, and he shows no inclination to shift away from that, or to move back towards a set up with Piroe in the team.

“But Joseph is starting to look a little bit like Archie Gray, I mean Archie Gray looks like the superior player of the two, but one of those academy players who you’re going to see a lot of as time goes on.”

Jude Bellingham is back in Madrid as the 21-year-old prepares to rebound from the heartbreak of Euro 2024.

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Bellingham declares himself 'home'England midfielder beaten in Euro 2024 finalLooking to bounce back with Real MadridGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

Bellingham is closer to returning to action for Real Madrid after landing in Spain on Tuesday. The 21-year-old was afforded an extended break after starting every game for England at Euro 2024, with the Three Lions reaching the final of the tournament in Germany.

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The 21-year-old was afforded more than three weeks to recover from a lengthy 2023-24 campaign in which Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid also reached the Champions League final. While his club team-mates travelled to the United States for their pre-season tour, Bellingham enjoyed a more relaxed Stateside trip that included stays in Los Angeles and Miami, where he bumped into Sergio Aguero, went to a theme park with Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and linked up with NFL star Odell Beckham Jr.

WHAT BELLINGHAM SAID

Holidays over, Bellingham posted a photo of himself on Instagram after landing in Madrid. 'Home' was the message as the former Borussia Dortmund man prepares for his sophomore campaign in the Spanish capital.

IG / @judebellingham

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GettyWHAT NEXT FOR BELLINGHAM?

According to , Bellingham will join Real's pre-season preparations on Wednesday (August 7). Los Blancos take on Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup on August 14 and kickstart the defence of their La Liga campaign against Mallorca four days later.

Unbroken 76-run stand for fifth wicket helps England recover after Kagiso Rabada’s breakthroughs

The Report by Alan Gardner16-Jan-2020Test cricket can do funny things to your perception of time, and you can’t have the drama of fifth-day finishes such as the Cape Town Test without some longueurs in between. However, by any measure this was slow going as the series resumed in Port Elizabeth, with England puttering along in attritional conditions to give themselves a platform from which they will hope to dictate terms.As at Newlands, England’s top-order batsmen failed to capitalise on a series of good starts, with Zak Crawley’s 44 the top score of a spit-and-sawdust sort of day. Without much in the way of assistance from the pitch, South Africa focused instead on bottling up the scoring, Keshav Maharaj wheeling away to good effect as England lost 4 for 78 between the 31st and 65th overs, before an unbroken stand of 76 between Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope saw the tourists edge back on to the front foot.Pope shone in particular as the shadows lengthened on the Eastern Cape, showcasing the sort of strokeplay that has seen him compared to Ian Bell. The second new ball was dispatched to the ropes three times in as many deliveries from Anrich Nortje, Pope following up a whippy on drive with one crunched through the covers, and he skipped along in relatively carefree fashion compared to his colleagues.For South Africa, Kagiso Rabada claimed two wickets, despite twice being overlooked for new-ball duties – and his roar of celebration at toppling Joe Root’s off stump said plenty about the arduous nature of bowling on such a sluggish surface. All the pre-game talk about the wind assisting swing in Port Elizabeth seemed to have almost literally become a case of shooting the breeze, as the stultifying atmosphere left South Africa’s attack sweating hard for their successes.Faf du Plessis must have been grateful for the precision of his spinner, whose efforts from the Duckpond End at least allowed the South Africa captain to regularly rotate his seamers. Maharaj came on shortly before lunch and had figures of 30-10-54-1 when the second new ball arrived during the evening session; he was unlucky not to have added to his sole success, too, finding appreciable turn from a surface that is predicted to become even drier over the coming days.It was du Plessis’ leg-theory tactics that brought South Africa their initial breakthroughs, and England then threatened to wander down a dead end as the runs dried up. Maharaj only conceded 18 runs from his 16 overs between lunch and tea, and his efforts in tying down Joe Denly – who faced 100 balls for the ninth time in 13 Test innings but once again could not turn that base into a significant score – resulted in a wicket shortly after tea.Denly’s attempt to cut a ball from middle and off stump was his undoing, though Maharaj had Quinton de Kock to thank after the wicketkeeper spotted that the ball had brushed pad fractionally before hitting the bat. Maharaj caused Stokes plenty of discomfort early in his innings, too, twice failing with reviews as the ball spun back in sharply from outside the left-hander’s off stump.Rabada then scythed through Root, with England’s captain left looking suspiciously at the pitch after playing back to a delivery that seemed to keep low, and that left Stokes carrying the weight of England expectations. Fresh from being awarded the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy as the ICC’s player of the year, he cut a more workaday figure in compiling 38 from 86 balls – although the significance of his wicket was clear when South Africa again turned to the DRS late in the day, only to lose the review after Vernon Philander’s delivery was shown to be missing off stump.Root’s decision to bat first was vindicated by a somnambulant morning session, during which Sibley and Crawley batted through with little drama – becoming the first England openers to reach lunch without being parted on day one of an overseas Test since Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss in Barbados more than a decade ago.South Africa curiously chose not to hand Rabada the new ball but Philander and the debutant Dane Paterson found little in the way of assistance from a pedestrian St George’s Park deck. When Rabada did enter the attack, he caused a minor ripple as Crawley, perhaps spurred on by memories of their brief second-innings duel in Cape Town, twice played instinctive pulls shots that nearly came to grief.Sibley had looked the more composed of the two, as befitting a man who scored his maiden Test hundred 10 days ago. He took advantage of the extra pace provided by Nortje to score four of his five boundaries, including one well-timed clip through mid-on, but fell to Rabada after the lunch break when he was taken by the man place deliberately at backward square leg for a fend off the body.South Africa’s leg trap paid dividends again when Crawley was snapped up in a similar position by the diving Rassie van der Dussen, who clasped the ball gratefully after it had squirmed free from his initial one-handed attempt, sending England’s newest opener back six runs short of a first Test half-century.

One of the biggest clubs in the world are hoping to sign an "irreplaceable" Manchester City player for just £43m this summer, according to a worrying transfer update.

Man City transfer news

Whatever happens between now and the end of the season, Pep Guardiola will again be on the lookout for new signings in the upcoming transfer window, as he freshens up his squad.

While established players are being linked with moves to the Etihad later in the year, youngsters are also needed for the long-term picture, and Lokomotiv Moscow ace Sergey Pinyaev is reportedly wanted by City.

Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz has enjoyed a fantastic season, scoring 11 goals and registering 10 assists en route to Xabi Alonso's side winning the league title recently. The move for Wirtz may have hit a snag, but there is still hope that the German could be at the Etihad in time for next season.

Guardiola may feel that a new centre-back is needed moving forward, especially with John Stones proving to be an injury-prone figure, and Everton ace Jarrad Branthwaite has been backed to sign for City. The young Englishman has been a rare bright spark for the Toffees this season, and could jump at the opportunity to join the reigning Premier League champions despite his success in Germany.

Links surrounding a move for Bayern Munich forward Jamal Musiala are also refusing to go away, with the German having the potential to mature into one of the best players in the world. He has 16 goal contributions (10 goals and six assists) in 20 Bundesliga starts in 2023/24 heading into this weekend.

Man City could lose "irreplaceable" star

According to a fresh claim from Catalunya Radio (as relayed by Sport Witness), Manchester City star Bernardo Silva is wanted by Barcelona this summer, and the player himself has "practically decided" to leave the club.

Barca are hoping to sign the Portuguese for just €50m (£43m) due to a release clause that exists in his current contract, and he sees them as his first choice to join.

Champions League

2022/23

Premier League

2017/18, 2018/19, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23

FA Cup

2018/19, 2022/23

League Cup

2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21

Club World Cup

2023/24

Losing Silva this summer would be a massive blow for City, considering he has become a genuine legend during his time at the club, not only winning five Premier League titles and one Champions League crown, but also proving to be one of the league's outstanding players during that period. Meanwhile, Guardiola clearly thinks the world of the 29-year-old, saying of him:

"I could stay here and talk for 10 minutes on what Bernardo Silva means for me and our team. He is a player that is beyond good in all departments – solidarity, intelligence, he understands everything. We are in love with him. The problem is he has no big cars, he [dresses] maybe not for high style. He is humble and everybody loves him in the locker room. We were lucky not to lose him. He is irreplaceable. I know he is happy here."

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ByStephan Georgiou May 26, 2025

Admittedly, Bernardo isn't getting any younger, but he remains a world-class footballer who shouldn't drift past his peak for another few years, so City should do all they can to keep him. That being said, if he has decided he wants to leave, it would be hard to begrudge him a fresh challenge.

The former South Africa batsman will link up with the team before their T20I series against Ireland in March

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Jan-2020Afghanistan’s coaching staff, helmed by Lance Klusener, has been bolstered by the appointment of HD Ackerman, the former South Africa Test batsman, cricket commentator and columnist.The Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Ackerman, 46, would start work with the team on March 1, ahead of the national team’s three-T20I series in India against Ireland, which will be followed by a one-off Test. His contract will run till the end of 2020.

Former South African cricketer and commentator, Hylton Deon Ackerman has been appointed as the new batting coach of Afghanistan National team. Ackerman will commence his duty in March for Afghanistan's T20I series against @Irelandcricket . pic.twitter.com/enTBSAGxtq

— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) January 28, 2020

Ackerman played four Test matches for South Africa, two against Pakistan and two against Sri Lanka, all at home in 1998, scoring one half-century in aggregating 161 runs at an average of 20.12. He had a much more fruitful time in first-class cricket, though, playing the 1993-94 season all the way to mid-2009, in which he scored 14,625 runs, including a triple-century, at an average of 43.65 in 220 outings. He also played 230 List A matches and 55 T20s.The T20I series against Ireland will be played in Greater Noida, near the Indian capital of New Delhi, on March 6, 8 and 10.