La Liga
LIONEL MESSI AND BARCELONA MUST AGREE AMICABLE SPLIT IF DIVORCE IS COMING SAYS KAKA
Kaka believes Lionel Messi could leave Barcelona and warned it is important there is no messy divorce if the Argentina star moves on from Camp Nou, reports Omnisport.
Six-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi was incensed by recent comments from sporting director Eric Abidal, who questioned whether some players showed full commitment under former head coach Ernesto Valverde.
A scathing response from Messi bypassed official club channels as he took Abidal to task on Instagram, and that raised the question of whether the record-breaking forward remains happy at Barcelona.
He has spent his entire professional career with the Catalan giants and is by a long distance their all-time leading goalscorer and closing in on Xavi’s appearances records.
Yet Kaka, who starred for Milan, Real Madrid and Brazil and also won the 2007 Ballon d’Or, says the day could come when Messi seeks to move on.
It would then behove both parties to ensure the split is conducted in a dignified way, Kaka explained.
Messi has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave on a free transfer at the end of each season.
“I think it’s not going to be a problem for him to play in the Premier League, or [to play] at a top club at the top three leagues in the world would be good for him,” Kaka told Sky Sports News.
“But of course it depends on what he wants for his career. It’s hard to see him playing for another club, but it’s just … [he may feel,] ‘It’s okay, it’s time for me to change and I’ll go to have another experience and I’ll be the best football player in the world for another team.’
“I think the most important thing is not the broken part but the way this is going to be broken.
“When [Cristiano] Ronaldo left Madrid we were sad that Ronaldo left the club and of course a lot of them regret Ronaldo’s left Real Madrid.
“But I think everybody at the time understood that, okay, for him it’s another challenge, he needs another challenge, he needs to move, it’s okay, we are one of the best clubs in the world and we’ll keep going, Real Madrid needs to rebuild.
“It’s more the way, if it’s going to happen, it’s the way that it’s going to happen.”
Kaka is hoping to move into a football director’s role and explained he was fascinated by the Messi saga.
“I’m in this position right now to understand the clubs, the sports director, how to manage a club, how to build a team, and it’s a very good situation for me to understand how they’re going to handle this, because right now everything’s so hot,” Kaka said.
“We’re going to hear a lot about that, but I’m looking forward to seeing the next step – Messi, [whether] he’s going to leave, Abidal, or the club, Barcelona, how they’re going to manage this situation will be really nice.
“From outside it’s really hard to say something. I don’t know if Messi wants to leave or he just wants to protect his players – [and is thinking,] ‘As a captain I need to protect my team.’”
Barcelona said their request for a permit to return to the Camp Nou for Sunday’s LaLiga match against Real Sociedad has been denied, with the city council highlighting safety and security issues with the revamped venue.
Barca had been hoping to return to a reduced-capacity Camp Nou with 27,000 spectators but have failed to obtain the necessary permits from Barcelona City Council.
Barca will instead host the match at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Montjuic, where they played during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons with renovations at Camp Nou now nine months behind schedule.
“We have spotted different elements that need to be fixed and have an impact in the safety and security of the stadium,” chief of civil protection Sebastia Massague said at a city council meeting.
Barca had to begin their LaLiga home campaign at the Estadi Johan Cruyff in their own training complex, where only 6,000 fans attended their match against Valencia on September 14, after a Post Malone concert left the Lluis Companys pitch in poor condition.
“The club is currently working on the new amendments that the council has shared today,” Barca said in a statement.
On Friday, the Catalan club also announced that their Champions League group stage match against Paris St Germain on October 1 would also take place at the Lluis Companys.
Barca are second in LaLiga, trailing leaders Real Madrid by five points but having played a game fewer.
-Reuters
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Villarreal midfielder Thomas Partey on Wednesday appeared in a London court and pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault involving three women.
Partey, a Ghana international, is accused of five counts of rape relating to two women, plus a charge of sexual assault against a third woman, between April 2021 and June 2022.
The alleged offences took place when Partey played for Premier League soccer club Arsenal. He left the club this summer and signed for Spain’s Villarreal.
The 32-year-old appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court and spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and enter his not guilty pleas.
Partey was released on bail ahead of his trial, which was listed for Nov. 2, 2026 and is due to take between six and eight weeks.
He was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59.2 million) in 2020 and became a key member of the English side’s first team, before his contract expired at the end of June.
Partey played for Villarreal in their Champions League game against Arsenal’s bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday night.
He came on as a second-half substitute and was booed loudly by the Spurs fans every time he touched the ball.
-Reuters
Villarreal and Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey, who has been charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, walks outside Southwark Crown Court, in London, Britain, September 17, 2025. REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska
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Real Madrid on Tuesday denounced plans to stage a LaLiga match between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami, warning the proposal could undermine football’s competitive balance and vowing to petition global governing bodies to block the move.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) on Monday approved the December 20 fixture at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which could become the first LaLiga match held abroad and the first European league fixture staged in the United States.
“Real Madrid wish to express to its members, supporters and football fans in general its firm rejection of the proposal,” the club said in a statement, revealing they have already urged FIFA, UEFA and Spain’s Higher Sports Council (CSD) to intervene.
The club accused the RFEF of making its decision “without informing or consulting the clubs participating in the competition” and argued that staging the match in Miami “violates the essential principle of territorial reciprocity” in home-and-away league formats.
Real further stated that the move would “alter the competitive balance” and grant “an unfair sporting advantage” to the clubs involved.
The club also warned that approving the proposal could compromise sporting integrity and “set an unacceptable precedent,” insisting any change of this nature should require “the express and unanimous agreement of all the clubs participating in the competition”.
The plan still requires approval from UEFA, US Soccer, CONCACAF and ultimately FIFA before LaLiga President Javier Tebas can realise his long-held ambition of taking Spanish football to the U.S.
-Reuters
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