Fulham condemns 'vile' racist and homophobic online abuse aimed at defender Bassey
LONDON — English soccer club Fulham has condemned the 'racist and homophobic abuse' aimed at defender Calvin Bassey on social media following the FA Cup win at Manchester United on Sunday.
The 25-year-old Bassey, who is Black and plays for Nigeria, shared some of the abuse he received online following the penalty shootout win at Old Trafford. He scored the opening goal in the fifth-round game, which finished 1-1.
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Adrien Rabiot interview: Man Utd interest, Juventus development and his mother's influence
Had things panned out differently last summer, Adrien Rabiot might have spent this season playing for Manchester United. United have been long-term admirers of the tousle-haired French midfielder and made the latest in a long line of approaches to him last year following the end of his five-year spell at Juventus. But instead, he made the bold and eyebrow-raising decision to join Marseille. Advertisement Given the drastically contrasting trajectories the two clubs have pursued over the intervening months — Marseille brilliantly securing automatic Champions League qualification for only the third time since 2013, United slumping to their lowest league finish since 1974 — it is not a choice that he has had much reason to reflect on. 'It really could have happened two years ago, when I was coming to the end of my contract at Juventus and I finally decided to extend by a year,' he says. 'We had great talks, and there were written offers. But in the end, it didn't happen. 'Last year as well, when I was free, they came back in again. I had good talks with them again. But it's true that it was a bit tricky. The situation they're in at the moment… I felt a bit of reticence about whether United were going to be able to go on and achieve great things. Because they're in a bit of a hole at the moment.' Rabiot says his focus is always on what is coming rather than what might have been. 'I have no regrets in my career,' he adds. 'I've always been very happy with the choices I've made. I've always enjoyed myself. At PSG, I won. At Juve, I won and I learnt a lot. 'I arrived at Marseille and I had a great season. I helped the club to fulfil its objectives by qualifying (for the Champions League) in my first season. So no, no regrets.' Were his curiosity about life at United ever to be piqued, Rabiot would not have to look far for someone who could give him the inside track on the club. Former United prospect Mason Greenwood made a comparably headline-grabbing switch to Marseille last summer. Greenwood and Rabiot struck up a fruitful on-pitch understanding at Stade Velodrome, spending a significant portion of the campaign playing as twin No 10s in a 3-4-2-1 system concocted by Roberto De Zerbi. Advertisement Whereas Rabiot had free rein to pick his next club, Greenwood's choices were narrowed by the fact he left United after allegations of attempted rape, coercive and controlling behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Greenwood strongly denied all the allegations, and the UK's Crown Prosecution Service ultimately discontinued proceedings against him. The 23-year-old Englishman made an immediate impact at Marseille and finished his maiden campaign as Ligue 1's joint-top scorer alongside Ousmane Dembele with 21 goals, only losing out on the official prize because he had scored more penalties than the PSG forward. Despite having been publicly rebuked at times by De Zerbi for a lack of effort, Greenwood has made a major impression on Rabiot. 'Mason is an incredible player,' says the midfielder. 'If he hadn't had all of his problems, I think he'd have an image like (Jude) Bellingham. Mason would be the star. 'Because he's an exceptional player. He can score with his right foot and his left foot, he has an exceptional shot, he can dribble. We're very lucky to have him. When he's really focused, he does really great things.' With his 6ft 3in height, elegant technique, boundless stamina and powerful running style, Rabiot has long appeared to possess the kind of attributes required to thrive in the English top flight, a championship he follows closely. 'English football is very attractive,' says the France international, who briefly spent time on Manchester City's books as a youngster. 'Everyone knows that it's the best league and the football it produces is a spectacle every weekend. There are lots of very good teams, and the league is uncertain. 'You know that the team in 18th place is capable of beating the team in first or second place. At the start of the season, you really don't know who's going to win (the league) and who's going to get into Europe. It was really tight right until the end. Advertisement 'And then there are new teams that emerge every year, which makes it a really top league. So yes, I've always got an eye on the Premier League.' Rabiot's signing last September was a massive coup for Marseille, who had finished eighth in Ligue 1 the previous season and consequently had no European football to offer him. The club's famously passionate fans, thrilled by the furious reaction to the switch back in Paris, welcomed him with open arms. He immediately found common ground with De Zerbi, whose arrival from Brighton & Hove Albion had generated a similar level of excitement. 'I clicked with him straight away,' Rabiot says. 'He's someone who talks a lot, who exchanges, who explains his ideas and who tries to find the right position for every player. 'He works a lot tactically. He spends his days at the training centre, from morning to night. He's football crazy. That's something that I appreciated because to really succeed, you have to have that passion, that determination, that desire, that ambition. 'We hit it off straight away, and we talked a lot. He asked me, as the most experienced player, to lift the team up and bring the other players along with me. That's what we did. 'Everyone knows the coach De Zerbi is. He was at Brighton and did great things. In Italy, he has a reputation. He must have received a lot of offers. He's been very important this season for Marseille and I think that the French league is lucky to have a coach like him here.' In a testament to De Zerbi's tactical creativity, Rabiot began the season playing in a two-man midfield, then moved to the right of a midfield three, then shifted to a more attacking role in the 3-4-2-1 system introduced by the Italian in November. He finished the campaign playing in the No 10 position in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Advertisement Rabiot has tended to play in more of a box-to-box role throughout his career, but his more advanced positioning enabled him to finish the campaign with 10 goals and five assists in all competitions. 'He's a coach who tries to adapt and who tries to find the best position (for you) with regard to the players around you,' Rabiot says. 'That's why he moved me around so much. 'We talked and we tried things. At the end, I was playing higher up, closer to the striker, and it was really good because it's a position that suited me really well. 'He's a coach who gives you the keys (to the next game) in training. He'll say: 'This team will play in this way. Put yourself in this zone, do this, do that'. That's where he's good — it's almost like he knows how the match is going to unfold before it's even happened.' Rabiot's five years at Juventus were ideal preparation for working under a coach as tactically meticulous as De Zerbi. The Frenchman was 24 when he arrived in Turin in 2019 and was widely perceived as something of an enigma. He had left his formative club PSG after being frozen out of the first-team squad halfway through the season for refusing to sign a new contract. He had also been sidelined at international level by France coach Didier Deschamps after rejecting a place on the standby list for their triumphant 2018 World Cup campaign. After winning a ninth consecutive Serie A title in Rabiot's first season, there were no further major trophies beyond a pair of Coppa Italia wins in 2021 and 2024. He nevertheless finished his spell at the club strongly under Massimiliano Allegri, who appointed him vice-captain in 2023, and says that his half-decade in northern Italy opened his eyes to the demands at the very highest level. 'It was an important step in my career,' Rabiot says. 'It was a period when I gained maturity and when I took on the mentality that they develop at Juventus: work, selflessness, sacrifice. They're things that you learn and that become part of you. Advertisement 'My time at Juventus was very useful to me. It allowed me to grow up a huge amount. I experienced great things, I won titles. But it's also the people I worked with, the players I played with. 'I think of the players who were there when I arrived — the Cristiano Ronaldos, the Gigi Buffons, the Giorgio Chiellinis, the (Leonardo) Bonuccis. They're players who have that mentality, and they transmit it. They were examples for me.' Twenty-five years before Rabiot's move to Juventus, another industrious French central midfielder had crossed the Alps to hone his trade during a five-year spell in Turin. Deschamps joined Juventus from Marseille in 1994 and has credited his own experience of Italian football with enabling him to develop the fierce winner's mentality that has since become his trademark. Deschamps brought Rabiot's two years of international exile to an end in September 2020 and the midfielder has since become one of his principal lieutenants, forming part of France's first-choice XI at both the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024. 'When I first came in, I was very young,' says Rabiot, who was 21 when he won the first of his 53 France caps in November 2016. 'So inevitably, you don't have the experience and all the things I might have now that enable you to have a relationship with a coach. 'The more experienced players who had been here for longer had a different kind of relationship with him. Little by little, that kind of relationship develops through the moments you spend together and the tournaments you play in. 'Now we have a relationship where we're able to say things to each other. There's real trust between us. For a national coach, I think it's important to have players you can lean on and say things to.' Having turned 30 in April, Rabiot is one of the oldest and most experienced members of the current squad. With youngsters such as Desire Doue, Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaire-Emery and Rayan Cherki all in the foothills of their international careers, he now finds himself being looked up to in the same way that he looked up to his battle-hardened former Juventus team-mates during his early days in Turin. Advertisement 'For me it's about setting an example on the pitch,' says Rabiot, who was speaking before France's remarkable 5-4 defeat by Spain in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals. 'Showing that when you arrive here, you have to give everything, whether it's in training or matches, and having that mentality of always wanting to win for France. 'Knowing that the collective is more important than any individual, that we're all together, whether we win or lose. Showing those values and trying to transmit them. It's an important role to have with certain players as one of the older players in the team.' Rabiot has been advised by his mother, Veronique, since the very beginning of his career. She took the lead after Adrien's father, Michel Provost, suffered a severe stroke in 2007 that left him with locked-in syndrome and she has succeeded in carving out a reputation as a formidable negotiator. 'She's always supported me,' Rabiot says. 'She's always been by my side and she's always said: 'You concentrate on your football and what happens on the pitch. I'll handle everything else.' 'For a footballer, there are things that can get into your head because there are so many things you have to manage around you. Sometimes you don't know who to delegate that to. It can be a weight. 'Straight away, my mother was there to manage everything going on around me and to leave me to focus on the pitch. That's what's enabled me to advance in the way that I have and to have the success I've had. 'She's always been very ambitious. She wants the best for me, and she's always done things as I've asked her to. That's important because maybe with other people, people from outside the family, things wouldn't have worked out like that. 'She's very professional and meticulous, in the same way that I am. We take after each other a lot.' When Rabiot returned to the Parc des Princes to face PSG in March, both he and his mother were targeted by abusive chants and banners that made crude references to his late father, who died in 2019. In an Instagram post, Rabiot told PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi: 'You can't buy class.' The Rabiot family subsequently announced their intention to take legal action against those responsible for the abuse, while French Football Federation president Philippe Diallo told AFP the abuse was 'disgraceful and appalling'. Advertisement It is not the first time Veronique has found herself in the spotlight, having long been caricatured in the French media over her uncompromising stewardship of her son's career. Given everything the family has been through, seeing her publicly criticised must hurt. 'Yes, of course,' Rabiot says. 'But whether it's her or me, we've built tough shells. Because in this environment, you have to be armed. 'On that level, she's exceptional too because she doesn't let anything get in, she's focused on her objectives, and it doesn't matter what people might be saying around her. 'If she's convinced that something is the right choice and she's doing the right thing, she'll do it and she won't be intimidated by what's happening externally. 'You have to have a rock-solid mindset, and she does, notably because of the things we've been through together in our family. They are things that have forged us, and on that level, she's unbeatable.'
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Sky Sports: United ‘expecting offers' for Solskjaer signing with ‘all parties' leaning towards permanent sale
In what'll come as no surprise to any Manchester United fan, Borussia Dortmund have established their interest in another deal for Jadon Sancho. With essentially every club across the continent well aware of the player's situation, United are now 'expecting offers' (Sky Sports) for Sancho in hopes of offloading him as swiftly as possible following his recent return. Advertisement It comes after Chelsea decided against making his loan permanent last week, instead opting to pay a £5 million penalty to bypass their £25m obligation-to-buy clause. Reports suggested talks had taken place to try and negotiate a lower wage packet for the winger, but he was reluctant to budge in his demands. INEOS made to go back to drawing board over Jadon Sancho's future Sancho spent 2024/2025 on loan with the Blues. (Photo by) Alas, Sancho and United are now back to square one in regards to his future. He hasn't played a competitive game for the club since the Community Shield final last August, after which he was omitted from the opening games of the Premier League campaign until he departed for Stamford Bridge. Advertisement The 25-year-old most recently represented Dortmund in the second half of 2023/2024 in the aftermath of his fallout with Erik ten Hag. He reached the Champions League final with the side before they were comfortably overturned by Real Madrid and, like Chelsea, were unwilling to pay up and retain him on a long-term basis. Sancho awaiting approaches from suitors Sancho has enjoyed a slightly revived run of form in London, although his value is nowhere near what it was when he was in his final year with Dortmund. He had quickly made a name for himself as one of Europe's hottest prospects — hence the Reds forking out a ludicrous £73m to add him to the ranks in 2021. Sky's report adds that the Bundesliga outfit would be seeking a deal similar to the one they signed off on in January 2024. However, this won't appeal to United, who are keen to get him off the books once and for all. Advertisement 'All parties' are said to be favouring a permanent sale this summer, with Sancho now also in the final year of his lucrative contract. More Stories / Latest News Sky Sports: United 'expecting offers' for Solskjaer signing with 'all parties' leaning towards permanent sale Jun 9 2025, 6:30 Amorim fears imminent managerial change may sabotage Man Utd's £60m plans Jun 8 2025, 7:16 Not only Amad – Another two Man United must adjust to new roles after double coup Jun 7 2025, 17:51
New York Times
4 hours ago
- New York Times
What next for Jadon Sancho?
When Manchester United signed Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £73million in 2021, he was so highly thought of that many believed United had got the forward for a relative bargain. But fast forward to 2025 and Chelsea have just paid a £5million ($6.8m) penalty clause to United rather than continue to negotiate personal terms with Sancho to make a proposed £24m loan move permanent. A lot of money has changed hands for Sancho's services over the past five years. Unfortunately, the forward has been unable to find a settled environment. Advertisement Aged 25 and separated from the weight of expectation and hype that followed his early years, his football career has reached another crossroads. The version of United that Sancho left last summer is different to the one that is there now. Erik ten Hag — with whom he publicly fell out — is no longer at Old Trafford, and his successor as head coach, Ruben Amorim, favours a 3-4-3 tactical shape that Sancho has limited experience playing in. There's a talented football player within Sancho, but he will need to find a team that will help him flourish. Where could he head next? The Athletic takes a look. Sancho's Chelsea spell showed glimpses of the situations he thrives in. Despite head coach Enzo Maresca's quest for control through measured build-up, Chelsea defaulted to quickening the pace when backed into a corner. This resulted in more open games where Sancho looked at home. The Conference League final against Real Betis, when he was brought on with Chelsea trailing 1-0, was one example. With Maresca's side overturning the deficit with two goals in five minutes, Betis' chase for an equaliser kept the game open, and Sancho scored. In the Premier League, three of Sancho's 12 shots across 31 matches came from fast breaks (defined by Opta as a shot created by a team winning the ball in their own half). He scored in the 5-1 win at Southampton, saw his effort saved by Alisson at Liverpool, and shot wide against West Ham United. Sancho struggled when Chelsea went up against low blocks due to his tendency to drift wide, as he does not have the pace to carry the ball for long distances without giving defenders a chance. He averaged 5.3 take-ons per 90 minutes with a reasonable success rate of 42 per cent, but ranked third-from-last among wingers in winning fouls, at just 0.6 per 90. Too many of his dribbles were aimless or ended in backwards passes. Sancho possesses other useful traits, such as his positioning to receive and control long passes when Chelsea attempted to speed things up, as he does below against Brentford. Sancho looked at his best when attacking defences that were shifting over following a switch of play. His pressing and defensive effort improved during the season, too. Maresca continued to select Sancho as a result, but paired him with another winger on the left in the latter stages of the season. Often, this was Cole Palmer, with the increased attention he received giving Sancho space out wide to receive passes, as below against Fulham. The other concern with Sancho was the lack of runs in behind due to his preference to stay wide. That, combined with his reduced creativity and lack of shooting, meant he had a habit of drifting in and out of games. For all of Sancho's creative talents, his lack of explosive pace limits his suitability for top Premier League teams. The 25-year-old's difficulty when carrying the ball across longer distances means he is best deployed ahead of an athletic full-back who can provide overlapping runs. In Sancho's best years at Dortmund, when playing on the right, he was paired with Achraf Hakimi and Thomas Meunier. The runs of both helped eke out space for Sancho during one-v-one duels against defenders, from which he would then look to attack the half spaces. Advertisement In 2023, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer explained some of Sancho's early difficulties at Old Trafford. 'When he arrived, he had to go to hospital and that was a setback. He's immensely talented and we haven't seen the best of him. I hope we do, but he prefers to play left wing… where Marcus (Rashford) plays.' United lacked the right-backs to help Sancho bypass Premier League defences, so he preferred to play on the left, where Luke Shaw operated. This left-sided orientation continued to a degree at Chelsea due to their assortment of full-backs. He was tested in central areas for United (as an attacking midfielder and as a false nine), but he was not a prolific creator. Sancho's lack of defensive intensity compared to other Premier League leading lights (Bruno Fernandes, Martin Odegaard, Anthony Gordon) makes him an awkward fit with teams wishing to compete in the Champions League. His runs in behind have decreased in recent seasons and combined with his reduced creativity and lack of shooting, he tends to drift in and out of games, where top Premier League sides want their wide players to be assertive in all phases of play. It is unlikely, but not impossible, that Sancho will be retained for United's 2025-26 season. If he were to play under Amorim, he would best fit into one of the 'No 10' (attacking midfield) positions. However, the addition of Matheus Cunha and pursuit of Bryan Mbeumo suggest Sancho is not at the forefront of Amorim's thinking. Sancho is not the strongest, fastest or most aggressive player in an attack. He tries to be the quickest thinker on the pitch and prospers when having team-mates who can respond to his wavelength and do his heavy running. A move away from the Premier League would be ideal for Sancho given his struggles in England. That said, finances will be restrictive. He could follow the path taken by Antony, who found his best form on loan at Real Betis in the second half of last season. Villarreal is an option in La Liga, with reports in Spain suggesting left-winger Alex Baena could depart this summer. Villarreal secured a Champions League spot by playing fast-paced football under head coach Marcelino. As the graph below shows, they ranked second in shots from fast breaks across the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and Serie A — behind only Liverpool. Advertisement Opta defines a fast break as 'an attempt created after the defensive team quickly turn defence into attack after winning the ball in their own half' Villarreal left-back Sergi Cardona overlaps to good effect and would, in theory, dovetail well with Sancho. An alternative would be Lyon of France's Ligue 1, who will need attacking reinforcements this summer. Manchester City are hopeful of signing Rayan Cherki, while Alexandre Lacazette will depart the Ligue 1 side at the end of his contract. Lyon favour a slower possession style than Villarreal, but are not averse to speeding things up, scoring a league-high eight goals from 'direct attacks' (defined as open-play sequences starting just inside the team's own half and moving at least 50 per cent towards the opposition's goal before ending in a shot or a touch in the opposition's box). If Georges Mikautadze becomes Lyon's starting centre-forward following Lacazette's departure, his tendency to drift to the left should give Sancho the kind of support he received from Palmer at Chelsea. Sancho would have big shoes to fill, though. Cherki, who made a remarkable cameo for France as a substitute against Spain, recorded 32 goal contributions in 44 matches in the 2024-25 season. Milan are another option for Sancho. The Italian side finished eighth in Serie A in 2024-25 and will be undergoing another transitional period following the dismissal of head coach Sergio Conceicao. Massimiliano Allegri will be Milan's manager for the upcoming season and the 57-year-old has a reputation for sacrificing individual attacking brio for collective defensive solidity. If Sancho wants to follow a similar path to Kyle Walker, Fikayo Tomori, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham, there is scope for him as a squad option at the Italian club. It would not be a seamless tactical fit, especially if Theo Hernandez departs the club this summer, as many expect. Alex Jimenez is a young but promising full-back who could offer some of Hernandez's attacking output, but Allegri may be reluctant to commit a defender forward to get the most out of Sancho. Advertisement The development of Davide Bartesaghi adds a further wrinkle. Allegri's history with three at the back could see Sancho deployed as a No 10. Milan would be the most left-field option for Sancho. The potential sale of Tijjani Reijnders to Manchester City and growing interest in goalkeeper Mike Maignan suggest another summer of upheaval for them. A Sancho arrival would also require him to share playing time with the superlative Rafael Leao if he wishes to play on the left. Could Borussia Dortmund go for a third reunion? With Chelsea submitting a proposal to sign Jamie Gittens and a seven-year contract agreed, there would be an opening on the left. Dortmund is the closest thing Sancho has to a footballing home. He was one of the world's best young players before his 2021 departure to United, and during his six-month loan in 2023-24, he helped in their journey to the Champions League final. The curious element of Sancho's return to Dortmund last year came in how he played nearly as many Bundesliga games on the right wing (eight) as he did on the left (six). That is partly down to the assortment of full-backs then-coach Edin Terzic paired him with: Meunier on the right and Ian Maatsen (who now plays for Aston Villa) on the left were especially responsive to Sancho's frequent calls for overlapping runs. Sancho played 87 minutes during the 2-0 Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid. The starting line-up on that day looked like this: Since January 2025, Dortmund have been led by head coach Niko Kovac, who switched the team shape to a 3-4-2-1 in early spring. If he continues to do so throughout this summer's Club World Cup and beyond, then Sancho would be best used as a No 10. Kovac favours a more structured attack compared to Terzic. Sancho's want for creative freedom may jar with the 53-year-old's methods. There is also a financial barrier, making a third spell in Germany (or indeed a move to a team in Turkey or Portugal) difficult. Navigating a permanent move away from Old Trafford will likely require a re-evaluation of his wage packet. Sancho appears to be someone who does his best when he is settled. He'll need a new club for next season to deliver on his long-talked-about talent.
