Global Pulse

分类： sports

  • The 49ers set to embark on the NFL’s longest road trip for the season opener in Australia

    The 49ers set to embark on the NFL’s longest road trip for the season opener in Australia

    In what will go down as the longest road journey in National Football League history, the San Francisco 49ers are set to depart their Bay Area home base late Wednesday for Melbourne, Australia, where they will face off against the Los Angeles Rams in the 2025 NFL season opener on September 11. The unprecedented trip requires a massive logistical overhaul and careful preparation, as the 16-hour, 8,000-mile flight crosses the international dateline, turning a Wednesday departure from California into a Friday arrival in Australia.

    Team officials and medical staff have outlined detailed guidance for players covering everything from in-flight nutrition and hydration to post-arrival routines and sleep scheduling to combat the harsh effects of severe jet lag. Players have adopted a wide range of personal strategies to adjust to the 14-hour time difference.

    Second-year defensive lineman Keion White, an experienced world traveler who has already competed in NFL regular-season games in Germany and London, is approaching the trip with casual enthusiasm, unlike some of his teammates and head coach Kyle Shanahan who have openly expressed frustration over the taxing opener schedule. White’s unconventional game plan for beating jet lag relies heavily on sleep aid melatonin. “I don’t know if you can OD on melatonin, but I’m going to try,” he explained. “Take five melatonins, go to sleep on the plane. As soon as I wake up, I’m taking five more. Just keep rolling like that.”

    Once he lands, White plans to spend his first free day after mandatory team meetings exploring Melbourne. He intends to browse TikTok for activity ideas, navigate the city’s public transit system, and spend the entire day awake to reset his circadian rhythm as quickly as possible. “I’m an experience guy,” he said. “If I’m up, walking around, just going to do stuff, I’ll be up. Just go explore.”

    While both the 49ers and the Rams worked extensively with sports scientists and logistics teams during the offseason to develop their jet lag mitigation strategies — even sending advance staff to Australia to study time zone adjustment firsthand — the two franchises landed on completely opposite approaches. The 49ers opted for an early arrival strategy: landing two full days before the game to give players time to gradually adapt. Their schedule calls for a light practice on Saturday, a rest day on Sunday, three full regular practices from Monday through Wednesday, and kickoff on Friday morning. Immediately after the game ends, the team will fly back to California, landing in the Bay Area that same Friday afternoon, allowing them the entire weekend to rest before their Week 2 home game against the Miami Dolphins on September 20.

    Shanahan noted that he initially had reservations about the early arrival plan, but aligned with the recommendation from sports scientists and his players, ultimately agreeing the approach makes sense. “It’s a big adjustment on the body,” Shanahan said. “So, the recommendation for everybody has been to tell us when to go, and it’s made a lot of sense. I know how our players feel also. I was a little bit on the fence. Science wasn’t and what I was reported on and our players weren’t at all. So that helped me get off the fence.”

    In contrast, the Rams are taking the opposite tack: they will complete nearly all of their pre-game preparation at their California facility and only arrive in Melbourne roughly 24 hours before kickoff, betting that a shorter stay will minimize jet lag disruption. It remains to be seen which strategy will deliver better on-field results, with the answer only set to emerge after the opening whistle.

    The rushed lead-up to departure has created a whirlwind of behind-the-scenes work for the 49ers front office. Following the team’s final preseason exhibition game in Las Vegas on August 28, players got the Labor Day weekend off, returning to practice on Monday, just one day after the NFL’s mandatory deadline to cut rosters down to 53 active players. General manager John Lynch’s staff had to finalize roster cuts, build the 16-player practice squad, confirm injury statuses for all active players, and handle a host of unforeseen logistics hurdles before departure.

    “There’s a lot behind the scenes,” Lynch said. “Our logistics folks, our folks that work in the cafe, have just gone to tremendous lengths, our health and performance team, to make sure that we’re giving our players the best opportunity to feel right when they play down there in Australia. Everything from getting visas, which much more complicated than I ever knew, and they’ve been outstanding. … Hats off to those guys for pulling off a monumental task, and it’s not done yet.”

    Lynch recalled that securing valid passports for all players created last-minute scrambles, including one practice squad signee who required his parents to overnight his passport to the team facility. The chaos was even more pronounced for recently acquired offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson, who was traded from the Houston Texans to the 49ers just three days before departure. “They were like, hey, do you have a passport? We’re leaving for Australia in three days,” Patterson said. “I was like, ‘Whoa!’ It’s obviously a quick turnaround getting here a couple hours after I found out and now getting ready for Australia.”

    Despite the logistical headaches and physical toll of the cross-hemisphere trip, most 49ers players have embraced the unique opportunity. Cornerback Deommodore Lenoir said he would be willing to travel 30 hours straight just for the chance to play in an NFL regular-season game. For rookie cornerback De’Zhaun Stribling, the trip even comes with a bucket-list item he plans to check off before his first NFL regular season appearance: “I kind of want to see a kangaroo, just because,” he said. “To see how big they are.”

  • Russell Westbrook joins upstart basketball league Project B as co-founder and chief strategy officer

    Russell Westbrook joins upstart basketball league Project B as co-founder and chief strategy officer

    Fresh off his official retirement from the NBA last month, legendary nine-time All-Star, two-time scoring champion and 2017 league MVP Russell Westbrook is stepping into a groundbreaking new role in global basketball: co-founder and chief strategy officer of upstart mixed-gender professional league Project B.

    Westbrook isn’t just lending his name to the new venture, which is scheduled to tip off its global tour in January 2027 across major cities in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. The basketball icon holds a significant ownership stake in the league and will serve as a voting member of its board of directors, granting him sweeping influence over the organization’s strategic direction and long-term growth.

    In an official statement announcing his appointment, Westbrook emphasized that his new mission aligns with the core values that shaped his 16-year Hall of Fame-caliber NBA career. “At every step of my career, what was most valuable to me was making sure everyone had a seat at the table,” Westbrook said. “With Project B, we’re challenging the norm and bringing a new vision to the intersection of premium sport, culture, and entertainment. We’re reimagining the experience with players not only as key value drivers, but also as shareholders and decision makers.”

    Questions have naturally emerged about whether Westbrook will step onto the court as a player for the new league, but current official details offer no indication that he plans to join the playing roster. Project B has already begun building out its operational framework, launching its women’s division earlier and filling key executive positions for its upcoming men’s side. This past summer, the organization named former Atlanta Hawks general manager Landry Fields as its head of men’s basketball, the first major leadership hire for the men’s circuit.

    To date, more than a dozen high-profile women’s basketball stars have already committed to competing in Project B, including standout names such as former WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike, 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick Azzi Fudd of the Dallas Wings, two-time WNBA champion Alyssa Thomas, All-Star Jonquel Jones, three-time All-Star Jewell Loyd, and Seattle Storm rookie Awa Fam. League organizers also expect a large pool of talented young emerging players from across the globe to join the rosters, building a diverse, competitive global product.

    One of the most notable promises the upstart league has made is a pay upgrade for its women’s athletes: Project B confirms that top player salaries on the women’s side will exceed the current maximum compensation offered by the WNBA, a move that addresses longstanding conversations about pay equity in professional women’s basketball.

  • PSG reject Man City offers for midfielder Echegini

    PSG reject Man City offers for midfielder Echegini

    As the women’s club football transfer window enters its final 48 hours, top English side Manchester City has hit a major wall in its chase of Nigerian international midfielder Jennifer Echegini, with multiple bids for the 25-year-old turned down outright by French champions Paris Saint-Germain.

    Regarded as a foundational member of PSG’s senior squad, Echegini remains deeply valued by the French club, multiple insider sources confirm. With 12 months still left to run on her existing contract, PSG has made it clear that selling the in-form playmaker is not on the table, even as interest from the Women’s Super League side persists.

    Echegini’s connection to English football runs deep: the midfielder spent the majority of her youth development through English academy systems before launching her senior professional career. After a single season with Italian powerhouse Juventus, she made the move to PSG two years ago, and has since cemented her place as a key contributor to the club’s midfield. On the international stage, Echegini is a national hero for Nigeria: last year, she netted the decisive match-winning goal in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final against host Morocco, helping the Super Falcons claim an unprecedented 10th continental title, a record that extends their standing as the most dominant team in African women’s football.

    For Manchester City, the timeline for completing a deal is razor-thin. The English transfer window closes this Thursday, just days before the new Women’s Super League campaign kicks off this weekend. The club’s push for new midfield reinforcement comes at a critical time: earlier this week, City confirmed that versatile midfielder and forward Vivianne Miedema will miss the opening stretch of the season after picking up a knee injury, leaving a gap in the club’s attacking and midfield options that Echegini was targeted to fill.

    This is not the only outgoing transfer movement at PSG this window. Earlier this week, BBC Sport confirmed that Arsenal has reached a full agreement to sign French international defender Elisa de Almeida from the Parisian club, with sources in France pegging the transfer fee at roughly £550,000. De Aldeida is set to complete her move to London before the Thursday deadline, but remained available for selection for PSG’s key Women’s Champions League third qualifying round tie against Eintracht Frankfurt, held Wednesday evening, before departing for her new club.

    Fans can access additional interviews and exclusive women’s football coverage through the BBC Women’s Football Weekly podcast feed.

  • Historic rugby quadruple-header set for Sydney, capped by Wallabies against All Blacks

    Historic rugby quadruple-header set for Sydney, capped by Wallabies against All Blacks

    SYDNEY – One of the biggest calendar highlights in Southern Hemisphere rugby is set to unfold in Sydney this October, with the iconic Bledisloe Cup test between Australia’s Wallabies and New Zealand’s All Blacks scheduled to close out a historic four-match rugby festival on October 17. The groundbreaking event will feature four Australian national teams competing across two major formats of the sport on the same day, a first for the country’s rugby community.

    The packed match schedule gets underway with Australia’s women’s national XV side, the Wallaroos, kicking off their WXV Global Series journey against a tough Scottish squad. Next up, Australia’s men’s sevens team will face off against Fiji, the only nation to claim men’s Olympic sevens gold at both the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Games. Following that matchup, Australia’s own world-title holding women’s sevens squad will go head-to-head with New Zealand’s two-time defending Olympic women’s sevens champions, setting the stage for the main event.

    Rugby Australia Chief Executive Phil Waugh emphasized the unprecedented nature of the occasion during Wednesday’s official announcement, calling it a watershed moment for the sport in Australia. “This is an historic moment for Australian rugby, with all four of our teams in gold competing on the same pitch, on the same day,” Waugh said. “The day will showcase the very best of rugby with our elite male and female players across the XVs and Sevens formats taking on famous rivals from around the world.”

    The high-profile October showdown comes as both headline teams are already in strong form ahead of their mid-season test commitments. The Wallabies, now led by newly appointed head coach Les Kiss, carry a four-match winning streak into their second test against Argentina this coming weekend. Across the Indian Ocean, the All Blacks currently hold a 1-1 draw in their four-test “greatest rivalry” series against South Africa’s Springboks, keeping their own momentum building ahead of the Sydney clash.

    The quadruple-header is poised to draw rugby fans from across the globe, offering a full day of elite competition that highlights both XVs and sevens rugby, as well as the depth of talent across both men’s and women’s programs in the region.

  • Alex Eala’s many fans descend on US Open, bearing Filipino flags and lots of love

    Alex Eala’s many fans descend on US Open, bearing Filipino flags and lots of love

    Flushing Meadows, New York — Four hours before 21-year-old tennis phenom Alex Eala stepped onto the main court for her 2024 U.S. Open first-round match, the practice courts were already packed to capacity. In the stands, waving Filipino flags and wearing custom blue caps emblazoned with the phrase “Laban Alex” — Tagalog for “Fight on, Alex” — dozens of fans gathered just to catch a glimpse of their rising idol hitting practice serves and groundstrokes. What makes this scene even more remarkable? Most of these supporters did not even hold tickets for the evening’s main draw match, yet they traveled from across the U.S. and even the Philippines just to cheer Eala on.

    Eala’s rapid ascent up the professional tennis rankings has turned her into a national sensation in the Philippines, and her rapidly growing, fiercely loyal fanbase has followed her across the globe to every major tournament. This summer alone, the charismatic 21-year-old notched a career-defining upset over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon and claimed her first ever ATP Tour singles title, catapulting her to a career-high world ranking of 18th. She lived up to the hype in her first-round U.S. Open clash, breezing past Mary Stoiana 6-1, 6-2 to secure her spot in the second round, closing out the match with a signature confident smile.

    For many fans in the practice court stands, Eala is more than just a talented tennis player — she is a trailblazing representation of Filipino pride in a global sport long dominated by athletes from larger nations. Andrea Belen, a 21-year-old premedical student at New York University who originally hails from a Filipino family based in Cleveland, said she never considered herself a diehard tennis fan before Eala’s rise. Now, watching Eala compete has become a full family hobby: her father, back in Cleveland, has picked up tennis fandom purely out of admiration for the young star, Belen explained.

    “In the Philippines, basketball and boxing have always been the most popular sports, and all our biggest sports heroes are men,” Belen shared. “It’s so special to see a young Filipino woman competing and winning at this level. On top of that, she still speaks our native Tagalog — that connection means the world to all of us.”

    Belen and her friend Sarah Frederick arrived at the practice courts hours before Eala’s scheduled session, correctly guessing that seats would fill up fast with fellow fans. During the practice, Belen even called her father on FaceTime so he could watch Eala hit strokes from thousands of miles away.

    Ellene Santos, a 67-year-old fan who traveled from Orlando, Florida, also skipped securing a main draw ticket, saying just getting to watch Eala practice was enough to make the trip worthwhile. “I’m happy now, just to be here,” Santos said after calling out a cheer of support to Eala mid-practice.

    A group of four retired Filipino-American nurses echoed that sentiment, wearing matching “Laban Alex” hats as they left the practice court. Joy Rodriguez, 65, said her devotion to Eala stems from the star’s unapologetic pride in her Filipino roots. For 67-year-old Maria Espiritu, the trip to the U.S. Open to watch Eala marked the first professional tennis tournament she has ever attended.

    Not even international distance stopped devoted fans from making the trip. Frances Arespacochaga, 77, a resident of Manila, was already visiting her sister in Massachusetts when she decided to drive down to New York just to see Eala compete, bringing a Filipino flag with her to the match. “She’s very intelligent, very articulate, and you can see her strong values in every interview she gives,” Arespacochaga said of the young star.

    Belen noted that Filipino fans have a long tradition of rallying behind their homegrown athletes who break through on the global stage, pointing to gymnast Carlos Yulo’s historic two gold medal wins at the 2024 Paris Olympics as a recent example. “We’re not a very large country, so every win a Filipino athlete gets means that much more to us,” she explained. “And we are very loud when it comes to supporting our people.”

    If Eala continues her winning streak through the later rounds of this year’s U.S. Open, that crowd noise from her passionate fanbase is only going to get louder.

  • Man City signs Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye to take unprecedented summer outlay past $600M

    Man City signs Enzo Fernandez and Iliman Ndiaye to take unprecedented summer outlay past $600M

    On deadline day of the 2024 European summer transfer window, English Premier League powerhouse Manchester City pulled off a blockbuster series of moves, capping off an unprecedented $440 million midfield rebuild by securing Argentine international Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea in a £125 million ($169 million) deal that equals the British transfer record.

    The 2022 World Cup winner’s move to the Etihad Stadium marks the third high-value central midfield arrival City has landed this window for over $100 million, joining teen prospect Ayyoub Bouaddi, who joined from French side Lille for $117 million, and England international Elliot Anderson, who cost the club $155 million. When coupled with the signing of Senegalese winger Iliman Ndiaye, which was announced the same day, City’s total spending on new recruits this summer crosses $600 million — an unmatched figure for any single club across Europe in one transfer window. Offloading exiting players has helped offset the outlay, however, with the club recouping close to $400 million through sales to date.

    Alongside Fernandez, City confirmed Ndiaye’s arrival from Everton for an initial £60 million ($81 million). The Senegalese international adds depth and competition to City’s wide attacking corps under new manager Enzo Maresca, joining existing options Antoine Semenyo, Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden and fellow new signing Allan. Long-serving City winger Jack Grealish, who joined the club for $139 million in 2021, has been sent to Everton on loan for the second consecutive season to make room for the new additions.

    The midfield overhaul became a necessity for Maresca after City lost key long-time midfield starters Rodri and Bernardo Silva this summer, along with backup players Nico Gonzalez and Tijjani Reijnders. The move to sign Fernandez also reunites the Argentine playmaker with his former Chelsea boss, who managed the Blues for 18 months before departing in January and named Fernandez as his vice-captain during his tenure. Maresca had publicly stated just one week prior that he was eager to add more veteran leadership to his young squad, a gap the 2022 World Cup star is expected to fill.

    For Fernandez, the transfer marks the second time he has claimed the title of Britain’s most expensive incoming player. He first set that mark when he moved to Chelsea from Portugal’s Benfica for £106.7 million ($131.4 million) in early 2023. The move to City comes after a turbulent few months at Stamford Bridge: in March, Fernandez admitted in a podcast interview he had dreamed of playing for Real Madrid and living in Madrid, a comment that angered Chelsea’s then-manager Liam Rosenior, who dropped the midfielder for two matches, saying the remarks crossed a line with the club’s culture. Fernandez had not started a match for Chelsea in the 2024-25 season, and was left out of the matchday squad entirely for the club’s last two fixtures as his transfer negotiations dragged on.

    In a public Instagram message addressed to Chelsea fans following the move, Fernandez acknowledged the uncertainty had taken a personal toll: “I want you to know that these have not been easy days for me. I haven’t been in a good place.”

    Speaking to City media after completing his transfer, Fernandez expressed excitement for the next chapter of his career: “I could not be happier to be here, and I am ready for the challenge of helping City continue winning trophies. This is a club built for success.”

    City had been linked with a move for Fernandez for weeks, and was widely reported to have missed an early August deadline set by Chelsea to complete the deal, leading many analysts to write off the club’s chance of signing him. But talks reignited late in the transfer window, allowing the two clubs to strike a final agreement on deadline day.

    For Ndiaye, the move to a title-contending top flight club represents a remarkable rise through the football ranks. Just three years ago, the winger was playing in England’s second tier Championship with Sheffield United, before a spell at France’s Olympique de Marseille and a move to Everton last year. He emerged as Everton’s star player during his time at Goodison Park, praised for his elite technical skill and relentless work rate, and his departure is considered a major loss for the Merseyside club. But Ndiaye said the move is a lifelong dream realized.

    “I’ve worked my whole life for an opportunity like this,” Ndiaye said after the announcement. “It’s not always been easy in my career, but I always had the belief that I could play for a team challenging for the biggest prizes and now I’m here. It feels so good.”

  • Guardians reliever Carlos Hernández discloses he was texting before crashing his car in Venezuela

    Guardians reliever Carlos Hernández discloses he was texting before crashing his car in Venezuela

    CLEVELAND — For Major League Baseball relief pitcher Carlos Hernández, a January car crash caused by distracted driving nearly ended his professional career before he could get back to the mound. Now, months after surviving the devastating wreck in Venezuela that left him with multiple life-altering injuries, the 29-year-old right-hander has earned a spot back on the Cleveland Guardians’ 40-man major league roster, closing out a grueling, unlikely journey back to the top tier of American professional baseball.

    In a candid interview with reporters from the Guardians’ dugout during team batting practice, Hernández opened up about the fateful crash that changed his perspective on life and safety forever. Speaking through an interpreter, he said he was texting behind the wheel on January 11 when he lost control of his vehicle on a road outside San Felix, in Venezuela’s eastern Bolívar state. He was traveling with two other passengers: his brother-in-law and a close friend, conflicting with earlier local reports that listed his cousin as a second passenger. All people in the car survived, though everyone sustained injuries, and all have since made full recoveries.

    “When I got in that accident, I was distracted by my phone, texting while I was driving,” Hernández said. “The injuries I got were extremely serious. I broke my right femur, fractured my left arm, sprained my ankle, and suffered a deep cut on my arm that went almost all the way to the bone. I was terrified in that moment, I thought my career was over for good.”

    Today, Hernández says his unlikely return to the majors is nothing short of a miracle. “I feel like being here right now is just a testament of God’s will,” he said. “There’s no ordinary way to explain what I’ve been through and how I got back to this point.”

    After months of intensive physical therapy and rehab work at the Guardians’ Triple-A affiliate in Columbus, Hernández showed enough progress to earn his spot back on the 40-man roster, announced by the team Tuesday. He previously appeared in five games with Cleveland toward the end of the 2024 season, before the crash took place that off-season. Over the course of his professional career, Hernández has spent most of his time with the Kansas City Royals, pitching for the team between 2020 and 2024, with short stints with the Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers before joining Cleveland last year.

    Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said the organization has supported Hernández through every step of his recovery, checking in on him and his family repeatedly in the months after the crash. “I spoke to him right after the accident happened, and then checked in a couple more times once he got to Arizona to start rehab,” Vogt said. “Our first priority was always making sure he and his loved ones were safe and healthy, because some things are so much bigger than baseball. It’s absolutely incredible that he’s back on the mound and returning to the big leagues. I know he and his family have every reason to be incredibly proud of this milestone.”

    For Hernández, his story is more than just a comeback story — it’s a warning to drivers everywhere. “I want what happened to me to serve as a reminder for everyone: never text and drive,” he emphasized. “Thankfully, everyone in my car survived this. But that doesn’t mean this mistake can’t have permanent consequences for you and the people you love. I hope my experience stops other people from making the same dangerous choice I made that day.”

  • Camara’s £47.1m move from Monaco to Chelsea collapses

    Camara’s £47.1m move from Monaco to Chelsea collapses

    On a chaotic final day of the summer football transfer window, a blockbuster move for Senegalese midfielder Lamine Camara to Chelsea fell apart at the eleventh hour, leaving the Premier League club scrambling and angry after they had already cleared space for his arrival. The 22-year-old, who has earned 37 senior international caps for Senegal, had successfully passed a medical examination in France earlier on Tuesday evening, with all signs pointing to the deal wrapping up moments after the 11pm BST deadline. What was supposed to be a major deadline day coup for Chelsea instead devolved into a bitter dispute, after Monaco confirmed in writing that they would not complete the £47.1 million transfer.

    The collapse of the deal is deeply tied to the tangled web of another proposed transfer: Folarin Balogun’s expected move from Monaco to Everton. For weeks, Monaco had resisted two separate bids from Chelsea for Camara, as the Ligue 1 side prioritized offloading Balogun, their American international striker, to meet summer financial targets. It was only when Balogun’s transfer to Everton hit unexpected doubt that Monaco softened their stance on Camara, dropping their asking price to the £47 million figure Chelsea had agreed to.

    Confident the deal would cross the finish line, Chelsea had already moved forward with their own high-profile outgoing transfer: Enzo Fernandez’s British joint-record £125 million move to Manchester City, a sale structured to free up both budget and squad space for Camara’s arrival. But when Balogun’s transfer to Everton unexpectedly got back on track, sources close to the situation told BBC Sport that Monaco reversed their decision to let Camara leave, providing no clear explanation to Chelsea for the last-minute change of heart.

    In the lead-up to deadline day, Camara featured for Monaco in their 2-0 league win over Marseille on Sunday, while Balogun was omitted entirely from the match squad – a clear sign at the time that both players were expected to depart the club. BBC Sport has reached out to Monaco for official comment on the collapsed transfer, leaving the final outcome of both Camara’s future and Balogun’s stalled Everton move unclear as the transfer window closes for another window.

  • Ndiaye’s journey from non-league football to £65m Man City move

    Ndiaye’s journey from non-league football to £65m Man City move

    On the final day of the summer 2026 Premier League transfer window, 26-year-old Senegalese winger Iliman Ndiaye completed a blockbuster move from Everton to English giants Manchester City, in a deal worth an initial £60 million with a further £5 million in performance-based add-ons that could take the total fee to £65 million. The transfer caps an extraordinary underdog journey for Ndiaye, who made his professional debut just over six years ago competing in the seventh tier of English football. Ndiaye has signed a five-year contract with the reigning top-flight side, and opened up about his gratitude for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

    “I’ve worked my whole life for an opportunity like this,” Ndiaye said after the move was confirmed. “City are one of the best clubs in the world and I’ve seen them win everything as I’ve grown up. To be able to write my own chapter in a story that special is the chance of a lifetime and I’m determined to grab it with both hands.”

    The path to Etihad Stadium was anything but straightforward. Earlier in the summer, Ndiaye held private transfer talks with Saudi Pro League powerhouse Al-Hilal, and as recently as Friday night, London-based Tottenham Hotspur had reached a full transfer agreement with Everton for the winger, with a proposed swap deal that would have seen Brazilian attacker Richarlison move back to his former club Everton. However, sources close to the negotiation confirmed that Richarlison was unable to agree personal terms with Everton, collapsing the swap and leaving Ndiaye’s transfer to Tottenham dead in the water. That opened the door for Manchester City, who moved quickly to seal the deal on deadline day.

    Ndiaye’s arrival is City’s second major marquee signing of the day, coming just hours after the club confirmed they had agreed to pay a joint all-time British transfer record £125 million to sign Argentine World Cup-winning midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea. Ndiaye becomes the club’s eighth senior summer signing, joining Fernandez, Elliot Anderson, Geronimo Rulli, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Allan Elias, Jeremy Monga and Pierce Charles at Etihad Stadium.

    Looking back at Ndiaye’s rise to the top of English football, his journey is one of relentless persistence. As a 19-year-old based in London, Ndiaye was in the youth system of non-league side Boreham Wood, playing amateur Sunday league football when he earned a one-week trial with then-Premier League club Sheffield United. Two impressive trial matches were enough to convince the club to sign the raw young talent, but he would not make his first senior appearance for the Blades for another 18 months. Instead, he spent the second half of the 2019-20 season on loan at Hyde United in the Northern Premier League, six divisions below the Premier League, to gain match experience. It was there that he got his first taste of professional football, making six appearances, and often stayed behind on the training ground to work on his game even if it meant risking missing the last train back to Sheffield. “It’s not always been easy in my career,” Ndiaye reflected. “But I always had the belief that I could play for a team challenging for the biggest prizes and now I’m here.”

    After returning to Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane ground, Ndiaye made his Premier League debut in March 2021 against Leicester City, but it would take another three and a half years for him to secure a regular place in the top flight after Sheffield United suffered relegation to the Championship. Over two seasons in England’s second tier, Ndiaye emerged as the Blades’ leading attacking threat, scoring 14 goals in 43 starts to spearhead the club’s return to the Premier League in 2023. However, that summer he was sold to French side Marseille.

    After a difficult, inconsistent season in Ligue 1, Ndiaye moved back to the Premier League, joining Everton for an initial fee of £16 million in July 2024. He quickly became a fan favourite on Merseyside, earning the affectionate nickname “Skiliman” for his dazzling ball work, and notched 15 goals and four assists across 67 Premier League appearances for the Toffees ahead of this summer’s exit. As part of the Ndiaye deal to City, Manchester City playmaker Jack Grealish has joined Everton on a season-long loan, replacing Ndiaye at Goodison Park.

    In an era of ballooning Premier League transfer valuations, the £65 million price tag for Ndiaye has sparked debate over whether the fee represents good value for Manchester City. On one hand, Ndiaye’s raw attacking skill is undeniable: he is lightning quick, notoriously difficult to defend against on the dribble, and his 73 completed dribbles for Everton last season accounted for nearly 30% of the club’s total completed dribbles, the highest share of any player in the entire Premier League. Everton fans have argued that the club sold Ndiaye for less than his market value, pointing to recent comparable deals such as City’s sale of winger Savio to Tottenham for an initial £75 million earlier this summer as evidence they could have demanded more.

    On the other hand, the deal hands Everton a massive profit on their initial investment: the club is set to earn four times the £16 million they paid Marseille for Ndiaye just two years ago. Critics of the fee point out that Ndiaye’s underlying attacking numbers are not yet elite by top club standards. Last season, he only ranked joint third for goal contributions among Everton players with nine, behind Beto (10) and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (12). His creativity also lags behind other top wide players: he created 36 chances all season, good for fourth at Everton, 26 fewer than Toffees midfielder James Garner and eight fewer than Grealish, who missed half the season through injury. Across the entire Premier League, 45 players have recorded more goal contributions than Ndiaye’s 19 since he joined Everton two years ago.

    Most analysts agree that Ndiaye has the raw talent to thrive in Pep Guardiola (Enzo Maresca)’s attack-focused system at City, surrounded by a higher calibre of teammates than he played with at Everton. Even with the large upfront fee, most agree that the £65 million price tag is far from an unreasonable gamble for a club with City’s resources, given Ndiaye’s proven ability to improve at every step of his extraordinary journey to the top.

  • After Messi’s farewell, what is next for Argentina’s national team?

    After Messi’s farewell, what is next for Argentina’s national team?

    BUENOS AIRES – After a storied 21-year international career that culminated with lifting the 2022 FIFA World Cup trophy, Argentine football icon Lionel Messi has formally announced his retirement from the national side, closing one of the most legendary chapters in the history of the global game.

    The 39-year-old, who leaves the side as Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer with 125 international strikes, made the announcement public via an Instagram post this Monday. “I gave it my all; I have nothing left to give,” Messi wrote. “Besides, there are young players coming up who deserve to be here.”

    Messi made his senior international debut for the Albiceleste in 2005, and went on to make a record-breaking mark on World Cup history: he appeared in six editions of the tournament, holds the all-time record for most World Cup matches played (34) and most World Cup match victories (23). While the timing of his international departure had long been anticipated given his age, the official confirmation has sparked an outpouring of emotion from current teammates and generations of fans who grew up watching him lead Argentina’s line.

    For Enzo Fernández, the 25-year-old star midfielder who made his international debut just months before the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the reality of a national camp without Messi is difficult to imagine. “I was just a kid, calculating the age gap between us to see if I might one day get to play alongside you,” Fernández said. “It’s hard for me to picture the next training camp without you — stepping onto the pitch and not seeing you up front in that No. 10 jersey. … We’re going to miss you dearly, Captain.”

    With Messi’s era officially over, all attention now turns to what comes next for the Argentine national side, a program that reached the latest World Cup final just six weeks prior to Messi’s announcement. The biggest question hanging over the side is simple: can Argentina’s renowned youth development system produce another generational talent to fill the void left by the greatest player of his era?

    This is not the first time Argentina has faced this challenge. The same uncertainty gripped the nation in 1994, when Diego Maradona’s international career ended abruptly after a positive drug test at the U.S. World Cup. It took more than a decade for a player of Messi’s caliber to emerge to claim the iconic No. 10 role, and 36 years before Argentina lifted the World Cup trophy again following Maradona’s retirement.

    Jorge Valdano, a 1986 World Cup champion and veteran sports analyst, told the Associated Press that Argentina’s deep football culture creates the perfect conditions for elite talent to emerge. “Argentina has a deep-rooted culture. Players grow up learning the craft on the street and at local clubs; football permeates everything,” Valdano said. “In that environment, a genius is far more likely to emerge. But to become Messi, you need to win both the genetic lottery and the social lottery.”

    At present, no active Argentine player matches Messi’s unparalleled technical brilliance and on-field impact. But there are several promising young prospects already in the senior squad in contention to step into the playmaking role that Messi dominated for two decades. Both Nico Paz and Thiago Almada shared the pitch with Messi during the 2026 World Cup, and while neither delivered a standout performance during the tournament, both have shown strong club form. Paz earned recognition as the best midfielder in Serie A last season with Como, while Almada recently joined Argentine powerhouse River Plate after a stint at Atlético Madrid.

    Argentina has already proven it can collect results when Messi is unavailable: in the final years of his international career, recurring injury issues forced Messi to miss more than 20 national team matches, and the side still maintained a strong winning record in his absence. During World Cup qualifying, manager Lionel Scaloni adjusted his tactical setup to pair center-forwards Julián Álvarez and Lautaro Martínez, while giving Almada and Paz opportunities to fill the traditional attacking playmaker role long held by Messi.

    Even with that proven adaptability, the magnitude of the gap Messi leaves remains undeniable. His match-winning performances throughout the 2022 World Cup, where he repeatedly dragged a collectively struggling Argentine side to victory, underscore just how impossible it will be to replace his impact on the biggest stages.

    Finding a successor to Messi is not the only question facing Argentine football’s next chapter. Scaloni, the manager who led the side to its most successful era in modern history – including two Copa America titles and one World Cup crown – has already hinted he could step down from his role by the end of the year, following Argentina’s 2026 World Cup final defeat to Spain. With Messi’s retirement now official, retaining Scaloni, whose current contract runs through December, has become a top priority for the Argentine Football Association (AFA) to steer the squad through this uncertain transition period.

    Fortunately for the Albiceleste, much of the current core roster is young enough to remain in peak form for the 2030 World Cup, which Argentina will co-host alongside Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. Key young pillars of the squad include defenders Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martínez (both 28), full-back Facundo Medina (27), midfielders Enzo Fernández (25), Alexis Mac Allister (27), and Valentín Barco (22), and forwards Giuliano Simeone (23) and Julián Álvarez (26).

    The first major test for the transitioning side will come at the 2028 Copa America. For the immediate future, Scaloni – who currently resides in Spain – is set to travel to Buenos Aires in the coming days to finalize plans for a series of friendly matches scheduled for September, October, and November. The AFA has not yet confirmed the opponents for these fixtures.