International Football
PSG Must Sell Players to Buy Neymar, Says UEFA
The ripple effect of Neymar switching from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for a record transfer fee has started manifesting.
It is just matter of days, if not hours for the Brazilian to move to the French capital on a transfer fee of €220 million. But information just gathered has it that UEFA has informed the French Ligue 1 side that it must make €110 million from selling some of its players in order to sign on Neymar.
This, Sports Village Square gathered is to make the French side complying with UEFA Financial Fair Play ruling. In effect, some players in Paris Saint-Germain will have to be offloaded and their value must be at least half of the amount the club is paying out to get Neymar.
Getting Neymar at €220 million has already more than double the current world transfer record.
So, by January 31 next year, the French club must make that amount of money in sale of players, otherwise it will face sanctions in the 2018/19 season.
The essence is to curtail excessive spending by clubs and save them from bankruptcy which in turn affects the clubs’ players.
According to 90min, potential candidates to be put on sale in order to legally acquire Neymar are Marco Verratti, Lucas Moura and Angel Di Maria, the Argentine striker whose solitary strike denied Nigeria the gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games’ football tournament.
When the club eventually gets Neymar into its fold, the Brazilian, it is gathered, will be offered a contract worth close to €30 million annually.
This is more than double of the €11million he earns every year in Barcelona. The amount he will be earning will also be tax-free as Paris Saint-Germain will be paying his taxes as it is currently did for Zlatan Ibrahimovic and currently doing for Thiago Silva.
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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