Ronaldo-Messi to face each other in Saudi

Cristiano Ronaldo left Europe and moved to his new club Al-Nassr FC in Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, Lionel Messi is on the verge of renewing his agreement with French superpower Paris Saint Germain (PSG).

Even if the two superstars are on two different continents, they may meet each other very soon. And how is that possible? The only ways are friendlies and PSG could face a team made up of selected players from Al Nasr and Al Hilal SFC in a friendly match this January.

Last month, Messi won the World Cup for the first time in his Argentine jersey in Qatar. The 35-year-old play-maker also won the Golden Ball for the second time as the only footballer, breaking the record as the player of the greatest show on the earth.

Messi's long-time rival Ronaldo's Portugal slammed out of the World Cup quarter-finals in a battle of the greatest footballers of all time. CR7 gave an explosive interview before the start of the football tournament. As a result, he had to leave Manchester United by mutual consent. After being without a club for more than a month, the 37-year-old winger recently moved to Al-Nassr FC as a free agent.

Since Messi and Ronaldo are in Europe and Asia respectively, there are fears that they will not be able to see the contest between them on the field. Many football fans become emotional. But the international media has brought good news for them. Messi and Ronaldo can encounter each other in the Riyadh Season Cup at the end of this month.

Initially, Ligue One champions PSG had planned to go to Saudi Arabia last year. Parisians are contractually obligated to visit, even though it has been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, the Parc des Princes club will have to go to play in Saudi this year. Spanish media Marca reported on Tuesday that Messi will fly with the team to Saudi Arabia to play a friendly match.

According to Australian media outlet Fox Sports, according to the deal, PSG will face a team made up of footballers from Al Nassr FC and Al Hilal SFC. In that case, Cristiano Ronaldo has a strong possibility to take the field against Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappe alongside Lionel Messi.

It is assumed that the friendly match will be played on January 19th, 2023 as PSG has no other matches for two weeks between January 16th and 30th this year.

Liverpool reach an agreement for Cody Gakpo's transfer

Liverpool had not intended to sign a striker in January, but injuries of Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz correlated with interest from competitors provoked the club to accelerate their interest in another.

Gakpo, who underwent his medical on Wednesday afternoon, is comprehended to have agreed to a deal with Liverpool FC until 2028, with his transfer subject to a work a permit.

He will officially become a Liverpool player on New Year's Day when the transfer window opens and could be in line to make his debut against Brentford on January 2, 2023.

Manchester United was interested in Gakpo in the summer when they rather signed Antony from Ajax, but information suggested they were considering a move for the Dutch international in the upcoming January transfer window.

Jurgen Klopp, who has long been an admirer of the striker, views Gakpo as a multi-functional attacking footballer who is more than qualified of filling any of the positions across the front three.

Gakpo has had little training since returning from Qatar and the focus will be to reveal him to the first team setting and engage him in as much training as possible before being assessed for competitive action. This is in keeping with Liverpool's strategies in dealing with the reconditioning of World Cup returnees.

Liverpool's owners, Fenway Sports Group, approved the transfer deal and were pleased to support the move as a means of improving an already strong area of the playing team. The transfer was led and managed by sporting director Julian Ward, who finalized the deal after three days of talks with PSV on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day.

During the World Cup, Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal said "Cody Gakpo has everything it takes to become a star" and the striker looks like he is on the fast track to the peak of the contest after taking his brilliant Eredivisie form in Qatar. A goal in each group stage game with his country - one with his head, one with his left foot, and one with his right foot - was a testament to his rapidly enhancing play in the final third, appetite for the grand stage, and versatility. His standout performances for Van Gaal came as a center forward or No 10.

But those qualities haven't come about by luck - Gakpo is particular about his development, even hiring a personal tactics trainer to analyze his game. His steadily increasing goals- and assists per 90 minutes stats for his club reveal that additional homework is paying off. That psyche will have engraved his admirers as much as his league-topping tally of goals and assists. At 23, Gakpo is already in a high class - but has the resolution to get even better. That makes him an appealing investment.

King Charles visits Wrexham AFC, the new football club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

King Charles and the Queen Consort paid a visit to the Wrexham AFC on Friday, the football club owned by Hollywood artists Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

The royal visitors met the owners on the football pitch as a part of a guided tour of the Racetrack Ground – the world’s oldest sports venue according to the Guinness World Book Records.

Charles and his wife Camila were in Wrexham to join the celebration of its new city status and talked to Reynolds and McElhenney about their strategies for improving and upgrading the club that they bought in 2021.

“A little earlier today, I had the opportunity to see one of the other wonders of Wrexham, namely the football club, which is busy putting Wrexham on the map as never before,” Charles told the people and reporters on Friday, per Reuters.

Wrexham – the world’s 3rd oldest football club, currently plays in the fifth tier of the English football league, which is far removed from the big names of Manchester United and Liverpool.

When the Hollywood colleagues took over the struggling Welsh team, both had passion and desire of moving up the footballing tiers while upgrading the community around the club.

The team has seen growth in recent years and its popularity has obviously soared with it. “We’ll do anything to uplift and elevate this community and this club and having the King pay a visit is certainly one way to do it, that’s for sure,” the ‘Deadpool’ star Ryan Reynolds told reporters on Friday.

Much of the increased passion has also been down to Disney’s “Welcome to Wrexham” – a docuseries that tracks the club’s efforts and tribulations throughout the season. Now with its fan base numbering up, the owners will hope their side can achieve the promotion this season with the team currently sitting in second.

King Charles spoke with the first team players during his visit and wished them luck for their upcoming away match at Eastleigh on Saturday.

European Super League in ruins: All six English clubs withdraw

The European Super League in ruins before a ball was kicked in the breakaway competition. The decision came less than 48 hours after the competition had been announced.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham throughout Tuesday evening declared a dramatic proposal to launch a largely-closed midweek competition amid an escalating backlash from their supporters and warnings from the British government that legislation could be introduced to thwart it.

Here’s the statement of 6 clubs after their climb-down from European Super League:

Manchester City

On Tuesday around 9:23 pm Manchester City announced that it has formally enacted the procedures to withdraw from the group developing plans for a European Super League.

Liverpool

Liverpool club confirmed their involvement in proposed plans to form a European Super League has been discontinued on Tuesday night around 10:55 pm.

Arsenal

In recent days, for the response from supporters and after a deep thought Arsenal decided to withdraw from the proposed Super League. We made a mistake, and we apologize for it.

Tottenham

It confirms that they have formally commenced procedures to withdraw from the group developing proposals for a European Super League (ESL). Chairman Daniel Levy said: “We regret the anxiety and upset caused by the ESL proposal. We felt it was important that our club participated in the development of a possible new structure that sought to better ensure financial fair play and financial sustainability whilst delivering significantly increased support for the wider football pyramid. We believe that we should never stand still and that the sport should constantly review competitions and governance to ensure the game we all love continues to evolve and excite fans around the world. We should like to thank all those supporters who presented their considered opinions.”

Manchester United

Manchester United will not be participating in the European Super League. We have listened carefully to the reaction from our fans, the UK government and other key stakeholders. We remain committed to working with others across the football community to come up with sustainable solutions to the long-term challenges facing the game. It was declared around 10:55 pm.

Chelsea

Chelsea Football Club can confirm at 12:45 am that it has begun the formal procedures for withdrawal from the group developing plans for a European Super League. Having joined the group late last week, we have now had time to consider the matter fully and have decided that our continued participation in these plans would not be in the best interests of the Club, our supporters or the wider football community.