La Liga
LIVERPOOL LEGEND, GRAEME SOUNESS URGES MAN UNITED TO TARGET LIONEL MESSI
Lionel Messi could ‘easily’ end up at Manchester United this summer, according to Graeme Souness… and Liverpool legend says this would be the ‘perfect week’ to bid for Barcelona superstar
According to Daily Mail, Graeme Souness believes Manchester United should make a sensational move for Lionel Messi, before adding that this week would be ‘perfect’ to make a move for the Barcelona superstar.
The La Liga club plunged into yet another crisis on Friday after being hammered 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter finals in Lisbon, raising questions about Messi’s future in Catalonia.
Barcelona coach Quique Setien is set to be sacked by the club while Gerard Pique has called for a total rebuild from top to bottom to get the club competing on European football’s biggest stage.
Messi, 33, has spent his entire professional career with Barca, but with one year remaining on his contract he could be eyeing the exit door after their calamitous exit.
And Liverpool icon Souness believes that both Manchester clubs should make their move for the Argentine maestro, outlining that the uncertainty at Barcelona makes it a ‘perfect’ time to plot a move.
‘Lionel Messi looked like a man who has had enough of carrying that team,’ he wrote in The Times. ‘Without him they wouldn’t even be good enough to qualify for the Champions League.
‘This would be the perfect week to put a bid in for the 33-year-old Argentinian and I could easily see him playing in Manchester — at either United or City.’
Of the two clubs mentioned, City would be more likely to win the race to sign Messi, with boss Pep Guardiola having worked with Messi during the pair’s glory years at the Nou Camp.
Reports suggest that City are willing to pay ‘whatever it takes’ to land the six-time Ballon d’Or winner, who despite not being in his prime years, would still prove a sensational signing.
Inter Milan have also been linked with a move for Messi, although they may struggle to match the financial strength of the two Manchester clubs.
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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