Latest news with #Champions League
Al Arabiya
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Real Madrid Star Jude Bellingham Undergoes Shoulder Injury and Set to Miss Early Part of Season
Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham underwent shoulder surgery Wednesday and was expected to miss the start of the upcoming season. The club said in a brief statement that the England international needed surgery to address recurrent dislocation of his left shoulder. The procedure was successful, it added. Bellingham will now undergo a period of rehabilitation prior to returning to training and starting his recovery, the club's statement said. Madrid did not say for how long Bellingham will be sidelined, but Spanish media reported he could be out two to three months. Madrid opens its La Liga campaign on Aug. 19 against Osasuna. He is also expected to miss some Champions League games and likely England's World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia in September. The 22-year-old Bellingham had been nursing the shoulder injury since 2023 but was delaying the surgery to avoid missing time with Madrid and England. He had been able to play while wearing a brace. Bellingham played at the Club World Cup in finishing his second season with Madrid after joining from Borussia Dortmund.
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Man City sign record-breaking £1bn kit deal extension with Puma
Manchester City have struck a £1bn deal with Puma for the biggest kit sponsorship contract in Premier League history. The 2023 Champions League winners will earn around £100m a year from the sportswear company in a long-term agreement that will last at least a decade. It marks a big increase on City's previous deal with Puma, which was signed in 2019 and was worth £65m a year to the former Premier League champions. And it provides a boost to Pep Guardiola's transfer funds after the City manager has spent around £300m already in 2025 in acquiring eight new signings. The deal is the first £1bn kit deal in English football and the biggest in Premier League history, with the potential £100m in annual earnings well above the deals offered to rival clubs. Earlier this year, Liverpool agreed a deal with Adidas worth £60m per season, while in 2023 Manchester United signed a 10-year contract with Adidas that is worth around £900m. While City's deal promises a record annual fee, it is unclear whether Puma are guaranteeing the nine-figure annual sum or if it is dependent on performance. Teams regularly sign deals that are somewhat dependent on their performance, with Man Utd's aforementioned deal meaning the club are receiving £10m less this season as a result of missing out on Champions League football. Since City started wearing Puma kits in 2019, they have won four Premier League titles and did a treble in 2022-23. Puma chief executive Arthur Hoeld said: 'Puma's partnership with Manchester City has been a great success both on and off the pitch. Trophies, a perfect stage for our performance products and commercial success were exceptional.' The new deal also includes City's women and youth sides while other clubs in the City Football Group have separate agreements with Puma.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Europa League place 'a welcome distraction from transfer woes'
The selfish decision would have been to hope Manchester City won the FA Cup. But who could deny the football romantic's dream of Crystal Palace finally winning a major trophy? If Pep Guardiola's side had lifted the cup on 17 May then Nottingham Forest, already guaranteed European football, would have gained a place in the Europa League without all the furore that has followed.I, for one, was happy that the Eagles had some silverware in their cabinet - and hoped Forest would see their own way into the Europa League, or even the Champions League. But at the end of the day - to use a football cliche - it all comes down to merit; you get what you course, if you have broken the rules - inadvertently or not - then you get what you deserve. While it feels cruel to deny Palace what they have achieved, there is a reason Evangelos Marinakis put his shares into a blind trust. The south London club will feel unfairly treated - but only in the same way that it felt when the Reds were docked points last year for falling foul of the PSR is a messy affair and football authorities on both sides of the Channel are not making a lot of friends beyond the top clubs, who are rarely punished in this fashion. But who are we to look a gift horse in the mouth? If Forest are to take Palace's place, then there will no play-offs to navigate next month, with a bigger prize to season, winning the Europa League last season was worth about £26.5m while, in contrast, the Conference League was only just over half at £15m. But beyond revenues, the winner takes a place in the Champions the current Europa League holders, Tottenham Hotspur's new-found wealth has been the cause of anguish at the City Ground this week with a £60m move for Morgan Gibbs-White, following fellow Champions League qualifiers Newcastle United's £55m bid for Anthony Elanga. A place in the Europa League would be a welcome distraction from transfer woes, and something to seriously look forward more from Pat Riddell at The Famous Club, external
New York Times
6 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan dilemma
In early April, Ilkay Gundogan triggered a one-year contract extension after reaching the threshold for the number of games needed to prolong his second stint at the Etihad. The clause had been negotiated in a way that meant only games in which he played at least a full half would count towards that total but, even at 34, the midfielder had no problem in racking up the numbers required. Advertisement On the home straight to Champions League qualification, manager Pep Guardiola leaned heavily on the players he trusted to get Manchester City over the line which meant Gundogan started nine of the final 11 Premier League matches — a record of seven wins and two draws. His contribution to the final-day victory over Fulham cannot be understated as he scored a bicycle kick and produced a roulette spin to win a penalty for the second goal. 21′ ⚽️ @IlkayGuendogan 72′ ⚽️ @ErlingHaaland Highlights from our @premierleague final day win at Fulham 👇 — Manchester City (@ManCity) May 25, 2025 However, his continued inclusion in the team had become a point of contention among the fan base along with other experienced players like Bernardo Silva, who has now been appointed captain, with some viewing the duo as symptomatic of City's loss of athleticism last season. Gundogan has never relied on his legs, though. He is a cerebral player and, at the Club World Cup, his diagonal runs into the box were a key feature of City's best attacking patterns. But with Guardiola on a mission to trim his squad down to a size that will not leave half a dozen spare parts every weekend, Gundogan has been one of the players whose future has been the subject of speculation. Galatasaray, his boyhood club, are an interested party. It is a club he would be open to playing for one day but Gundogan still believes he can feature at the very top level for years more. He publicly stated his desire to stay two weeks ago but with a raft of others also doing so, something has to give. Gundogan's situation will be one to monitor as he is valued by Guardiola and they have spoken about him becoming the Spaniard's assistant when he retires. He already has his UEFA B Coaching License in Germany — the A License is only possible if you are a working assistant — so having a football brain like his around as City attempt to recalibrate their style of play could be important. Advertisement It is why, as long as he feels he has a prominent role to play at City, Gundogan is likely to stay. But will the midfielder's preference be enough if a substantial offer comes in when City are struggling to move on other potential departures? Gundogan's almost blemish-free injury record over the past six years is part of the reasoning behind not wanting to drop down a level yet, an availability supported by lifestyle changes he has made to prolong his career. Towards the end of 2024, he started working with a nutritionist. He now has a personal chef who plans every meal for him — even during the short break between the end of the season and the Club World Cup — and has completely cut sugar out of his diet. The arrival of Tijjani Reijnders from Milan means the 'left eight' role is likely to be occupied by the Dutchman most weeks but, if Rodri needs months to get back up to speed following his ACL injury, it could mean the new signing drops back to holding midfielder and opens up the more advanced role for Gundogan. Guardiola has always preferred to rotate but City need to find a way to stop the counter-attacks that are proving to be their Achilles' heel. Can they do that with Silva and Gundogan in the middle of the pitch? It is a dilemma for Guardiola but consider Gundogan's profile against Mateo Kovacic and weigh up who is more disposable. With Rodri and Nico Gonzalez as holding midfielders, it feels like the Croatian may struggle for game time. City need to find a way of getting players apart from Erling Haaland into double figures in the goals column next season — and Gundogan has proven he can do that in three previous campaigns. The goals dried up last season but with a streamlined role, based on crashing into the penalty box and using his appreciation of space to combine in tight areas, he still has a unique skill set in the squad. Advertisement His return from Barcelona last summer, having only spent a single season in Spain after seven years in England, was a decision Guardiola led. During the crisis months of last season, Gundogan was a considered voice in Guardiola's policy of opening the floor to the room for solutions. Gundogan played an important role in those final weeks of the season as City found their feet again. It would feel like a big loss of experience if he were to follow Kevin De Bruyne out the door this summer but, with over 30 players on City's books, it seems naive to consider any player untouchable.
