CELEBRITY
Cristiano Ronaldo coming back home…to Manchester United…
Cristiano Ronaldo has been linked with a return to Manchester United this week amid claims he is looking to leave Juventus.
The Portugal international requested to be named on the bench for the Old Lady’s Serie A opener with Udinese on Sunday, despite being fit to play.
Juve are adamant Ronaldo will not be leaving, but the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s agent Jorge Mendez is alleged to have made his client available for sale at £25million.
Juventus have not received any bids for the forward, and the club’s vice-chairman Pavel Nedved recently played down speculation that Ronaldo’s request to be left out of the starting XI was down to him pushing for an exit.
Nedved told DAZN: “Do not look for sensational things when there aren’t any.
“It was a joint decision with the coach because we’re at the start of the season and it is normal that he’s not fully fit.”
Juventus are seemingly confident they can fend off interest in their prized asset, but until the transfer window slams shut speculation will remain.
And Manchester United will continue to be linked with their former star turn.
Contact made
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer briefly played alongside Ronaldo at Manchester United, and the duo have remained friends since.
According to The Athletic, Solskjaer is in regular contact with the Portugal international, and is open to the idea of bringing him back to Old Trafford.
Ronaldo hasn’t spoken out about Solskjaer publicly in recent years, but he has previously discussed his relationship with the Norwegian.
In 2008, when Solskjaer was making the move into coaching, Ronaldo said of him: “He’s very good”. look for Ole like a man, not just coach now.
“He’s a fantastic guy and I have a great relationship with him.”
Sancho’s verdict
Manchester United splashed £73million on Jadon Sancho this summer in a bid to close the gap on Man City and win a first title since 2013.
Sancho is a huge fan of Ronaldo, admitting he modelled his game on the former Man United winger, and would seemingly be all for playing alongside him at Old Trafford.
“I feel like I’ve got different attributes to all the other players, but obviously Cristiano Ronaldo and what he’s done in his career is a fantastic thing,” said Sancho.
“Where he started at Sporting Lisbon and then he came to Manchester so it’s always good to see that all these iconic players have come through an iconic club.”
Glazer’s promise
Manchester United vice-chairman Joel Glazer made a promise to fans ahead of the transfer window, in which he revealed he’d be backing the club financially.
He said: “We want this club to always be successful and win trophies. To compete for trophies requires significant investment.
“The commercial growth at the club has helped deliver the revenue which ultimately underpins that investment in a sustainable manner.
Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The League of Wealthy Sportsmen
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
For the third year in a row, and the fifth time overall, Cristiano Ronaldo is the world’s highest-paid athlete.
But at age 40, the Portuguese soccer superstar is reaching new highs.
Over the past 12 months, counting both his playing salary at Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr and his off-field business endeavors, Ronaldo collected an estimated $275 million before taxes and agent fees—the third-best year by an active athlete ever measured by Forbes.
On that all-time list, Ronaldo is surpassed only by boxer Floyd Mayweather, who earned $300 million in 2015 and $285 million in 2018.
And when it comes to the 2025 leaderboard, Ronaldo has a $119 million advantage over No. 2, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
The gap is especially impressive considering that Curry’s $156 million total is also a record for his sport, beating the NBA mark of $128.2 million set last year by LeBron James.
And there are plenty of other eye-popping paydays among this year’s 10 highest-paid athletes, starting with James, who notched a personal-best $133.8 million to land at No. 6. Meanwhile, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (No. 4, $137million) and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto (No. 7, $114 million) broke records for the NFL and MLB.
Combined, the 10 highest-paid athletes brought in $1.4 billion, up slightly from last year’s $1.38 billion and the largest total since Forbes began ranking athlete earnings in 1990.
This year is also only the second time, after 2024, that every member of the top 10 made at least $100 million.
In fact, heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk ($101 million) and golfer Jon Rahm ($100 million) reached the milestone, too, without managing to crack this list.
World’s Highest-Paid Athletes 2025
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