🎥 Barcelona launch stunning Mamba-inspired 2025/26 Nike away kit
Unveiled under the campaign slogan 'Better is the only choice,' the new design features a light yellow-gold base with black and purple accents, a nod to the Black Mamba snake and Bryant's Lakers legacy. The Barça crest is subtly overlaid with a snake-skin pattern, adding a unique touch of detail and symbolism.
The kit forms the centrepiece of the largest apparel collaboration in Barça's history, arriving alongside a full Mamba Collection of pitch-to-street gear. Expect the team to showcase the look during their summer friendlies.
Available from 29 July 2025, the Mamba kit marks a bold fusion of football tradition and basketball greatness—celebrating excellence, mentality, and style.
📸 Catherine Ivill - 2019 Getty Images
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USA Today
10 minutes ago
- USA Today
Book alleges Gwyneth Paltrow's 'cult' of Goop hid 'difficult,' 'toxic' workplace
Gwyneth Paltrow may be running defense as a temporary spokesperson for Astronomer after its now-former CEO's Coldplay concert drama, but a new biography is more interested in how she runs her own empire. 'Gwyneth' by culture and fashion journalist Amy Odell maps Paltrow from Hollywood nepo baby to household name to controversial wellness figure. The biography is based on interviews with over 220 sources, but Paltrow declined to speak for it. 'Gwyneth' (out now from Simon & Schuster) spans the star's life and includes a behind-the-scenes look at her relationship to Brad Pitt, her marriage and 'conscious uncoupling' to Coldplay's Chris Martin and her journey to Oscar-winning fame. Perhaps the most fascinating peek behind the curtain, however, comes at her career transition to Goop guru. How Gwyneth Paltrow's out-of-touch lifestyle led to Goop If there is one central theme in this deep dive of all things Paltrow, it's the actress' unrelatability extends much farther back than her jade egg shenanigans. When promoting 'Emma' in 1997, Paltrow requested a private plane for herself and 10 friends, a penthouse suite at the Ritz where only her friends would be allowed and Mercedes vehicles to chauffeur her and her friends around, the book says. The plane ride alone cost Miramax $200,000 in today's dollars, Odell writes. And when she filmed 'Shallow Hal' alongside Jack Black, her team requested her lodgings be distant from the rest of the cast and crew. But what kickstarted Paltrow's slide into the luxury wellness sphere was her father's throat cancer. While Bruce Paltrow was in denial about his health, Odell writes, Gwyneth took charge of hers – 'I felt I could heal him by proxy,' Gwyneth wrote in The Guardian. It was around this time that she was promoting 'Shallow Hal' (a poorly aged comedy in and of itself) and began sharing often unfounded comments about her health, like that her liver 'wouldn't drop down' during yoga because of her diet, Odell writes. Around the mid-2000s, she became disillusioned with the film industry and asked her 'Spain… on the Road Again' producer Charlie Pinsky what her next move should be. Her ideas of food and home improvement projects seemed something like 'the next Martha Stewart' to Pinsky, but he insisted she focus on motherhood as her brand, Odell writes. She didn't take his advice. Branding expert Peter Arnell helped her come up with the name and fine-tune the vision for Goop. Biography alleges Goop as a 'sometimes-toxic environment' Behind the scenes of the clean marketing and health promises, employees Odell spoke with described Goop as 'one of the most difficult working environments they had ever encountered.' Odell says the employee said they 'never felt less well in my life than during my time there.' Paltrow had a 'capricious, indirect leadership style' that led to anger and resentment. Her close relationships with some employees 'blurred the lines between professional and personal,' Odell writes – she had her food editor double as a personal chef, making her lunch and even sometimes dinner for her and husband Brad Falchuk. Some employees described the office culture as "noxious and chaotic," Odell writes. She describes writers as overworked and underpaid, expected to be on call at all times, with some employees pulling over on the side of the road while driving to answer work messages. Paltrow offered employees a two-week 'Goopcation' but still expected employees to respond to her messages during that time. Gwyneth Paltrow ruffled feathers at Condé Nast over Goop fact-checking As Goop's influence ballooned, it treaded further and further into debunked wellness fads like vaginal steaming, bone broth diets and vaginal jade eggs (for which Goop was fined $145,000 in 2018 for unsubstantiated medical claims). Paltrow has seen herself as a crusader for little-known women's health topics, though medical experts abhor her 'vigilante health journalism,' Odell writes. According to Odell's reporting, "neither Gwyneth nor Goop's board nor its investors were concerned about these controversies." When Condé Nast and Anna Wintour tapped Goop for a magazine partnership in 2017, the deal fell apart after only two issues because Paltrow and Goop wouldn't comply with Condé Nast's fact-checking standards. There was also a power struggle over whether Paltrow or Wintour had true control over the magazine. Paltrow wanted complete control to promote Goop's merchandise in the magazine, but Condé Nast feared it would alienate advertisers or compromise integrity. Odell reports that Wintour and Paltrow's relationship was a 'lovefest in the early days,' with the media mogul calling Paltrow 'baby' in meetings. But Wintour wanted the stories to be rigorously fact-checked, and Odell writes that Paltrow dismissed any criticism as 'patriarchal,' saying that she was 'finally illuminating truths that other outlets would not' about women's health, even if they weren't backed by science. Experts Odell spoke with for 'Gwyneth' liken Goop to a cult because of the way its foundational wellness beliefs tie into consumers' identities. 'Proponents of wellness have positioned it as necessary opposition to Big Ag and Big Pharma, conveniently ignoring (what) they've created: Big Wellness,' Odell writes. New celeb memoirs: Read tell-alls on aging, marriage and Beyoncé Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at cmulroy@
New York Times
12 minutes ago
- New York Times
Adam Aznou has long been on Everton's radar and arrives with a rich pedigree
It was during the 2023-24 season that Adam Aznou first appeared on Everton's radar. The former Barcelona youngster shone from full-back as Bayern Munich's B side reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Youth League, beating Manchester United twice along the way. Everton have long monitored such tournaments. Advertisement Alongside full-time scouts based in France and Spain, the club's European senior scout, Phil Boardman, is known to be an active presence at games. The aim was to identify future talents before they hit the senior ranks. But until now, resources in this area have been limited. Almost two years on, Aznou, 19, is now an Everton player. Talks accelerated last week over an initial €9million (£7.8m/$10.4m) move, which contains add-ons. By the weekend, he had been granted permission by Bayern to miss the start of their pre-season to travel for a medical, which he underwent on Monday. Such is the regard he is held in at Bayern, the German champions have insisted on a sell-on clause as part of the deal. Offers came from France and Germany too, but Everton were always in the box-seat and seen as a logical next step in his career. Even at this age, Aznou's talent is in little doubt. Having already played three times for Morocco at senior level, the view in recruitment circles is that Everton have signed one of Europe's top full-back prospects. Aznou = Blue! 🔵 — Everton (@Everton) July 29, 2025 The problem for Aznou at Bayern was that the path to first-team minutes in his favoured left-back position was blocked by Alphonso Davies and Raphael Guerreiro, while the Bavarian club have Kingsley Coman and Serge Gnabry to call on further forward down that flank. It became obvious this summer that those situations were unlikely to change anytime soon. At least from Aznou's side, then, this move is about ensuring more game time. Having spent the second half of last season on loan at Spain's Real Valladolid, further opportunities are needed to turn his promise into something more tangible. Everton needed left-back cover. The departure of versatile veteran Ashley Young when his contract expired at the end of June left Ukraine international Vitalii Mykolenko as the senior squad's sole specialist on that side. That lack of depth was emphasised on Saturday in the 3-0 defeat to fellow Premier League side Bournemouth on tour in the United States, where injuries in central defence saw Mykolenko moved inside and Dwight McNeil filling in at wing-back. It proved an imperfect solution that brought inevitably poor results. Advertisement Aznou is expected to begin as cover for starter Mykolenko, but there is a feeling he can shoulder some of the burden if needed and develop into someone with a higher ceiling, particularly in attack. As the chart below shows, the teenager is flexible positionally, having featured in more advanced areas at Valladolid. In his time at Bayern, Aznou had stints at right-back — somewhere else Everton currently look light on quality. The hope at Everton is that they turn into a more attacking, front-foot side over time, one that pushes the full-backs on and can control games. It is believed players such as Aznou will be key in helping them achieve this. When he took over midway through last season, manager David Moyes pushed Mykolenko up the field with mixed results. While the 26-year-old produced the odd moment of quality into the box from the left flank, like the ball to set up Carlos Alcaraz's winner in the final-day victory over Newcastle United, he remains better known for his defensive work. In that sense, Aznou should be a useful counterbalance in the squad, bringing different elements to the table. Having been developed in the academy at hometown club Barcelona before joining Bayern in 2022, he is a prolific ball carrier, ranking in the top percentile for dribble volume (measured by dribbles attempted per 100 touches), among full-backs in Europe's top five leagues. With the exceptions of Alcaraz and Iliman Ndiaye, Moyes has lacked players who can progress the ball upfield through carrying or passing. In Aznou, he now has someone who can potentially do both. The teenager's statistics for front-footed defending point to him having an aggressive, proactive style out of possession. His low link-up and ball retention scores are notable, but probably a function of Valladolid's style. They were relegated after finishing bottom of La Liga, and had the fourth-lowest possession share in the 20-team division. Advertisement The other caveat here is that Aznou played just 876 minutes in Spain's top flight last season, and such a sample size is small enough to be prone to statistical variance. That said, those who have tracked his progress since his days in Bayern's youth ranks point to a player keen to express himself in the final third and get his side up the pitch. Much like 22-year-old fellow Everton newcomer Thierno Barry, Aznou has been signed as a talented young player who can contribute now, but whose best years are almost certainly ahead of him. He only turned 19 in early July, so patience will be required as he steps up a level in physicality and adapts to a new country and a different style of play. And there are no sure-fire bets in recruitment, and certainly not with teenagers still making their way in the game. That said, Aznou's arrival addresses a position of need in the Everton squad. And if those UEFA Youth League performances with Bayern — the ones that first piqued their interest — can become the norm in England's top flight too, then they have another exciting prospect on their hands.
Hamilton Spectator
40 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Iñaki Williams takes pride in being Athletic's first Black captain when ‘far-right is fashionable'
MADRID (AP) — Iñaki Williams is taking pride in becoming the first Black captain for Athletic Bilbao at a time when he said the 'far-right is fashionable.' The 31-year-old Williams, one of the first Black players to ever join the club, will take over as the squad's main caption this season. Athletic historically has had few Black players because it only fields people from Spain's northern Basque Country region or adjoining areas. Williams and his younger brother, Nico, were born in the northern industrial city of Bilbao from Ghanaian parents who made the long journey to Europe looking for a better life. 'This means a lot,' Williams said in a news conference. 'It's seems like destiny that my mom and dad gave birth to me in Bilbao 31 years ago,' Williams said. 'We are lucky to represent many people who come from abroad to make a living. And to be a reference in Basque Country and in Spain, is important for us. 'We come from humble families, and being able to express this is good for everyone,' he said. 'It seems like the far-right is fashionable, and those of us who have a voice have to keep working and keep proving people wrong and keep overcoming barriers.' Both Williams brothers, who have been subjected to racist insults in Spain, have been playing for Athletic since their youth. Iñaki Williams chose to play for Ghana's national team at the last World Cup, while his 23-year-old brother Nico has been a regular in Spain's squad. Nico Williams has become one of the rising stars in Spanish soccer and reportedly was in negotiations to join Barcelona this season, though he ended up extending his contract to stay with Athletic. The Basque Country club will be playing in the Champions League for the first time since the 2014-15 season. 'For many players, it will be their first time in the Champions League, and it's very exciting,' Iñaki Williams said. 'In Bilbao there's a great desire to hear that (Champions League) anthem again.' Athletic finished fourth in last season's Spanish league, behind Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and champions Barcelona. 'We're committed to being ambitious,' Iñaki Williams said. 'With the new signings and the young players coming in, we're making great strides. This is one of the strongest Athletic sides I can remember since I joined.' ___ AP soccer:
