Mo Salah hints at Liverpool exit after inflicting more misery on United in Premier League rout

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their third goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League. (Reuters)
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring their third goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 01 September 2024
Follow

Mo Salah hints at Liverpool exit after inflicting more misery on United in Premier League rout

Mo Salah hints at Liverpool exit after inflicting more misery on United in Premier League rout
  • Salah has less than a year left to run on his contract at Anfield
  • A year ago Liverpool reportedly rejected a bid of £150 million from Al-Ittihad

MANCHESTER: Mohamed Salah hinted this will be his final season at Liverpool after scoring his 15th goal against Manchester United in a resounding 3-0 win for the visitors at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Salah has less than a year left to run on his contract at Anfield and said no discussions have taken place with the club on extending his deal.
The Egyptian has written himself into the record books of the English giants, scoring 214 goals since joining in 2017.
“I had a good summer and had a long time to myself to try to stay positive because as you know it’s my last year at the club,” Salah told Sky Sports.
“I just want to enjoy it and I don’t want to think about it. I feel like I’m free to play football and then we’ll see what happens next year.”
Salah set up two goals for Luis Diaz before extending his record as the top goalscorer in meetings between United and Liverpool by scoring for the seventh consecutive game at Old Trafford.
“To be fair I was coming to the game, it could be the last time (playing at Old Trafford),” he said.
“Nobody in the club has talked to me about contracts. It is not up to me, it is up to the club.”
Salah signed a three-year deal in 2022 that reportedly made him the highest paid player in the club’s history, worth more than £18 million ($24 million) a year.
But he has been consistently linked with a lucrative move to the Saudi Pro League.
A year ago Liverpool reportedly rejected a bid of £150 million from Al-Ittihad.
The 32-year-old is just one of three major Liverpool players out of contract at the end of the season, along with captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
However, on the field all is well for the Reds as new manager Arne Slot has made a serene start to the daunting task of replacing Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool have won their first three Premier League games without conceding to sit behind Manchester City at the top of the table on goals scored.
“It’s a great result. Everyone knows it’s very important for the city and for the fans — and for the manager with his first game in here,” added Salah.
“We’re so happy for the result. If you want to fight for the league this is the sort of game you need to win. I’m glad we managed to win it.
“The manager likes us to press high. We scored from all those situations.
“There’s not a big difference from Jurgen at the start and in time we’ve changed the system a little with the way we play. We’re adapting.”


Chelsea not ready for Premier League title tilt, says Maresca

Chelsea not ready for Premier League title tilt, says Maresca
Updated 1 min 18 sec ago
Follow

Chelsea not ready for Premier League title tilt, says Maresca

Chelsea not ready for Premier League title tilt, says Maresca
“I really don’t think we can compete with City and Arsenal,” Enzo Maresca said
“The reason why is that City are working with the same manager for nine years, Arsenal for five years“

LONDON: Enzo Maresca says Chelsea are not ready to compete with Manchester City and Arsenal for the Premier League title despite their impressive start to the season.
The Blues are fourth in the table and, with 15 goals, are the division’s top scorers after winning four of their six league games under the Italian.
Cole Palmer, who scored four first-half goals against Brighton last week, is one of the form players in the top-flight.
Maresca demonstrated Chelsea’s enviable strength in depth by fielding an entirely changed starting line-up for Thursday’s 4-2 Europa Conference League win over Gent.
However, three months into his tenure, the former Leicester boss dismissed suggestions Chelsea could challenge the league’s established top two and win a first title since 2017.
“I really don’t think we can compete with City and Arsenal,” he said. “I really think that, because we are not ready.
“The reason why is that City are working with the same manager for nine years, Arsenal for five years. It’s something that if you want to compete for important things, you need that time.”
Chelsea host Nottingham Forest on Sunday seeking their fourth league win in a row.
The mood around the club has been transformed since Forest’s last visit to Stamford Bridge a year ago when they won 1-0 during a poor run for Chelsea, who ultimately finished sixth after a strong finish.
Chelsea have spent lavishly over the past two years, compiling a huge squad with mixed results, but there are signs they may have turned a corner at last.
“When you win games it always creates energy, trust, confidence,” said Maresca. “It’s helping the process.
“But the players are the first to recognize when the team plays well or not. The results are helping but they are convinced because they can see clearly the purpose and identity we have.”

Tennis world number one Iga Swiatek splits with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski

Tennis world number one Iga Swiatek splits with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski
Updated 04 October 2024
Follow

Tennis world number one Iga Swiatek splits with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski

Tennis world number one Iga Swiatek splits with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski
  • The 23-year-old won the French Open and US Open during her first season with Tomasz Wiktorowski
  • The world number one has won five Grand Slam titles including four French Open trophies

WARSAW: World number one Iga Swiatek on Friday confirmed she has split with her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski and as a result would not compete in next week’s WTA tournament in Wuhan, China.
“After three years of the greatest achievements in my career, together with my coach Tomasz Wiktorowski we decided to part ways,” Swiatek wrote on Instagram.
“After an important change in my sports team, I decided to withdraw from the tournament in Wuhan,” she later said in a post on the X account of the Chinese tournament.
“I’m really sorry for fans in China and those who wait to see me play, but I hope you understand that I need some time.”
After her US Open quarter-final defeat in September, Swiatek also withdrew from the prestigious Beijing 1000 WTA tournament in which she was the defending champion citing “personal matters.”
“I want to start with a big thank you and appreciating our work together,” Swiatek said of fellow Pole Wiktorowski.
“His experience, analytical and strategic attitude and enormous knowledge about tennis helped us to achieve things I’ve never dreamed of only a few months after we started working together.”
Swiatek said she has held “first talks” with possible new coaches, adding: “I’m ready to take the next step of my career. I will let you know when I make a decision.”
The 23-year-old won the French Open and US Open during her first season with Wiktorowski, and has held the world number one ranking since November 2023.
She has won five Grand Slam titles including four French Open trophies.


Top seed Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing last eight

Top seed Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing last eight
Updated 04 October 2024
Follow

Top seed Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing last eight

Top seed Sabalenka stunned by Muchova in Beijing last eight
  • World number two Aryna Sabalenka was on a streak of 15 victories in a row
  • She won titles in Cincinnati and then the US Open for the first time

BEIJING: The 49th-ranked Karolina Muchova stunned top seed Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to reach the China Open semifinals on Friday.
The Czech player won 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 6-4 and faces China’s Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen or 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva for a place in the final.
Last year’s US Open champion Coco Gauff plays Spain’s former world number two Paula Badosa in the other semifinal in Beijing.
World number two Sabalenka was on a streak of 15 victories in a row, claiming titles in Cincinnati and then the US Open for the first time.
The Belarusian previously had trouble though with Muchova, who this time last year was inside the top 10 before injury struck.
US Open semifinalist Muchova had won the last two meetings between them with both going to a deciding set.
This encounter proved to be just as tight as Sabalenka’s hopes of usurping Iga Swiatek at the top of the rankings took an unexpected hit, having been a break up at 4-2 in the deciding set and seemingly on course for the last four.
“The conditions here are so tough, it can go one way or the other. There was a couple of great returns from her, she got the momentum and started playing more aggressively,” said Sabalenka, who will play at the Wuhan Open next week.
“It was a really high-level match and she played some unbelievable tennis.”
Three-time major champion Sabalenka faced three break points at the start but she held firm, then had a sniff herself on her opponent’s serve at 2-1, but Muchova similarly refused to buckle.
The hard-hitting Sabalenka had set point on Muchova’s serve at 5-4 but surrendered the opportunity when she rattled her forehand wide on the Czech’s second serve.
Muchova double-faulted to give Sabalenka another chance to wrap up the first set but again she failed to take it.
The Czech had two set points in the tiebreak and grabbed the second at the end of a thrilling rally to go a set up.
It was the first set 26-year-old Sabalenka had dropped since the third round in New York.
Sabalenka started the second set brightly to break for 2-1 and broke once more on the way to sealing the set with comparative ease.
Neither could hold serve in the deciding set before Muchova, who at one point had appeared to be wilting in the face of her opponent’s superior power, found another gear to clinch the match in two hours, 46 minutes.
This time last year 28-year-old Muchova was ranked ninth in the world having reached the French Open final and semifinals at Flushing Meadows.
But her 2023 season ended after the US Open because of wrist surgery and she did not play for nearly 10 months until returning this summer.
Sabalenka felt she should have been more aggressive in the match, but said: “I was really close to winning today, but things didn’t go my way and I can only be proud of myself,” she said.


Jamal Musiala to miss Bayern Munich and Germany games with hip injury

Jamal Musiala to miss Bayern Munich and Germany games with hip injury
Updated 04 October 2024
Follow

Jamal Musiala to miss Bayern Munich and Germany games with hip injury

Jamal Musiala to miss Bayern Munich and Germany games with hip injury
  • Bayern said Friday that Musiala would be “out for the time being”
  • Musiala had been included in Germany’s squad on Thursday but the team confirmed he would miss upcoming Nations League games

MUNICH: Bayern Munich attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala is set to miss upcoming games for his club and the German national team with a hip injury.
Bayern said Friday that Musiala would be “out for the time being.” Musiala had been included in Germany’s squad on Thursday but the team confirmed he would miss upcoming Nations League games this month against Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Netherlands.
Stuttgart winger Jamie Leweling could make his debut for Germany after he was called up to replace Musiala.
Musiala played the entire second half of Bayern’s 1-0 loss to Aston Villa in the Champions League on Wednesday, the first loss of new coach Vincent Kompany’s time in charge. Bayern leads the Bundesliga ahead of playing Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.


EU’s top court says some FIFA rules on international transfers are contrary to the bloc’s law

EU’s top court says some FIFA rules on international transfers are contrary to the bloc’s law
Updated 04 October 2024
Follow

EU’s top court says some FIFA rules on international transfers are contrary to the bloc’s law

EU’s top court says some FIFA rules on international transfers are contrary to the bloc’s law
  • The court’s ruling came after former France international Lassana Diarra legally challenged FIFA rules following a dispute with a club

LUXEMBOURG: The European Union’s top court said Friday that some FIFA rules on player transfers can conflict with European Union legislation relating to competition and freedom of movement.
The court’s ruling came after former France international Lassana Diarra legally challenged FIFA rules following a dispute with a club dating back to a decade ago.
Diarra had signed a four-year contract with Lokomotiv Moscow in 2013. The deal was terminated a year later after Diarra was unhappy with alleged pay cuts.
Lokomotiv Moscow applied to the FIFA dispute resolution chamber for compensation and the player submitted a counterclaim seeking compensation for unpaid wages. The Court of Arbitration for Sport found the Russian club terminated the contract with Diarra “with just cause” and the player was ordered to pay 10.5 million euros ($11.2 million).
Diarra claimed his search for a new club was hampered by FIFA rules stipulating that any new side would be jointly responsible with him for paying compensation to Lokomotiv.
“The rules in question are such as to impede the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club,” the court said in a statement.
The former Real Madrid player also argued that a potential deal with Belgian club Charleroi fell through because of the FIFA rules, and sued FIFA and the Belgian federation at a Belgian court for damages and loss of earnings of six million euros ($7 million). With the lawsuit still going through Belgian courts, the case was referred to the European Court of Justice for a ruling.
The Diarra case, which is supported by the global players’ union FIFPro, went through FIFA judicial bodies before the 2016 election of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has made it a priority to modernize transfer market rules.