Frenkie de Jong’s long-running contract saga at Barcelona looks set to end after the midfielder appointed a new agent, clearing path for an extension.
De Jong parts ways with long-time agentBarca and midfielder already agreed new termsWill sign new deal until 2028 with option for extra yearFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
The 28-year-old midfielder has been locked in a stalemate with Barcelona over his renewal for months, having entered the final year of his contract. While he and the club had already reached an agreement to extend his stay months ago, the deal stalled because of problems with his former agent, Ali Dursun. According to , De Jong has now cut ties with Dursun and hired a new Dutch representative. The agent has already introduced himself to the club and held initial contact with sporting director Deco to move discussions forward.
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Barcelona had hoped to close De Jong’s extension by June 30 to match the 1:1 spending under La Liga rules, but the standoff with his agent delayed everything. Now, with that issue resolved, the Catalans are confident of tying him down.
The club reportedly offered a two-year extension on top of his current deal, keeping him at Camp Nou until 2028, with an option to extend for another year until 2029. As part of the agreement, De Jong has reportedly agreed to reduce his wages despite being one of La Liga’s top earners. He currently pockets a gross annual salary of €19 million (£16m/$22m), second only to Robert Lewandowski’s €33m (£28m/$38m) package.
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After being sidelined for around six months due to an ankle injury last season, De Jong delivered an impressive second half of the season under Hansi Flick, becoming a key pivot in midfield. Despite competition from Gavi, Marc Casado and Marc Bernal, he is seen as a vital piece of Barca’s rebuild and part of the leadership group. While Barca’s immediate focus has also been on managing registrations and exits, including the futures of Oriol Romeu, Inaki Pena and Hector Fort, the resolution of De Jong’s case now gives the club stability in midfield heading into the new campaign.
Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR FRENKIE DE JONG?
Barcelona kicked off their La Liga season with a 3-0 win over Mallorca on Friday. De Jong started for Hansi Flick’s side and played the full 90 minutes. With his new deal set to run until at least 2028, the Dutch midfielder can now focus fully on leading Barca’s midfield, knowing his long-term future at Camp Nou is finally secure.
Former Premier League striker Kevin Campbell has lauded the team spirit that Ange Postecoglou has created at Celtic this season.
The Lowdown: Ange’s superb first season at Celtic
The 56-year-old took charge at Parkhead last summer and has been an immediate hit for the Hoops, impressing with his all-round management at the club.
Celtic already have a Scottish League Cup to their name and the Premiership title is now within touching distance with three matches remaining.
It has been a wonderful season after the disappointment of last term, and it is now a case of getting the job done to round off a tremendous campaign for the manager and the club.
Celtic’s team spirit has shone through since August, with Kyogo Furuhashi speaking out about the support that he received while he was injured.
Campbell waxed lyrical over that intangible quality to Football Insider as he gushed:
“They clearly have a great dressing room mentality. The team spirit is there. When a player is injured he often feels left out.
“It sounds like the players at Celtic have the right attitude under Postecoglou. The manager has done an excellent job there. Kyogo embodies that. He is a brilliant player and character by the sounds of it.
“The dressing room culture is right at Celtic and that is so important if you want to achieve success.”
The Verdict: Good times for Celtic
It certainly feels as though something potentially special is building at Parkhead, with Postecoglou transforming matters after Neil Lennon’s ill-fated second reign as manager.
The hope is that this is only the beginning, with a likely return to the Champions League next season hugely exciting, not to mention the possibility of new signings that it could attract.
Celtic’s team spirit has increasingly stood out as the season has gone on, as illustrated by the Furuhashi example above, and it is clear that this is a group of players all pulling the same direction. As Campbell has hinted, success can only be achieved if you have that harmony within your group.
In other news, one pundit has dropped a worrying Celtic transfer claim. Read more here.
Manchester United are looking to sign Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite this summer but they are reportedly ready to walk away from the deal.
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Man Utd see Branthwaite bid rejectedEverton want over £70m ($89m) for defenderMan Utd ready to walk away from the dealGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?
Manchester United's rebuild under Sir Jim Ratcliffe's guidance is already underway and they are looking to add a solid centre-back in the form of Branthwaite. The Red Devils have already reportedly agreed personal terms and submitted a bid of £35 million ($44m) last week which was immediately turned down by Everton.
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As per ESPN, Everton value the 21-year-old at around £70 million ($89m). However, that price tag may put off United as they believe it is an unreasonable ask. As per the report, the Red Devils also went on to explain to Everton that they cannot spend £70m the entire summer, let alone on one player.
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United had also targeted Nice centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo this summer and were willing to deal with the Ligue 1 side. However, with the French side also being owned by Ratcliffe and INEOS, they believe that the signing will be blocked by UEFA due to rules about transcations between clubs under the same ownership.
WHAT NEXT FOR MAN UTD?
The Red Devils are also looking to sign a striker as well this summer as they look to back up Rasmus Hojlund with a more experienced option. They may well have to source a cut-price option, however.
The former Madhya Pradesh cricketer has already officiated in 25 ODIs and 12 T20Is
ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2019Nitin Menon will make his debut as a Test umpire when Afghanistan host West Indies in Dehradun from November 27 this year, making him the 62nd Indian to be an on-field official in the longest format.Menon, who represented Madhya Pradesh at the age-group levels as a batsman, had a brief spell in List A cricket, playing two games for Madhya Pradesh in 2004 and scoring just seven runs in total. He then became a state-panel umpire in Madhya Pradesh in 2005, like his father Nadrendra Menon. He cleared the BCCI all-India umpiring exam in 2006 and started officiating in domestic matches from the 2007-08 season.Over the years, Menon has officiated in 57 first-class games and 40 games in the IPL, as well as 25 ODIs (three as TV umpire) and 12 T20Is (three as TV umpire).”The reason behind my smooth transition to international cricket is mainly because of the robust, competitive and professional structure of the BCCI domestic matches,” Menon was quoted as saying on the BCCI website. “The experience that I gained from officiating in our domestic tournaments and the opportunity given to me by the BCCI for officiating in the IPL, as well as in first-class matches in Australia, England and South Africa as part of umpires’ exchange programme, has helped me in my development as an umpire.”I am happy to repay the trust shown in me and looking forward to facing the new challenges of Test cricket so that I can achieve my goal of becoming an ICC Elite Panel umpire.”When he makes his maiden appearance in a Test, Menon will become the first Indian to officiate at that level since S Ravi in October 2013 in Chattogram in a Test between Bangladesh and New Zealand, and also carry forward a long tradition that began with Dattatraya Naik and Jamshed Patel, who stood in the first Test during West Indies’ tour of India in 1948-49 in Delhi.
Celtic have been fairly busy in the summer transfer window as they look to improve their squad ahead of the 2025/26 campaign getting underway next month.
However, there have not been many big splashes in the market for Brendan Rodgers and his side, as the £2m deal to sign Benjamin Nygren is the most they have spent on one player so far.
Benjamin Nygren
The Hoops have brought in Kieran Tierney, Ross Doohan, and Callum Osmand on free transfers, and brought in Shin Yamada and Hayato Inamura in from Japan alongside the move for Nygren.
Celtic may have more work to do yet in the transfer market, potentially with bigger deals made to improve the team, after they were hammered 5-1 by Ajax in their most recent pre-season friendly.
After the match, Rodgers claimed that Celtic need to improve the squad if they really want to be ambitious and progress as a club, which shows what he thinks about what needs to happen in the coming weeks.
You do not just need to bring in big-money players from abroad to significantly improve the squad, though, as the Hoops have had success in the domestic market in the past, perhaps most notably with Scott Brown.
Celtic hit the jackpot with Scott Brown
The Scottish Premiership giants hit the jackpot with the central midfielder because they snapped him up from one of their league rivals and he went on to be a legend for the club.
Celtic reportedly paid a fee of around £4.4m to sign the midfield star from Hibernian in the summer of 2007, and that remains the biggest deal between two Scottish teams in history.
It was a deal that turned out to be well worth the money for the Bhoys, though, as Brown went on to play a staggering 618 matches for the club in all competitions, scoring 46 goals and providing 63 assists from the middle of the park.
The former Celtic captain won ten Scottish Premiership titles and 12 domestic cups in his time at Parkhead, whilst he also won the Player of the Year in the league in both 2009 and 2018, which shows that the midfielder enjoyed an incredibly successful time on the pitch.
Celtic struck gold by splashing the cash on the Scotland international because they were signing a young player who had already proven his quality in the division with Hibernian, which meant that he was able to hit the ground running as a proven star.
He did not need any time to adapt to the league or the country, and that made Brown a fantastic short-term signing, which then laid the foundation for him to go on to be a phenomenal long-term signing for the Scottish giants.
The Scottish star was not a player who was then sold on for millions in profit but they more than made back the money they spent on him through the trophies that he helped the team to win over the years.
Celtic have long-term interest in Premiership star
The Premiership champions could repeat their Scott Brown masterclass by splashing the cash on another midfielder from a fellow Scottish team this summer.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
According to The Scottish Sun, Celtic are long-term admirers of Motherwell central midfielder Lennon Miller, who looks set to be on the move in the coming weeks.
The report claims that Serie A side Udinese are leading the race to land the Scotland international’s signature, as they are preparing a fresh bid to sign him.
It adds that Bologna and unnamed clubs from Germany are also interested in signing the 18-year-old starlet, and it is said that a move abroad currently appeals to the player.
The Scottish Sun claims that he has a price tag of £5m, which means that the Hoops will need to break the Scottish record that was set by the £4.4m move for Brown if they are to beat the likes of Udinese and Bologna to his services this summer.
Why Celtic should sign Lennon Miller
Celtic must push to convince Miller to turn down interest from clubs abroad to complete a Scottish record transfer for £5m this summer because he could be a fantastic addition to their squad.
The Scotland international turns 19 in August and this means that the Hoops would be signing a central midfielder who has plenty of time left ahead of him to replicate the kind of success Brown had at Parkhead.
Whilst he may not go on to play over 600 matches for Celtic, as the club’s model is to develop and then sell players, Miller could still enjoy a lengthy career in Glasgow before potentially moving on in the future.
As Brown did when he arrived from Hibernian, the teenage central midfield star could hit the ground running at Parkhead as a player who has already proven his quality in the Premiership, after an impressive 2024/25 campaign that led to him earning a senior Scotland call up.
Tackle success rate
68%
Top 28%
Duels won
5.84
Top 36%
Duel success rate
53%
Top 31%
Interceptions
1.38
Top 14%
Ball recoveries
6.52
Top 10%
Blocks
0.48
Top 28%
As you can see in the table above, Miller was among the best in his position in the Premiership when it came to making defensive interventions last season, ranking highly in a host of key defensive metrics.
To go along with his excellent work out of possession, the £5m-rated star also scored two goals and provided eight assists from the middle of the park, which shows that the youngster can offer a threat at the top end of the pitch as well as being combative and effective off the ball.
These statistics show that Miller, who has been hailed as “ridiculous” by pundit James McFadden, is a fantastic box-to-box player who has the potential to impact games by contributing in and out of possession in the Premiership, much like Brown did during his time as a player in Glasgow.
At the age of 18, the Scottish maestro also has plenty of time to grow and develop as a player, which means that Celtic would be signing him for the future as well as for the here and now.
Better than Balikwisha: Celtic pursuing deal for "underrated" £5m star
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ByRobbie Walls Jul 23, 2025
Therefore, the Hoops could repeat the masterclass they played with Brown by paying £5m to sign a proven Premiership star and fantastic young talent this summer.
Liverpool were handed an unanticipated break last weekend, with Storm Darragh wreaking chaos across England and preventing the Merseyside derby from being played.
It’s not the end of the world. Liverpool remain first-placed in the Premier League, four points ahead of Chelsea and with a game in hand – Arsenal and Manchester City trail further still.
Mohamed Salah for Liverpool
It’s a fantastic position to be in, even if title talk is still premature. Given that Liverpool are first in the Champions League group phase only adds to the excitement, and means that Arne Slot can approach Tuesday evening’s fixture against Girona with rotation in mind.
The Dutch coach has been… hesitant to ring the changes since replacing Jurgen Klopp in the summer, but the games are coming thick and fast and you could make a case that Liverpool looked leggy during the draw against Newcastle United one week ago.
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Girona (A)
Champions League
14/12/24
Fulham (H)
Premier League
18/12/24
Southampton (A)
Carabao Cup
22/12/24
Tottenham (A)
Premier League
26/12/24
Leicester (H)
Premier League
29/12/24
West Ham (A)
Premier League
The Reds are six points ahead of those outside the automatic zone, so changes can be afforded against today’s Spanish opponents, who have lost four of five matches on the continent so far this season and sit ninth in La Liga too.
Liverpool team news
Liverpool have been forced to contend with a host of injuries and absences in recent weeks, but Slot will be delighted to see Alisson Becker and Diogo Jota on the cusp of a comeback after respective periods in the infirmary.
Federico Chiesa was also cleared but has since fallen ill and will play no part in Spain.
Ibrahima Konate, Kostas Tsimikas and Conor Bradley serve as longer-term absentees, meaning Liverpool’s backline is weakened and stretched at one of the most testing points of any given season.
A host of youngsters, including Trey Nyoni and James McConnell, have travelled to Spain with the first team and might play a part in the matchday squad. Tyler Morton is out after picking up a knock in training.
Trey Nyoni scores during pre season.
Certainly, Slot would be wise to issue a healthy dosage of rotation.
Why Slot should rotate vs Girona
Alisson’s return is a momentous boost for a Liverpool side ready to chase down silverware across every possible front, but it’s crucial that the Brazilian isn’t rushed back. And anyway, Caoimhin Kelleher is a top-class goalkeeper and well worth his place between the sticks.
Liverpool's Caoimhin Kelleher and Virgil van Dijk
In midfield, Alexis Mac Allister is suspended (separate from the one-match ban that will be applied domestically against Fulham this weekend), but he’s been worked to the bone too and it’s not the end of the world that the Argentine is provided some time to recuperate.
Liverpool have alternative options. Ryan Gravenberch could start in the deep-sitting midfield role but Wataru Endo will be pressing for that anchor, and Curtis Jones should return to the starting line-up too.
Dominik Szoboszlai might fancy a starting berth, but this is actually the perfect opportunity for Slot to hand Harvey Elliott his very first start of the campaign.
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Football FanCast's Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
Slot must unleash Harvey Elliott
It’s been a cruel start to an exciting new era for Elliott, whose marginal role at the very beginning of the campaign saw him make just one substitute appearance before fracturing his foot on international duty with England U21s in September.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot and Harvey Elliott
He’s been fit for several weeks now but only afforded one brief cameo, but now, it’s surely time for Slot to hand the 21-year-old his maiden starting berth under new management.
He’s definitely got the technical quality to make a marked difference within the Dutchman’s system. Klopp commented at the end of his dynasty last season that his one regret as he patted the overhanging Anfield crest one last time was that he didn’t play the skilful playmaker more often.
Goals
0.20
Top 9%
Assists
0.59
Top 1%
Shot-creating actions
5.22
Top 1%
Progressive passes
8.12
Top 5%
Progressive carries
2.91
Top 3%
Successful take-ons
0.73
Top 39%
Blocks
1.41
Top 6%
Elliott’s ball-playing quality, his progressiveness and flair, have even seen Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham listed off as his most comparable player via stats-based website FBRef, with the Three Lions superstar also adept at shifting forward and influencing play with awe-inspiring goals and fiercely penetrative bursts into the box.
Given that Liverpool’s young maestro has scarcely featured under the new regime, it seems clear that he must be unleashed from the outset for this one.
Jude Bellingham celebrates for Real Madrid
After all, as a player of the Bellingham-type mould, he might be the perfect cog to unleash for this one. Los Blancos might not have reached their first form this term but Bellingham has been excellent of late, posting five goals and three assists from as many matches.
One of his recent masterful performances came against Girona, with the 21-year-old scoring and assisting against Girona in La Liga at the weekend across an hour of football, withdrawn due to fatigue.
As per Sofascore, Bellingham also completed 100% of his dribbles and won every one of his contested duels, showcasing that his particular style stands a great chance of sending Girona, who play expansive football and thus can be caught by high-class technicians, packing.
Slot must ensure that Elliott gets a starting role in the Champions League. The young gun will desperately want to show what he’s made of, and he might just prove to be the star against Girona.
Liverpool could sign £69m Salah heir who's "more talented than Ronaldo"
Liverpool are looking to tie Salah down to a new deal, but have earmarked an exciting replacement all the same.
Hazlewood not included in Australia’s T20 squad for South Africa tour with Sean Abbott and Jhye Richardson preferred
Alex Malcolm16-Feb-2020Pat Cummins believes Australia’s T20 fast bowling stocks are in good health heading into a home World Cup later this year, given the selectors can afford to leave a bowler like Josh Hazlewood out of the current T20 squad.Hazlewood was selected for the three-match ODI series on Australia’s tour of South Africa but has been left out of the T20 squad for the preceding three-match series which begins in Johannesburg on Friday. Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Jhye Richardson, and Sean Abbott have been preferred as Australia continue to search for the best combination ahead of October’s T20 World Cup.Hazlewood has been starved of opportunities at T20I level. He did not play a single T20I between March 2016 and January 2020 due to Test and ODI duties, and has not been considered for Australia’s T20 squad as a result. But in five BBL games this season, he helped the Sydney Sixers win the title claiming five wickets, including three in the finals series, at a frugal economy rate of just 6.22.”It’s one of the hard things,” Cummins said. “He’s a gun ODI and Test player, he hasn’t had much of a chance to play Big Bash or international T20 cricket. So it’s hard to actually know how good they are until they go back to the BBL and you see he shows his class there. The good thing is he, plus a number of bowlers, have done well for Australia or in the Big Bash so the fast bowling stocks are looking pretty good.”Cummins believes both Sean Abbott and Jhye Richardson deserve their spots in the squad after their performances in the BBL.”Especially someone like Sean,” Cummins said. “The way he has bowled over the last three or four [BBL editions], he’s been just phenomenal. He’s a really experienced guy. It’s great seeing those guys who have dominated the domestic level jump up and you know they’ve got a game plan already sorted.”And for Jhye, [I’m] so happy for him. This time 12 months ago he was on the verge of a World Cup and Ashes series and, unfortunately, he suffered that big [shoulder] injury. So he’s done the long route back into the Aussie side and absolutely deserved his spot back here.”This time around it feels like we’ve got lots of experience, lots of guys that have been around for a while. That might be the good thing about having so much domestic T20 cricket – even the guys who are on the fringe coming in, you know they’ve played a lot and have got a lot of experience. There’s a lot of confidence around the squad, hopefully, it transfers into a couple of wins.”Australia haven’t played a T20 international since November and will run into a South Africa side that is coming out of an incredibly competitive series against England.Much has been made of the fact this is Australia’s first tour back to South Africa since the ball-tampering scandal in 2018.Cummins said the team is prepared to cop some pressure from the South Africa crowds, but he said the team will be well prepared for it as they were in England during the World Cup and the Ashes last year.”It’s weird that’s it’s been two years [since the ball-tampering saga],” Cummins said. “It feels like not that long ago that we were back in this hotel.”We’ve played a lot of cricket since that time and have played South Africa at the World Cup. I’m sure we’ll cop a little bit from the fans but it’s nothing we haven’t copped before.”We’ll probably give it a mention [in team meetings], like we did before the Ashes and World Cup. It’s just about identifying it and having a bit of awareness so people can be prepared for it.”But the guys, most of us, who will probably cop it have been playing for a little while now so it’s not something we haven’t seen before.”We saw Davey [Warner] dominate the World Cup and Steve [Smith] dominate the Ashes with plenty of the crowds against them, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”
Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner also made half-centuries after captain Meg Lanning withdrew pre-game due to back spasms
The Report by Alex Malcolm09-Sep-2019A gritty century from Ellyse Perry in the stifling Antigua heat helped Australia secure the three-match ODI series against West Indies 2-0 with a crushing 151-run win.The simplicity of the scoreline concealed a day of drama. Australia captain Meg Lanning was withdrawn from the match moments before the toss following back spasms, forcing a hasty cap presentation to debutant Erin Burns, while Beth Mooney was forced to retire hurt late in Australia’s innings due to heat exhaustion.But despite Rachael Haynes, the designated vice-captain, taking over the reins, normal service resumed after Australia won the toss. Alyssa Healy continued her sparkling form, clubbing a 33-ball half-century as she put on a 56-run opening stand with Haynes inside the first ten overs before the stand-in captain fell for 13 off the penultimate ball of the Powerplay.Perry, elevated to No. 3, was slow to get going and got a reprieve early before her supreme fitness carried her to an unbeaten 112 from 118 balls, her second ODI century and her fourth for Australia in all formats, to anchor the innings as Australia made their second successive score of 308 [they made 4 for 308 in the first game].”At the start, I was probably a little bit mentally AWOL,” Perry said after the match. “I was probably lucky, to be fair, after getting dropped early, but that seemed to sort of pick me up a little bit.”After Healy holed out off Chinelle Henry for 58, Perry got great support from Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner. Mooney ground out 56 from 81 balls in a 129-run stand with Perry before the heat got the better of her, and she was forced to retire at the end of the 42nd over.It gave Gardner just 48 balls to make an impact and she did more than that, hitting six fours and three sixes in a 23-ball half-century to equal Meg Lanning’s record for the fastest fifty by an Australian woman in ODI cricket. She finished on 57 not out off 25 balls and watched Perry smack the last ball of the innings to the cover-point fence. The pair made 86 runs in the last eight overs of the innings.”Obviously it was a real shame with Meg going down just before the game but I guess that sort of gave other people an opportunity and everyone slid up,” Perry said. “I really enjoyed my time out in the middle today but I think there was some great contributions, Midge (Healy) at the start and for Ash to do what she did, that’s what she’s capable of and what we know she’s capable of, so that really got us up over 300 to get a great total on the board.”Perry took the new ball and made the early breakthrough trapping Stacy-Ann King plumb in the fourth over. West Indies’ under-strength line-up then made virtually no attempt to chase down the total. After being bowled out for 130 inside 38 overs in the first ODI in Coolidge, the home side managed to bat out their 50 overs in the chase on Sunday, but crawled to 8 for 157. Kyshona Knight top-scored with 32 but took an excruciating 81 deliveries to compile them. Sheneta Grimmond was the only batter to strike at better than 54, making a 31 not out from 37 late in the game, at No. 8. Australia used eight bowlers with six of them claiming wickets. Georgia Wareham had the best figures of 2 for 29 although her two wickets came from what were among the worst deliveries of the day.”It’s an interesting situation at the moment,” Perry said. “Obviously they [West Indies] have got a number of their key players missing. I think from a confidence point of view, and match awareness and knowing how to take the game – I think it’s a real challenge. From that point of view, it’s up to us to make them play but also be really meticulous on our standards.”In the first game we bowled way too many extras and probably today we bowled a few too many but all in all I think it’s been great to challenge ourselves to try things to try and execute things.”
Several high-profile players have been ruled out of this summer's tournament through injury and suspension, while some have just been snubbed
Euro 2024 is almost upon us, with the opening game now just over a week away. Some of the biggest names in world football are set to arrive in Germany in the coming days to do battle for one of the most prestigious prizes in the game.
However, several stars won't be participating in the tournament, and for a variety of reasons. Some terrific talents have been ruled out by injury, with the dreaded ACL tear illustrating why it's the scourge of modern footballers, while others will miss the Euros through suspension. Then there are those high-profile players who have simply not been selected by their national teams.
Below, GOAL runs through the most notable absentees from this summer's celebration of European football…
(C)Getty ImagesFrancesco Acerbi (Italy)
Francesco Acerbi is 36 now, but his injury-enforced absence is a major blow for Italy. The Inter centre-back would have almost certainly started for the Azzurri in Germany, and most likely alongside his club-mate Alessandro Bastoni.
Unfortunately, one of the game's late bloomers (because of a variety of off-field setbacks) has been ruled out of the Euros by a groin problem that requires surgery.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesDavid Alaba (Austria)
One of three Real Madrid players to tear an ACL this season, but unlike team-mates Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao, Alaba never had any chance of returning before the end of the campaign. Indeed, the versatile Austrian defender suffered his injury in December, in the first half of a Liga clash with Villarreal, and won't be fit to play any part in his country's Euro 2024 campaign.
GettyDomenico Berardi (Italy)
In his first game back after recovering from a meniscus injury, Domenico Berardi suffered a complete tear of the Achilles tendon of his right leg in Sassuolo's Serie A clash with Verona on March 3. The versatile forward, who was part of the Italy squad that won Euro 2020, is not expected to return to action until next year.
GettySven Botman (Netherlands)
Netherlands are not short of options at centre-back – in fact, it's arguably the position in which they have most strength in depth – but Botman's unavailability for the Euros is nonetheless a major blow for coach Ronald Koeman. Indeed, had the Newcastle defender not suffered an ACL injury while playing for against Manchester City on March 16, he would have been a contender to start in Germany.
Kevin De Bruyne jetted off to Cannes for a holiday with wife Michele Lacroix after winning the Premier League title with Manchester City.
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De Bruyne spending holiday with wife in CannesHelped Man City win the Premier LeagueWill next play for Belgium in JuneWHAT HAPPENED?
The Belgian midfielder and his wife shared some photographs on social media from Cannes where they are spending a well-earned holiday with friends. The Cityzens star jetted off to France after guiding his club to a fourth consecutive league title.
Kevin De Bruyne InstagramMichele De Bruyne InstagramAdvertisement(C)GettyImagesTHE GOSSIP
The 32-year-old's future at Etihad has been a subject of speculation in recent times with Saudi Arabian clubs including champions Al-Hilal showing interest in the player. However, the City star is unlikely to leave the club in the upcoming summer window.
DID YOU KNOW?
Despite missing the first half of the season due to a hamstring injury, the Belgium international played a crucial role in Pep Guardiola's side's league win this season as he contributed with 18 assists and scored six goals in 26 matches across all competitions.
Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR KEVIN DE BRUYNE?
The former Chelsea star will be next seen in action for his national team next month as Domenico Tedesco's team take on Montenegro and Luxembourg on June 5 and June 8 respectively in international friendlies.