French Ligue 1
Crowd erupts as PSG announce Mbappe extends contract until 2025
Kylian Mbappe has signed a contract extension with Paris St Germain that will keep the France forward tied with the Ligue 1 side until 2025, the French champions said onSaturday.
“I wanted to announce that I have chosen to extend my contract at Paris Saint-Germain, and I am of course very happy. I am convinced that here I can continue to grow within a club that gives itself all the means to perform at the highest level,” the 23-year-old said in a club statement.
“I am also very happy to be able to continue playing in France, the country where I was born, grew up and flourished.”
Mbappe and club president Nasser Al Khelaifi posed holding a “Mbappe 2025” PSG shirt before the last game of the Ligue 1 season against Metz as the crowd erupted when Al Khelaifi broke the news at the Parc des Princes.
The France forward, whose current contract expires on June 30, had been widely tipped to join Real Madrid.
LaLiga reacted angrily to Mbappe’s contract extension, saying it would file a complaint against PSG to European soccer’s governing body UEFA.
LaLiga said PSG’s new offer to Mbappe “attacks the economic stability” of European football.
“It is scandalous that a club like PSG, which last season reported losses of more than 220 million euros ($232.32 million) after accumulating losses of more than 700 million euros in prior seasons … with a squad cost around 650 million for this season, can close such an agreement,” LaLiga said.
“LaLiga will file a complaint against PSG before UEFA, the French administrative and fiscal authorities and European Union authorities to continue to defend the economic ecosystem of European football and its sustainability.”
PSG declined to comment on LaLiga’s complaint.
Mbappe, one of the game’s finest talents who burst onto the scene as a teenager and helped France win the World Cup in 2018, was set to leave on a free transfer when his contract expired at the end of the season.
PSG signed Mbappe from AS Monaco in 2017 in a deal reported to be about 180 million euros, making him the world’s second-most expensive signing after Neymar, who joined PSG from Barcelona for 222 million euros.
Real’s bid to sign Mbappe last year was rejected by the Parisian club, who appeared prepared to lose him on a free transfer this year.
Reports last year claimed the Spanish champions had offered PSG as much as 200 million euros for the Frenchman.
PSG had no intention of selling their young talisman in their quest for Champions League glory, but the French club fell well short this season when Real staged a dramatic second-leg comeback in the last-16 to knock them out of the competition.
PSG had been reinforced last year with the signing of Lionel Messi from Barcelona to add firepower to a star-studded squad. But apart from reclaiming the Ligue 1 title, the French club failed to win any other trophies.
Mbappe, however, excelled individually, scoring 38 goals and providing 26 assists for PSG in all competitions this season after scoring an early double against Metz on Saturday.
-Reuters
Paul Pogba has joined AS Monaco on a free transfer after signing a two-year contract, the Ligue 1 club said on Saturday, as the 32-year-old French midfielder looks to revive his career following a doping ban.
Pogba was handed a four-year doping ban in February 2024 after testing positive for DHEA, which boosts testosterone levels. The suspension was cut to 18 months after a successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Italian club Juventus announced in November that they had mutually agreed to terminate his contract, which was due to expire in June 2026.
The 2018 World Cup winner had a disappointing second spell with Juventus due to injuries after returning to the Turin-based club following his departure from Manchester United on a free transfer in 2022.
Pogba was signed by United in 2016 for a then-world record fee of 89 million pounds ($122 million) but the four-times Serie A champion won only two trophies with the Premier League club — the League Cup and Europa League in his first season.
He last played for France in 2022 but knee surgery prevented him from appearing at the World Cup in Qatar.
Monaco finished third behind Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain and Olympique de Marseille last season.
-Reuters
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
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).
Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
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.
- OBITUARY4 days ago
BREAKING: Nigerian Goalkeeping Legend Peter Rufai is dead
- Nigerian Football3 days ago
Football Agent John Shittu Demands Retraction and ₦250 Million Damages from Samson Siasia Over Bribery Allegation
- FEDERATION CUP1 week ago
Kwara United Clinch Historic First Title as President Federation Cup Final Goes to Penalties for the 18th time
- FEDERATION CUP1 week ago
Rivers Angels Crowned 2025 Female Federation Cup Champions After Penalty Shootout Thriller
- WAFCON2 days ago
Nigeria, Tunisia Set for High-Stakes WAFCON 2024 Clash in Casablanca
- OBITUARY4 days ago
Peter Rufai looked lean when I last saw him, says mourning NFF President, Gusau
- OBITUARY3 days ago
Family issues statement on Peter Rufai
- IMMEMORIAL3 days ago
Peter Rufai’s Death Adds to Long List of July Tragedies in Nigerian Football