Latest news with #Laporte
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Manchester United have presented their offer for Aymeric Laporte who wants to leave Al-Nassr
Manchester United have presented their offer for Aymeric Laporte who wants to leave Al-Nassr Manchester United could do with defensive reinforcements ahead of the new season, given the departures of Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans. The injury records of Luke Shaw and Matthijs de Ligt are also concerning, while Lisandro Martinez could also be set for a positional change. Advertisement But given the need to strengthen up top, Ruben Amorim is unlikely to have a lot of wriggle room for a new centre-back, which explains the radio silence regarding the club's pursuit of Jarrad Branthwaite. It is likely INEOS will consider a low-cost option, and Football Espana have relayed that the Red Devils have joined the race for Al-Nassr's Aymeric Laporte. Aymeric Laporte wants to return to Europe United fans will remember him well, from his time with Manchester City where he won six Premier League titles and a Champions League. The Spain international is looking for a way out of the Saudi Pro League after spending two seasons with Cristiano Ronaldo's side, and he is prioritising a return to Europe. Advertisement While his former club Athletic Club were looking at a potential cut-price €10 million deal for the 31-year-old, Al-Nassr will try and recoup as close to the €27 million they paid for him in 2023. The report suggests the 20-time English league champions have presented their offer to the defender's agent, while Chelsea have joined the race as well. Laporte has offer from United The likes of Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, Napoli are also monitoring proceedings with interest. 'Chelsea are interested in Laporte! The defender has offers from Manchester United, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, and Napoli.' His winning mentality could be worth adding to the United dressing room, but INEOS have refrained from stop-gap deals since coming in. Advertisement Aymeric Laporte has struggled in the Middle East, which has also seen him lose his place in the Spanish national team. For the fee being quoted, it makes little sense for United to pursue his signing. Feature image Stuart Franklin via Getty Images Follow us on Bluesky: @
Scottish Sun
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
World's third-highest paid defender set to be unemployed after ripping up £390k contract with Cristiano Ronaldo's side
AYMERIC LAPORTE is set to become unemployed after ripping up his contract at Al-Nassr. The former Manchester City star is the third-highest-paid defender in the world with a weekly paycheck of £390,000. 2 Aymeric Laporte could be set to leave Al-Nassr Credit: Getty 2 He joined the club back in 2023 from Manchester City Credit: Getty Only former Chelsea flop Kalidou Koulibaly and Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk earn more than the Spaniard. Koulibaly is on an eye-watering £553,225-per-week at Al-Hilal while Van Dijk recently signed a £400,000-per-week deal at Anfield. Laporte, 30, made the move to Saudi Arabia in 2023 and has made 69 appearances for the club. He signed a three-year deal with Al-Nassr that was due to expire in 2026. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL GOING WITH THE FLO City close to most expensive EVER Prem deal as Wirtz jets in for talks However, he could walk away from the club and his mega salary before it ends. AS has reported that Laporte has had a "difficult relationship" with manager Stefano Pioli. He was left out of the squad for Al-Nassr's Asian Champions League semi-final defeat against Kawasaki Frontale. Laporte will not be short of options should he leave the club in the coming days. JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS Real Madrid were previously linked with a move for Laporte before he left Man City. The LaLiga giants are again in the market for a defender but are more likely to swoop for a younger player. Cristiano Ronaldo Jr, 14, given dad's number and copies iconic pose as he makes Portugal debut with grandma watching Elsewhere, Ligue 1 outfit Marseille are among the favourites to snatch up the 40-capped ace. Laporte has been joined by some star names at Al-Nassr such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Jhon Duran and Marcelo Brozovic. Meanwhile, he has previously admitted to making the move to Riyadh for non-footballing reasons. He said: "To be honest, many of us have also come here not only for football. "Many of us are happy with that, but I am also looking for something beyond that is not the economic part and such. "In terms of quality of life, I expected something different because in the end here you spend three hours a day in the car. "Riyadh is a waste of traffic, of time wasted in the car."
The Irish Sun
14-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
World's third-highest paid defender set to be unemployed after ripping up £390k contract with Cristiano Ronaldo's side
AYMERIC LAPORTE is set to become unemployed after ripping up his contract at Al-Nassr. The former Advertisement 2 Aymeric Laporte could be set to leave Al-Nassr Credit: Getty 2 He joined the club back in 2023 from Manchester City Credit: Getty Only former Koulibaly is on an eye-watering £553,225-per-week at Al-Hilal while Van Dijk recently signed a £400,000-per-week deal at Anfield. Laporte, 30, He signed a three-year deal with Advertisement READ MORE IN FOOTBALL However, he could walk away from the club and his mega salary before it ends. He was left out of the squad for Al-Nassr's Asian Champions League semi-final defeat against Kawasaki Frontale. Advertisement Most read in Football Exclusive Exclusive Latest JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS The LaLiga giants are again in the market for a defender but are more likely to swoop for a younger player. Cristiano Ronaldo Jr, 14, given dad's number and copies iconic pose as he makes Portugal debut with grandma watching Elsewhere, Ligue 1 outfit Marseille are among the favourites to snatch up the 40-capped ace. Advertisement Laporte has been joined by some star names at Al-Nassr such as Meanwhile, he has previously He said: "To be honest, many of us have also come here not only for football. "Many of us are happy with that, but I am also looking for something beyond that is not the economic part and such. Advertisement "In terms of quality of life, I expected something different because in the end here you spend three hours a day in the car. "Riyadh is a waste of traffic, of time wasted in the car." Laporte's career by numbers Here is a look at Aymeric Laporte's career... Club Athletic Bilbao, 2012–2018 Appearances - 222 Goals - 10 Manchester City, 2018–2023 Appearances - 180 Goals - 12 Al-Nassr , 2023-present Appearances - 69 Goals - 9 International Spain , 2021-present Caps - 40 Goals - 2 Honours: Supercopa de Espana x1, Premier League x5, FA Cup x2, EFL Cup x3, Community Sheild x1, Champions League x1, Uefa Super Cup x1, Euros x1, Nations League x1
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Wait for Vatican white smoke fires up social media
Social media is buzzing ahead of the Vatican conclave to elect a new pope after Pope Francis's death. Young people are especially engaged, drawn to the ceremony's secrecy and spectacle. Online games, viral videos, and digital-savvy cardinals have turned the event into a global cultural and digital phenomenon. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads ype has been building on social media around the Catholic Church's secretive, centuries-old tradition of conclaves to elect a new pope, animating users from the White House on President Donald Trump on Saturday posted an apparently AI-generated image of himself wearing papal vestments and sitting on a throne, one finger directed to the striking picture was the most notorious among thousands that have bubbled up since the death of Pope Francis on April 21 and ahead of the cardinals' gathering from than 1.3 million tweets have been published on X about the conclave, according to monitoring platform Visibrain, while TikTok videos on the topic have been viewed over 363 million times on the network with unparallelled reach among the passionate pope-watchers can fire up online game "Fantapapa" to pick their favourite cardinals and make predictions for the next pontiff in a style similar to sports mystery, pomp and ritual around the conclave -- from the opulent Sistine Chapel surroundings to the ethereal black or white smoke signalling ballot results -- "lends itself to the narrative formats of social networks" said Refka Payssan, a researcher in information and communication sciences."A conclave means both gilt, protocol, ceremony, but also secrecy and mystery" cannily nurtured by the Vatican, agreed Stephanie Laporte, founder of digital strategy consultancy OTTA."Young people love to speculate" about outcomes, Laporte added."Everyone on social networks has an opinion and everyone wants to decode the news, look for clues, know which cardinal will become the pope. It's almost like an 'escape game'," she noted that the conclave fires up the "curiosity of seeing history happen live", marking a rare event -- the first in 12 years -- with potential global if not Catholic themselves, "young people are very conscious of the pope's influence on hundreds of millions, even billions of people, whether it's in his stance on contraception or the environment," Laporte fever is also a reflection of the Vatican's successful turn to digital communications in recent years to build bonds with younger by Benedict XVI in 2012 but mostly used by Francis, the papal X account @pontifex reaches 50 million followers across its nine Francis's own Instagram account had more than 10 million Church has backed many cardinals' own ventures into the digital realm, with some becoming bona fide internet York prelate Timothy Dolan has been publishing videos about the run-up to the conclave to his almost 300,000 X followers and 55,000 on Instagram -- without giving away any sensitive Philippine cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has made his mark online with karaoke videos, tallying 600,000 Facebook snapshots are in the mix, with Tokyo's archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi posting a photo with colleagues from the bus on the way to pray at Francis's "are absolutely fascinating personalities who've taken their place in pop culture," firing public enthusiasm for the event, Laporte fascination has been stoked by pop culture blockbusters like Dan Brown's novel "Angels and Demons", adapted for film in 2009, or the acclaimed thriller "Conclave" released this year, based on a book by novelist Robert Harris.
Kuwait Times
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Kuwait Times
Wait for Vatican white smoke fires up social media
PARIS: Hype has been building on social media around the Catholic Church's secretive, centuries-old tradition of conclaves to elect a new pope, animating users from the White House on down. US President Donald Trump on Saturday posted an apparently AI-generated image of himself wearing papal vestments and sitting on a throne, one finger directed to the heavens. The striking picture was the most notorious among thousands that have bubbled up since the death of Pope Francis on April 21 and ahead of the cardinals' gathering from Wednesday. More than 1.3 million tweets have been published on X about the conclave, according to monitoring platform Visibrain, while TikTok videos on the topic have been viewed over 363 million times on the network with unparalleled reach among the young. Particularly passionate pope-watchers can fire up online game 'Fantapapa' to pick their favorite cardinals and make predictions for the next pontiff in a style similar to sports betting. Pomp and secrecy The mystery, pomp and ritual around the conclave — from the opulent Sistine Chapel surroundings to the ethereal black or white smoke signaling ballot results — 'lends itself to the narrative formats of social networks' said Refka Payssan, a researcher in information and communication sciences. 'A conclave means both gilt, protocol, ceremony, but also secrecy and mystery' cannily nurtured by the Vatican, agreed Stephanie Laporte, founder of digital strategy consultancy OTTA. 'Young people love to speculate' about outcomes, Laporte added. 'Everyone on social networks has an opinion and everyone wants to decode the news, look for clues, know which cardinal will become the pope. It's almost like an 'escape game',' she suggested. Payssan noted that the conclave fires up the 'curiosity of seeing history happen live', marking a rare event — the first in 12 years — with potential global consequences. Even if not Catholic themselves, 'young people are very conscious of the pope's influence on hundreds of millions, even billions of people, whether it's in his stance on contraception or the environment,' Laporte said. Digital turn Conclave fever is also a reflection of the Vatican's successful turn to digital communications in recent years to build bonds with younger generations. Created by Benedict XVI in 2012 but mostly used by Francis, the papal X account @pontifex reaches 50 million followers across its nine languages. And Francis's own Instagram account had more than 10 million followers. The Church has backed many cardinals' own ventures into the digital realm, with some becoming bona fide internet stars. New York prelate Timothy Dolan has been publishing videos about the run-up to the conclave to his almost 300,000 X followers and 55,000 on Instagram — without giving away any sensitive information. Moderate Philippine cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has made his mark online with karaoke videos, tallying 600,000 Facebook followers. Selfie snapshots are in the mix, with Tokyo's archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi posting a photo with colleagues from the bus on the way to pray at Francis' grave. Cardinals 'are absolutely fascinating personalities who've taken their place in pop culture,' firing public enthusiasm for the event, Laporte said. That fascination has been stoked by pop culture blockbusters like Dan Brown's novel 'Angels and Demons', adapted for film in 2009, or the acclaimed thriller 'Conclave' released this year, based on a book by novelist Robert Harris. — AFP
