Sports Burst – Megastars On The Move
Superstar transfer talk, Neymar going nowhere and Ramos v Ronaldo.
By Tim Stannard
1) Unai Emery refutes Real Madrid Neymar talk
It is as if there was some kind of collusion going on. Well, that is apparently word of the year, anyway.
By some kind of Manafort-esque clickbait, collusion coincidence, the three biggest stars of the beautiful game all appear to have their immediate futures very much up in the air. And to some degree, in varying degrees of veracity.
Leo Messi is a month-and-a-half away from being able to speak to any club he wants with his Barcelona contract running out in June. And that is admittedly very fishy indeed. Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly (still, again, forever) unhappy at Real Madrid and looking for a Manchester United exit next summer. And now it’s Neymar. Always Neymar.
The evidence to support a new media concoction that the Brazilian is already looking to escape PSG, despite only just putting his Demi Lovato photos in his training room locker, is that the footballer is not keen on Unai Emery’s tactical talks. The evidence to the contrary is fairly huge, including a fairly public smile-fest between the pair at Thursday’s PSG training and a declaration from Emery that Neymar is still his star pupil. “He's happy when he plays, and I'm the same.”
If the notion that Neymar was leaving PSG already wasn’t provocative enough, then the extra spice has been added that the footballer could be heading to Real Madrid. The fuel to fire up this conflagration is the Spanish press asking Madrid players at any opportunity about the possibility and the aforementioned footballers politely indicating that all great players are welcome at the Bernabeu. Dani Ceballos was just the latest. It’s another story that the PSG boss has had to poo-poo. We all want him to stay and he will stay,” sighed Unai.
Tune into beIN SPORTS 3 on Saturday from 10:45AM / 7:45AM PT to see PSG and Neymar take on Claudio Ranieri’s Nantes.
2) Coach Zizou says no Ramos-Ronaldo rift
So, onto Cristiano Ronaldo, who despite not playing for a fortnight is very much in the forefront of the media as ever.
The latest story is a ‘locker room fallout’ with Sergio Ramos after the Spanish player pushed back at the opinion of Ronaldo that the Real Madrid squad had been weakened over the summer with the departures of Pepe, James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata. Coach Zizou was called into action on Friday to wearily deny that the Real Madrid training ground was more like the backstage of a Real Housewives reunion show.
Talking ahead of the derby against Atletico Madrid on Saturday – coverage on beIN SPORTS from 2:00PM ET / 11AM PT – the Real Madrid manager claimed that all was quiet on the in-fighting front. “There is a lot of noise around this club, a lot can happen and a lot can be said...there's no problem between them.”
Meanwhile, Ronaldo has responded to HATERS who say that the footballer is in bad form this season with just the single goal in La Liga. "I accept the criticism, but I don't agree with it,” said the Portuguese poacher to L’Equipe.
Tune into the Locker Room from 7:30PM / 4:30PM for a full look at who will come out on top on Saturday when two Madrid tribes go to war and hopefully more than one is all that they can score.
3) Aubameyang mystified by Dortmund dumping
Elsewhere in the wacky world of soccer, more problems at a beleaguered Borussia Dortmund, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, admitting that he is baffled by being dropped for Friday’s Bundesliga clash against Stuttgart for “disciplinary reasons.” "I didn't turn up late for training,” was the reported quote from Bild. Dortmund have lost three from their last four league games.
Carlo Ancelotti could reportedly be tempted into taking on the Italy job, provided that certain institutional reforms are made in the Italian game.
And Kaka could one day pull a Zizou and end up managing his former club Milan – which could be sooner rather than later. The out-of-contract Brazilian even said it himself. “Coaching Milan? Why not? I still have Milan in my heart, like all the clubs I’ve played for. My door is open to everyone.” Milan are half of a Super Serie A Saturday on beIN SPORTS with the Rome derby at 12:00PM ET / 9AM PT before table-topping Napoli taking on the struggling Milanese outfit.
4) Mad Marcelo in another to chance to save job at Lille
Club football is back with a bang on Friday.
The aforementioned Borussia Dortmund – and Christian Pulisic – are just one of a host of top games. Pretty much all on beIN SPORTS, starting off with Turkish League action and Besiktas needing to gain ground on Galatasary with a win over Akhisar Belediyespor. That clash gets underway on beIN SPORTS 4 from 11:45AM ET / 8:45AM PT.
Later on, it’s the turn of the Ligue Un. Struggling Lille under Marcelo ‘El Loco’ Bielsa are at home to St. Etienne at 1PM ET / 10AM PT on beIN SPORTS 4, followed by the mighty Monaco at Amiens which takes pride of place on beIN SPORTS at 2:45PM ET / 11:45AM PT.
La Liga has the very tempting clash between Girona and Real Sociedad live on beIN SPORTS Espanyol at 3PM ET / 12PM PT.
Tune into the XTRA live at 7PM ET / 4PM PT for all the best goals and action from around the world.
WHAT IS SPORTS BURST?
The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. SB is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time.