Believe it or not, there's news out of Ligue 1 this week that doesn’t involve Neymar. Did you know the league started play today? Yes, before Neymar makes his anticipated debut with Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, Ligue 1 opened with defending champion Monaco facing off against Toulouse.
If Reiss Nelson played for Monaco, he’d probably be worth $60 million. But Nelson, 17, is on the Arsenal books and hasn’t seen much first-team playing time. Until this preseason.
Nelson impressed during preseason friendlies and sent Emirates Stadium into a frenzy on Thursday during an open training session. The winger scored an absolutely filthy goal that included a nasty nutmeg.
Easy 1-2 pic.twitter.com/72sfwHitf5
The prospective loss of Neymar, as well as the astronomical fee Barcelona will receive for his sale, has fueled rumors of a potential domino effect in the transfer market. After receiving the giant check in the mail from Qatar (I think that’s how it works), will Barcelona turn around and hand the check to Borussia Dortmund for Ousmane Dembele or Juventus for Paulo Dybala or Liverpool for Philippe Coutinho?
Leave it to Sandecja Nowy Sacz coach Radoslaw Mroczkowski to produce one of the most damning statements of Freddy Adu’s absurd career.
“What is the point of having such a player?” Mroczkowski asked rhetorically.
Ouch.
Patrick Kluivert's 9-year-old son Shane has just signed a five-year deal with Nike. The youngest Kluivert has already made a name for himself with a massive social media following that includes 130K followers on Instagram and his own Youtube channel. Oh, and he’s also not bad at football.
No disrespect to Lionel Messi, but if your 10-year-old kid started doing this one day in the backyard, would you think “Gee, little Jimmy’s sure showing an inclination towards soccer” or would you think “Gee, little Jimmy may literally be the Devil incarnate”?
Based on a genetic family history more prone to madness than to footballing excellence, I’d opt for the latter. No disrespect to Messi, but if my son were doing this, I’d check for a weird birthmark and ask my local priest for seven sacrificial daggers.
AC Milan have confirmed that they’re currently in talks with Bayern Munich regarding a possible two-year loan deal for 19-year-old Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches with the option to sign him permanently for €40 million.
Landon Donovan posted a video of his son Talon scoring a goal in his backyard, and little Talon looks like he's on the fast track to the USMNT. His dad posted the caption, "He's going to kill me for this when he gets older. Oh well."
Watching the Gold Cup the last couple of days, you feel a bit like Scooter Braun accidentally clicking on a YouTube video of a tween musician.
Not since Justin Bieber was discovered at age 12 in 2007 has Canada had such a precocious young star in the making. Alphonso Davies may have only become a Canadian in the last couple months, but if he keeps scoring at this rate, he’ll soar to Bieber-esque heights.
Davies scored the opener in Canada’s 1-1 draw with Costa Rica on Tuesday, the 16-year-old’s third goal in two Gold Cup matches.
Mino Raiola, the architect of Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan's moves to Manchester United last summer (and Romelu Lukaku's this summer!), is about one thing only: getting his clients (and by extension himself) that money.