French Ligue 1
HOW TOP PLAYERS ARE COPING WITH CORONAVIRUS INDUCED VOID
Mowing the lawn, playing football with your dog, turning on the TV… footballers around Europe are struggling to fill the “big void” created by the coronavirus shutdown.
Many are writing about the unfamiliar experience on social media. Some have already come to the conclusion that “there is nothing to do”.
Real Madrid players, forced into quarantine by a case of coronavirus in the club’s basketball squad, have been training at home, where most of them already had facilities and equipment.
Captain Sergio Ramos posted a video on Instagram showing him
sprinting on a treadmill.
Marco Asensio, who suffered a knee injury last summer, posted a video showing that he was continuing his recovery programme in his garden.
But even for sportsmen used to working out, there is a limit.
“I’m here, in my garden, there’s nothing to do,” French striker Karim Benzema said in a video on social media where he appeared alongside his dog, earning him a comparison with Will Smith in the post-apocalyptic film I Am Legend.
Fabien Causeur, a Real Madrid basketball guard, has launched a live video channel to show his quarantine challenge.
He has been taking on athletes and celebrities in three-minute simultaneous exercise including Thibaut Courtois, the Real Madrid goalkeeper, and National Basketball Association star and former Real Madrid teammate Luka Doncic.
At Barcelona, players are following a “specific and personalised” programme set by the club which is monitoring their efforts remotely using biometric tags.
Luis Suarez had been a step ahead of Ramos, posting a video of himself trudging on a treadmill last week.
In Italy, Juventus midfielder Douglas Costa filmed himself practising his dribbling in his back garden with his dog struggling to fill the role of defender.
Alexis Sanchez, on loan to Inter Milan, has two golden retrievers and a much bigger garden but he comfortably outplayed them in a video he put up online. He also posted photos of himself topless, gathering chopped wood.
Jessica Melena, the wife of Ciro Immobile, posted a cookery video on Instagram, showing the Lazio striker waving a spatula and mixing a cake while she coached him.
Immobile posted his own video in which he juggled furry toys with his feet.
Napoli’s Belgian forward Dries Mertens posted pictures of a work out with a huge bottle of red wine.
In France, Strasbourg midfielder Adrien Thomasson, was looking ahead to another empty week.
“We’ll have nothing to do, in the middle of the season, it’s never happened before. Our habits have been turned upside down,” he said.
Thomasson is a ski fan but as other sports are also at a standstill that leaves a “big void” for this ski lover.
“I’m going to watch series, movies, it’s going to be really limited.”
Television is also the refuge for James Lea Siliki, a Rennes midfielder, who tweeted the times of a couple of French quiz shows. Later he admitted a passion for a French TV karaoke show adding, “I’ll spare you my voice”.
Romain Thomas, a defender at Angers, said his daily routine involved jogging, gardening and watching French reality TV.
He said he has talked to teammates.
“We said to each other, ‘Look, it’s a beautiful day, it’s time to mow’. So I mowed the lawn in the garden, it gives me time to think about something else.”
– AFP
After Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi signed a contract extension with French Ligue 1 side, Paris Saint-Germain, he became the World’s most-paid fullback.
The Moroccan international will earn a staggering €70 million in wages over his new five-year deal, cementing his status as football’s highest-paid defender.
He signed a contract extension with the French champions until 2029. The new deal adds three years to his previous contract, which was set to expire in 2026.
His net salary is increasing from €10 million to €14 million per season (€28 million gross).
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The 2024 Ballon d’Or nominee and Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman, is almost certain to leave the Serie A in the coming winter transfer window following interest from Premiership but the biggest interest is from Paris Saint Germaine.
The AFCON 2024 silver medal winner with Nigeria has been on the radar of the London side, West Ham United and three other sides from the league but all is more certain that the London club will find it difficult to compete for the signature of Atalanta star according to Football Insider.
Reports have suggested that the Irons are ready to swoop for the Nigeria international in the January transfer window.
However, sources say there will be “huge interest” from Europe in the 27-year-old ex-Everton star.
Paris Saint-Germain will be the frontrunner for the forward if he becomes available in the coming months.
Additionally, Lookman plays in the same area of the pitch as West Ham’s big-money summer signings Crysencio Summerville and Luis Guilherme.
The London-born has raised his stock with his displays for Atalanta since joining from RB Leipzig in 2022.
He finished 14th in the Ballon d’Or rankings this year after leading the Italian side to a Europa League title last term.
Lookman has already hit five goals and contributed five assists in 10 games across all competitions this term.
The forward, who is under contract until June 2026, hit 17 goals and notched 10 assists in 45 appearances last season.
West Ham are unlikely to have serious funds to spend in the January window after their lavish spending in the off-season.
Julen Lopetegui’s side started slowly and sat 13th in the Premier League after nine games.
Paris St Germain will take their wage dispute with Kylian Mbappe to court after the French football league’s governing body (LFP) ruled in favour of the France captain on Friday.
French media reported the 25-year-old, who has not commented on the dispute, is seeking around 55 million euros ($59.52 million) in salary and bonuses he says he is owed by the club.
The Ligue 1 champions, however, say Mbappe’s contract was “legally amended” and that he reneged on commitments when he left the club to join Spanish giants Real Madrid in the close season.
PSG said last month that Mbappe had refused an offer from the LFP to mediate on the issue.
The LFP’s National Joint Appeals Commission heard the parties on Oct. 15 and announced on Friday it had ruled in favour of Mbappe.
“The club must pay him the salary he is claiming. This decision is not subject to appeal, but may be referred to the FFF (French Football Federation) Executive Committee,” the LFP told Reuters.
However, PSG said they would be “forced to bring the case before the competent courts” while still trying to find an “amicable solution” with Mbappe, who became the French club’s all-time top scorer during his seven-year stay in the capital.
“What is in debate, and will ultimately be heard before an appropriate tribunal, is that the original contract was legally amended in August 2023 relating to the 2024-25 season, and also fully recognised by the player including in January 2024 – until the player then decided to renege all his commitments upon leaving the club,” a PSG spokesperson said.
“As a matter of law and fact, the player has made clear, repeated public and private commitments that the club simply asks are honoured, with the player being afforded unprecedented benefits by the club over seven years in Paris.
“The club hopes these basic commitments will simply be respected, knowing that the club will be forced to have the player’s bad faith judged by the competent courts if the player regrettably seeks to pursue this incomprehensibly damaging dispute, for himself and for French football, further.”
Mbappe’s representatives were not immediately available for comment.
In January, Mbappe had said he made an agreement with PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi which would “protect all parties and preserve the club’s serenity for the challenges ahead”.
-Reuters
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