Mbappe, Neymar return for PSG as league restarts – Newstrends
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Mbappe, Neymar return for PSG as league restarts

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Mbappe, Neymar

Normal service is set to resume in France on Wednesday with Kylian Mbappe and Neymar both set to feature for leaders Paris Saint-German as they restart their Ligue 1 season, 45 days after it was popped on ice for the World Cup, with a home game against struggling Strasbourg.

Lionel Messi, however, will not be on show in round 16 as he is still at home, celebrating Argentina’s success in the World Cup final in Qatar.

The club, though, has been buoyed by reports last week that the 35-year-old Messi is set to sign a one-year extension to his contract which expires in the summer.

Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final but still ended up on the losing side as France flunked the penalty shoot-out, reported back to training on Wednesday with Achraf Hakimi, one of the stand-outs in Morocco’s run to the semi-finals.

Mbappe, Messi and Hakimi were just three of the 14 Ligue 1 players — from eight different clubs — who reached the semi-finals in Qatar.

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Neymar, whose Brazil crashed out to Croatia in the quarter-finals, was back on Thursday with compatriot Marquinhos, with both expected to play a role in Wednesday’s game at the Parc des Princes.

PSG are currently five points clear of second-placed Lens who they meet in Flanders on Sunday.

Lens, meanwhile, will look to keep up the pressure on PSG going into that game when they head down to Nice on Thursday.

Third-placed Rennes have Croatia’s Lovro Majer and on-loan Wales defender Joe Rodon back from action in Qatar as they head to Reims on Thursday.

“For me, it’s a second season that’s starting up again, with the same uncertainties, the same unknowns before a first league match of the season,” said Rennes manager Bruno Genesio. “We’ll see which teams have best managed this.”

Marseille, who are just one point behind in fourth, host a Toulouse side that is bumping around in mid-table.

Messi is not the only World Cup winner in Ligue 1 — Nicolas Tagliafico has also been enjoying his moment in the sun and will be absent for Lyon’s trip to Brest on Wednesday.

“Tagliafico has become world champion and I take the opportunity to congratulate him,” said Lyon coach Laurent Blanc who took charge in October when Peter Bosz was sacked after a five-match winless run.

“He is due to return on January 1 and he is getting married on the 28th. He has a lot to celebrate at the moment.

“I hope he will come back in good shape. To be a world champion is not nothing. May he come back quickly.”

Lyon are currently eighth in the table, 10 points away from the Champions League places, prompting Blanc to insist that they will need to be busy in the January transfer window if they are to compete.

“We have to improve the team,” he said on Monday. “I am not demanding anything at all. I am telling my owners, my directors, that if we want to achieve our set objectives, we have to improve the squad. That’s all.”

There will also be focus on the relegation zone as bottom side Angers, three points behind Strasbourg, travel to Ajaccio who are only four points and two places above them.

Fixtures

Wednesday (1400 GMT unless stated)

Ajaccio v Angers, Troyes v Nantes, Auxerre v Monaco (1600), Clermont v Lille (1800), Brest v Lyon, Paris Saint-Germain v Strasbourg (both 2000)

Thursday (2000 GMT unless stated)

Lorient v Montpellier (1600), Reims v Rennes (1800), Marseille v Toulouse, Nice v Lens

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Cristiano Ronaldo ventures into movie industry, unveils new studio

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April 11, 2025

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Cristiano Ronaldo ventures into movie industry, unveils new studio

Superstar footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo has announced a  career away from the pitch.

The Portuguese footballer currently plying his trade for Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr, Ronaldo, 40, is opening a new business venture. This will see him partner with filmmaker Matthew Vaughn, 54, the producer of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the director of gangster films such as Snatch, and Layer Cake.

Ronaldo and Vaughn’s collaboration will see them launch a brand named UR MARV, an independent film studio that will focus on ’embracing innovative technology with a nod to tradition’.

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A statement posted to Ronaldo’s official account on X, formerly Twitter, said: ‘Cristiano Ronaldo loves movies; Matthew Vaughn loves sport – and they both love a good story.

‘Both have been disruptive champions at their game and will now combine the world of sport and storytelling through the launch of UR MARV, an independent joint venture film studio embracing innovative technology, with a nod to tradition.’

Vaughan also stated: ‘Cristiano has created stories on the pitch that I could never have written, and I look forward to creating inspiring movies with him – he’s a real-life superhero.’

Cristiano Ronaldo ventures into movie industry, unveils new studio

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Mohamed Salah pens new two-year deal at Liverpool

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15 hours ago

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April 11, 2025

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Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah pens new two-year deal at Liverpool

Mohamed Salah put an end to months of speculation over his future by signing a new two-year contract with Premier League leaders Liverpool on Friday.

Salah, 32, has scored 243 goals in 394 appearances for the Reds since joining from Roma in 2017, making him the club’s third highest goalscorer of all time.

The Egyptian has lifted the Champions League and Premier League trophies during his time at Anfield and has fired Liverpool to the brink of a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title.

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Salah has scored 27 goals and provided 17 assists in the Premier League this season to leave Arne Slot’s side 11 points clear with seven games remaining.

“Of course I’m very excited. We have a great team now. Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies,” Salah said in a club statement.

“It’s great, I had my best years here. I played eight years, hopefully it’s going to be 10. Enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I had the best years in my career.”

 

Mohamed Salah pens new two-year deal at Liverpool

AFP

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Mbappe demands €55m from PSG in unpaid wages

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16 hours ago

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April 11, 2025

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Kylian Mbappe

Mbappe demands €55m from PSG in unpaid wages

France football captain Kylian Mbappe’s legal team has taken fresh legal action against his former club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), over an ongoing salary dispute, demanding €55 million in unpaid wages.

The team has also appealed to the French sports minister and UEFA to intervene, as tensions over the issue continue to mount.

“We’re going to go on the attack,” Mbappe’s lawyer, Delphine Verheyden, declared during a press conference on Thursday.

Although the French League had previously ordered PSG to pay the outstanding amount, the French football federation dismissed Mbappe’s request, citing an active case in a civil court.

In response, Mbappe’s legal representatives approached a Paris court and obtained an order to freeze €55 million from PSG’s accounts.

“We have protectively seized the accounts of PSG, to the tune of 55 million euros, this morning,” explained Thomas Clay, one of the legal experts representing Mbappe.

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PSG has yet to respond to the latest development. However, in October, the club indicated that it might be “forced to bring the case before the competent courts” while still pursuing an “amicable solution” with the player.

Back in January 2023, Mbappe stated that he had reached an agreement with PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi to “protect all parties and preserve the club’s serenity for the challenges ahead.”

Mbappe, who became PSG’s all-time top scorer during his seven-year stint with the club, left as a free agent last year to join Real Madrid. PSG previously claimed that the forward rejected an offer from the LFP to mediate the dispute.

Adding to the legal pressure, another member of the France captain legal team, Pierre-Olivier Sur, revealed that a harassment complaint has been filed, alleging that PSG applied pressure on the player to renew his contract in 2023—just one year before it was due to expire.

PSG, for its part, maintains that Mbappe’s contract was “legally amended” and that he failed to honor certain commitments after deciding to leave for Madrid.

UEFA, while distancing itself from direct involvement, stated its position via a spokesperson: “The case is only indirectly linked with us in terms of possible arrears of payment. If a final decision is taken by the French authorities and confirms that there are indeed arrears … the club would then have to pay the arrears on time or risk non-compliance with financial fair play.”

 

Mbappe demands €55m from PSG in unpaid wages

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