Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah on Friday signed a long-term contract extension, putting an end to a lengthy saga about his future at the Premier League club.

The Egypt international has signed an extension until 2025, with the deal coming after strike partner and Senegal forward Sadio Mane left to join German Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich on a three-year deal last month.

“I feel great and (I am) excited to win trophies with the club. It’s a happy day for everyone,” Salah said in a statement on the club website.

“It takes a little bit of time, I think, to renew, but now everything is done so we just need to focus on what’s next.

“I think you can see in the last five or six years the team was always going (upwards). Last season we were close to winning four, but unfortunately in the last week of the season we lost two trophies.”

Salah scored 23 league goals for Liverpool last season to share the Premier League golden boot with Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min.

He was named the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year and also took the top honour from the Football Writers’ Association.

The 30-year-old scored 31 goals in all competitions for Liverpool and helped them capture the League Cup and FA Cup. They were beaten 1-0 by Real Madrid in the Champions League final in May.

Salah, who joined the Merseyside outfit from Italian side AS Roma in 2017 and has scored 156 goals in 254 appearances, would have been available to leave them on a free transfer at the end of next season.

He is now expected to lead a new-look front line for Juergen Klopp’s side in the absence of Mane and Divock Origi — who left the club — with Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez having joined in the close season.

“My message (to the fans) is the players in the team want to give our best next season to try to win all the trophies,” Salah added. “As usual, you stay behind us and give us a big push and I’m sure we are going to win trophies again (together).”

Source: REUTERS

Romelu Lukaku said he was “very happy” to be back after the Belgian international striker arrived in Milan on Wednesday ahead of his return to Inter Milan on loan from Chelsea.

A beaming Lukaku emerged from Linate airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning and gave his short but delighted response to the handful of reporters awaiting his arrival.

The 29-year-old will undergo a medical later in the day before making his long-awaited Inter comeback official.

Chelsea agreed to a reported deal in which Inter will pay an initial eight million euros ($8.42 million) plus a further potential three million euros in bonuses for the loan.

Lukaku will again lead Inter’s attack as they attempt to regain the Serie A title after taking a pay cut — a reported 8.5 million euros for the coming campaign.

Lukaku leaves London after failing to make an impression for a second time at Chelsea, not meeting high expectations following a £97.5 million move from Inter last summer.

He had made himself a fan favourite over two years at Inter after scoring 64 times in 95 games and driving them to their first Serie A title in over a decade, the 2021 Scudetto ending both an 11-year drought and Juventus’ grip on Italian football.

However the financial problems of Inter’s owners the Suning Group, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic led to coach Antonio Conte leaving the club almost as soon as the title was won.

He claimed the cost cutting required by Inter would have prevented him building the team he wanted to challenge domestically and in Europe.

Lukaku followed Conte out the door after then European champions Chelsea offered a whopping sum which eased some of Inter’s financial issues, and started well on his return to Stamford Bridge.

Coach Thomas Tuchel said “he was the type of guy we were missing” after he netted four times in his first four games, but his next goal didn’t come until early December and injury, Covid-19 and poor form kept him out of the team.

He then infuriated Chelsea fans by conducting an interview with Sky Sport Italia in which he expressed his unhappiness and said he had Inter in his heart and wanted to return.

Those comments also led Inter’s hardcore ultras to say they weren’t interested in having him back, considering his move to Chelsea a betrayal of his claim to love the Milanese club.

They told other fans not to arrive en masse to welcome Lukaku back as he is now “just one of many” after previously being “treated like a king” by supporters.

Lukaku will be critical to coach Simone Inzaghi’s bid to snatch back the league crown from AC Milan after they finished two points behind their local rivals last term.

Source: AFP

Bayern Munich confirmed the signing of Sadio Mane from Liverpool on Wednesday, as the Senegal forward signed a three-year deal with the Bundesliga champions.

Bayern have reportedly paid a fee which could rise to 41 million euros ($43 million) for Mane.

The 30-year-old won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup titles during six years on Merseyside.

“My agent told me that there were also enquiries from other clubs, but for me, the feeling was right from the start when Bayern presented their plan with me,” Mane told German daily Bild.

“It was the right club at the right time.

“It is one of the biggest clubs in the world and the team are always fighting for all the titles.”

Mane added he wants to “do everything to make sure I win titles with my teammates”.

Bayern won a 10th straight Bundesliga title last season.

Mane, voted African footballer of the year in 2019, is a versatile attacker who has spent the majority of his career on the wing but can also play through the middle.

His arrival will ease the pain for Bayern if wantaway striker Robert Lewandowski leaves the club, while Serge Gnabry is also stalling over a contract extension.

“Sadio Mane is a global star, who underlines the appeal of Bayern and will increase the attractiveness of the Bundesliga as a whole,” said Bayern president Herbert Hainer.

“Fans come to the stadiums to see unique players like this.”

‘Top international star’

The signing of Mane takes some pressure off Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic after Lewandowski made it clear he would not extend his contract which expires next year.

Mane netted 120 goals in 269 games for Liverpool.

“In Sadio Mane, a top international star is coming to FC Bayern, who has left his mark on world football,” said Salihamidzic.

“We’re proud to have brought him to Munich.

“The fact that he’s joining FC Bayern shows that our club and he have big aims.”

Mane left Senegal at the age of 19 to join Metz and spent a season in France before joining RB Salzburg, where he learned German.

He switched to the Premier League when he joined Southampton in 2014 and moved to Liverpool two years later.

Mane played leading roles as Liverpool won the 2019 Champions League and ended their 30-year wait for the English league title in 2020.

“It is really strange to no longer be a Liverpool player but I had an unbelievable time,” he told Liverpool’s website. “I am going to be Liverpool’s number one fan forever.”

Mane, Senegal’s record goalscorer, was part of the team which won the Africa Cup of Nations in February, converting the winning penalty in the final shoot-out against Egypt.

Source:  AFP

A senior UEFA representative said on Tuesday he did not believe French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin’s claims about the number of fake tickets in circulation during the chaotic scenes before last month’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

Following the game on May 28, Darmanin claimed that between 30,000 and 40,000 fake tickets in the hands of Liverpool fans was the cause of problems as police funnelled thousands of fans into overcrowded underpasses around the stadium, leading to the kick-off being delayed by more than 30 minutes.

Martin Kallen, general director of UEFA Events, who are in charge of the body’s commercial events, told a hearing at the French Senate, which is investigating the incidents, the figure was much lower.

“We know there were around 2,600 tickets taken to the turnstiles which were fake,” Kellen said.

“But a lot of tickets didn’t get to the turnstiles… How many? We don’t know, we can’t really verify.

“We don’t believe it’s the number mentioned in France, which was more or less 30,000 to 40,000,” he added.

Keller said other factors caused the problems at the Stade de France, in mayhem that saw the French police use tear gas at close range, even against children.

“It wasn’t only the paper tickets that created chaos in front of the gates,” he said.

“The reasons are numerous: a transport strike, poor reaction from stewards, police, there were delinquents and an extremely big flux of people in front of the stadium without a ticket or with fake tickets,” he added.

Liverpool and Real Madrid supporters are due to give evidence to the Senate later in the day.

UEFA have launched its own probe, overseen by a former Portuguese education and sports minister, which Kellen said would present its conclusions in September.

“We thought the investigation would take a minimum two to three months,” Kallen said.

“As it’s starting now, we could say sometime in September (for the results),” he added.

Real Madrid won the final 1-0 to become European champions for the 14th time.

Source: AFP

Manchester City will begin the defence of their Premier League title at West Ham while Liverpool travel to Fulham on the opening weekend of the season.

The 2022/23 fixtures, published on Thursday, give new Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag an opening test at Old Trafford against Brighton, who hammered United 4-0 last month.

Nottingham Forest’s first match in the top flight for 23 years will be at Newcastle.

Pep Guardiola’s City will start their bid for a fifth title in six seasons at the London Stadium on Sunday, August 7, after all their rivals have begun their campaigns.

Frank Lampard, whose Everton side narrowly escaped relegation, comes up against his former employers Chelsea on the previous evening.

For the second season running Arsenal have the honour of kicking-off the new campaign with a short trip to Crystal Palace on Friday, August 5.

Liverpool and City renew their rivalry at Anfield in mid-October, after a midweek Champions League tie, with the return fixture scheduled for the start of April.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is unlikely to be impressed with their fixture allocation in conjunction with their European commitments.

Their three away matches following Champions League group games are against Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.

The traditional “Big Six” have been kept apart on the final weekend before the mid-season break for the World Cup in Qatar, the weekend of November 12/13.

Following the resumption of the campaign on December 26, Leeds host City and United welcome Forest.

City head to Brentford on the final day of the season, with Liverpool away at Southampton.

Fixtures

Friday, August 5

Crystal Palace v Arsenal (1900 GMT)

Saturday, August 6 (1400 GMT unless stated)

Fulham v Liverpool (1130), Bournemouth v Aston Villa, Leeds v Wolves, Leicester v Brentford, Newcastle v Nottingham Forest, Tottenham v Southampton, Everton v Chelsea (1630)

Sunday, August 7

Manchester United v Brighton (1300), West Ham v Manchester City (1530)

Source:  AFP

France midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni has joined Real Madrid from Monaco, both clubs announced on Saturday.

According to sources the 22-year-old has cost the Champions League and La Liga holders more than 80 million euros ($84 million) as well as an additional 20 million euros in bonuses.

The former Bordeaux playmaker has won 10 caps since making his Les Bleus debut in September.

“Real Madrid and Monaco have agreed on the transfer of the player Aurelien Tchouameni, who will be linked to the club for the next six seasons,” they said.

“Next Tuesday, June 14, at 12:00 at Real Madrid City, the presentation ceremony for Aurelien Tchouameni as a new Real Madrid player will take place after the corresponding medical examination,” they added.

Madrid have also signed Chelsea centre-back Antonio Ruediger ahead of the new season but missed out on Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe last month as he decided to stay in the French capital.

Source: AFP

Pressure was growing Friday on French authorities after the surprise revelation CCTV footage from the Stade de France during the Champions League final last month has been deleted, with critics alleging a deliberate cover-up.

The French Football Federation revealed Thursday to a commission at the French Senate the images had been destroyed automatically having not been subject to a warrant from judicial authorities, in line with French law.

The revelation adds to the controversy after crowd control problems, tear gas and street crime marred the final at Paris’ Stade de France between Liverpool and Real Madrid on May 28.

France’s reputation has taken a battering as laid out in a government report on Friday.

It said the “chain of failures” by French authorities has inflicted “severe damage” on the image of the country.

Opposition politicians seized on the latest revelations about the CCTV footage to hammer the authorities.

“It’s called covering your tracks,” far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen told BFMTV on Friday.

“The fact that there is no CCTV footage allows their huge lies to be covered,” Le Pen added, pointing to the initial claim from the French government that fake tickets on an ‘industrial-scale’ caused the pandemonium.

Police asked Stade de France for the footage, but only on Thursday evening after it became public that the images had been destroyed, a source close to the case told AFP Friday.

“Yesterday’s information that the images would not be kept for one month, but only a few days, led us to ask for them,” Bobigny prosecutors, in charge of the investigation into fake tickets, said.

The State de France is allowed to store CCTV footage for a maximum of 30 days, but the servers only have the capacity to store them for seven or eight.

On Twitter French police said Thursday the images taken by the Stade de France cameras may no longer exist but that the police still had their images.

But Socialist vice-president of the Senate’s law commission David Assouline said Friday on Franceinfo radio he was “stupefied” by the news, adding it demonstrated an “incredible lack of co-ordination” between the police and politicians.

-‘State scandal’-

Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram, questioned by the Senate commission after the FFF delegation, said that he failed “to understand why the videos were destroyed”.

“We’re heading straight towards a state scandal,” the head of the opposition Republicans (LR) faction in the Senate, Bruno Retailleau, told RFI radio, adding the destruction of the CCTV footage was an “intentional act … to make evidence disappear”.

But ruling party MP Aurore Berge said on RMC radio that there were enough elements for the investigation.

“We have plenty of witness statements and images that should nonetheless guide (the investigators),” Berge said.

On Thursday the chief of the Paris police Didier Lallement admitted in front of the Senate commission investigating the May 28 chaos that the security operations for the Champions League final were a “failure”.

“It was a failure because people were pushed around and attacked. It’s a failure because the image of the country was tarnished,” he said.

Lallement and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin initially blamed the mayhem on as many as 40,000 Liverpool fans who massed at the stadium without tickets or with counterfeit tickets.

That figure has been widely disputed since by witnesses and media using images from the ground, and Lallement admitted yesterday: “Perhaps I made a mistake with the figure I gave to the minister”.

He acknowledged there were not 30,000 to 40,000 “at the gates of the stadium” but maintained that several thousands were “in the vicinity” of police checkpoints at the Stade de France to the north of the capital.

Many Liverpool supporters struggled to enter the stadium, leading to kick-off being delayed by more than half an hour and crushes at the entry gates, where police fired tear gas.

The government’s initial decision to blame Liverpool fans for the problems caused tensions between France and Britain, while raising questions about the capacity of Paris to host the Rugby World Cup next year and the Olympic Games in 2024.

Source: AFP

Germany’s coach Hansi Flick said on Monday that his team would need to improve against England’s ‘extraordinary players’ in a Nations League clash in Munich on Tuesday.

Flick praised the English Premier League at his pre-match press conference saying “the quality is very high”.

“They have six or seven clubs of almost equal level,” said Flick, a former Bayern Munich coach.

Flick said German players who move to the Premier League “take a step up”.

Flick’s squad contains four players who played for English clubs last season, including three under German coach Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea.

Flick singled out Kai Havertz “who grew up under the influence of Thomas Tuchel.”

Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who scored twice on the final day of the Premier League season to seal the title for Manchester City, praised England’s strength in depth.

“They could form three national teams,” he said.

Flick said he was disappointed with a 1-1 draw with Italy in Bologna on Saturday, on the same evening that England lost their goup opener 1-0 in Hungary.

“It is obvious that we must do better” against England, said Flick.

“They have extraordinary players and their game is very physical. (Harry) Kane is a world-class striker, he has a huge quality,” Flick said.

“It will be a big game for us and it will be important to implement our plan well,” said Flick, still undefeated after ten games as Germany coach.

Gundogan, who has been at City since 2016, insisted the historic rivalry between England and Germany was “no longer an issue.”

“The respect is there, and in the end it is about sport,” he said.

“We have had several German players who succeeded in England, and it has become very friendly, even if sometimes we banter a little”.

Source: AFP

Liverpool chief executive Billy Hogan has accused the French authorities of trying to “deflect responsibility” for the chaotic scenes that marred the Champions League final in Paris.

UEFA have announced an independent review into scenes outside the Stade de France on Saturday that saw supporters funnelled into overcrowded corridors and hit with tear gas and pepper spray from police.

Kick-off to the match, which Real Madrid won 1-0, was delayed by 36 minutes to allow supporters extra time to access the stadium.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin blamed the chaos on “industrial-scale” fraud of 30,000 to 40,000 fake tickets.

However, that account has been strongly rejected by Liverpool fans who have pointed to a series of organisational failings around the stadium and the heavy-handed response from police.

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner has demanded an apology from French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera.

Oudea-Castera initially blamed Liverpool for helping to cause the mayhem, telling a French radio station that the club failed to properly organise its supporters who went to Paris.

“We just feel that everyone should be focused on getting the investigation right and less about making inflammatory comments that attempt to deflect responsibility for what happened on Saturday night,” Hogan told the Liverpool website.

“We should know all the facts to make sure that the scenes that we’ve all seen – absolutely disgraceful – from Saturday don’t ever happen again.”

Family members and friends of the Liverpool squad were caught up in the scenes outside the stadium.

Left-back Andy Robertson said a friend he had given a club ticket to was denied entry and accused of carrying a fake ticket.

The wife of Thiago Alcantara, Julia Vigas, posted on Instagram: “Due to a lack of organisation and security, there were so many scary moments.”

Vigas added: “Something has to be done, these kind of things cannot happen in any kind of event and we ask for responsibility. It could have been much worse.”

UEFA initially blamed the late arrival of fans for the problems before later issuing a statement referring to fake tickets as the cause.

“To say our fans didn’t turn up on time is crazy,” added Hogan.

“My colleagues across the club, our ownership and I, we all saw it with our own eyes. We were outside the ground, on the ground, in those crowds and from everything I saw, our fans arrived early and they were queueing as directed by authorities.”

Liverpool have begun compiling their own evidence with supporters and other people present invited to report their experiences via a feedback form on their website.

Fans have compared the dangerous scenes outside the stadium to the Hillsborough disaster in which 97 Liverpool fans were killed in a crush in 1989.

UEFA said their own independent review, led by Portugal’s Dr Tiago Brandao Rodrigues “will examine decision making, responsibility and behaviours of all entities involved in the final.”

Source: AFP

Vinicius Junior scored the only goal of the game as Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 in Saturday’s Champions League final in Paris to become kings of Europe for a record-extending 14th time after a night marred by problems outside the ground that led to the kick-off being delayed by over half an hour.

Brazilian winger Vinicius turned in Fede Valverde’s enticing low cross in the 59th minute at the Stade de France and Liverpool could not find an equaliser as Jurgen Klopp’s side lost to the Spanish giants in a Champions League final for the second time in five seasons.

The Anfield side will wonder what might have been had the outstanding Thibaut Courtois not pushed Sadio Mane’s shot onto the inside of a post when they were on top in the first half, as they fell short of a trophy treble.

Winners of the English League Cup and FA Cup this season, they just missed out to Manchester City for the Premier League title and were denied a victory here which would have put them level with AC Milan on seven European Cups.

Instead Real have a fifth Champions League in nine seasons to go with their Spanish title, as Carlo Ancelotti becomes the first coach to win European club football’s greatest prize for a fourth time.

Ancelotti was also in charge of Real when they won the 2014 final having also triumphed with AC Milan in 2003 and in 2007, the latter victory coming against Liverpool.

Delayed kick-off

The match kicked off 35 minutes later than the planned 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) start in the French capital after chaos at entrances to the stadium led to fans being unable to get to their seats.

UEFA said it was “sympathetic” towards those affected and put the huge build-ups of supporters at gates down to “thousands of fans who had purchased fake tickets which did not work in the turnstiles”.

Tear gas was also fired by police as a small number of people could be seen trying to scale fences around the perimeter of the ground.

The final was only moved to the French capital after Saint-Petersburg was stripped of the game following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

The delayed kick-off may have been responsible for the slow start to the game itself, as it took 16 minutes before there was an incident of note, Mohamed Salah turning a low Trent Alexander-Arnold cross towards goal only for Courtois to save.

Liverpool were seen as favourites to avenge their loss to the Spanish giants in the 2018 final in Kyiv and they began to take control of the game.

Mane came agonisingly close to opening the scoring in the 21st minute as he skipped his way into a shooting position inside the box only for Courtois to tip his net-bound shot onto his right-hand post.

Klopp’s side, with Fabinho and Thiago Alcantara starting in midfield after overcoming fitness worries, were on top but could not turn their superiority into a lead.

Outstanding Courtois

Real, meanwhile, created almost nothing in the first half with Karim Benzema quiet, but their captain briefly thought he had got the breakthrough two minutes before the interval.

The Frenchman prodded home after the ball broke back to him inside the area but the offside flag was raised.

The decision to disallow the goal was upheld after a lengthy VAR check, despite Fabinho deflecting Valverde’s touch through to Benzema.

Yet Ancelotti’s side kept their nerve and were rewarded with the goal as the hour mark approached.

Valverde drove forward down the right before firing a low ball across the face of goal for Vinicius to turn it in at the far post past his Brazilian national team colleague Alisson.

Just like in 2018, Real had drawn first blood, but this time there was no need for them to send on Gareth Bale in order to ensure victory.

Courtois was superb, flying to his right to keep out a Salah curler before two saves in quick succession late on.

First the Belgian got down low when substitute Diogo Jota deflected Salah’s effort towards goal, and then he produced a strong arm to turn a Salah strike behind.

It was Real Madrid’s night.

Source: AFP