Willian has left Arsenal after agreeing to terminate the remaining two years of his contract and is set to sign for boyhood club Corinthians.
The 33-year-old signed a three-year deal when he joined on a free transfer from Chelsea last summer. However, he struggled to make an impact at the Emirates, scoring just once in 38 appearances.
After holding talks about his future, the winger has agreed to forego the wages he was owed for the final two years of his contract and become a free agent.
Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke has confirmed a new deal for Granit Xhaka in the club’s matchday programme today.
Xhaka was heavily linked with a switch to join Roma earlier in the summer.
But after the Serie A side failed to come up with a suitable transfer fee, the Swiss midfielder has decided to remain in North London.
Kroenke and son Josh spoke of Arsenal’s transfer business in the programme, reports Football.London ahead of today’s meeting with Chelsea.
They said: “We know there is much work ahead to get back to where we need to be but are confident about what can be achieved by this great club and our people.
“We are building a squad, rich in young talent, much of it developed through our wonderful academy.
“It is clear looking across Europe that we are dealing with a difficult transfer market due to the impacts of the pandemic but at the time of writing, are delighted to have signed Nuno Tavares, [Albert] Sambi Lokonga and Ben White.
“We have also renewed the deals of Kieran Tierney and Emile Smith Rowe, both on a long-term basis.
“These are all young players that we are convinced can develop further and have a bright future with us.
“They are supported by a strong group of more experienced players including Granit Xhaka, who has signed an extended contract.
“This is an important step in terms of maintaining balance and stability in the squad.
“In the meantime, the transfer negotiating team has been working hard behind the scenes to improve the squad further.”
Former Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi has agreed to join Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year contract.
Sports paper, L’Equipe, said on its website, adding he was due to arrive in Paris in the coming hours.
Messi, the 34-year-old record goal scorer for both Argentina and FC Barcelona, is one of the greatest players of all time.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner, wept on Sunday as he bade farewell to his boyhood team, after the club said it could no longer afford to keep him, due to La Liga’s fair play rules.
The PSG frontline is already formidable, with Messi’s former Barca team mate Neymar and young France striker, Kylian Mbappe seen as two of the best players on the planet.
But the arrival of Messi, Barca’s all-time record goal scorer with 682 in 27 years, will boost the club’s ambitions to win a first ever Champions League.
The arrival of Messi, who has 245 million followers on Instagram and is Barcelona’s most decorated player of all time, is also welcome news for France’s Ligue 1.
Sergio Aguero is already regretting his move to Barcelona, it has been revealed.
The former Manchester City striker has told his lawyers to find a way out of his contract, according to Beteve’s La Porteria programme, following Lionel Messi’s exit after 21 years with the Catalan giants.
Aguero made no secret that he joined Barca ahead of several other top-flight European suitors specifically because he wanted to play with his close friend and six-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi.
Just days before joining Barca, Aguero was delaying signing the deal in order to be absolutely sure his Argentina team-mate was definitely staying.
Aguero, 33, is said to be incensed that Messi has left after he was promised that the two would play together and that Messi’s contractual issues would be resolved.
La Porteria reports that Aguero’s “future at Barca does not look good”.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has been explaining why a new contract cannot be agreed with Lionel Messi, with an all-time great preparing to sever ties with the only club side that he has represented in an iconic career.
Laporta told a press conference: “Leo wanted to stay at Barca. We wanted him to stay.
“I want to thank everyone that has been in the negotiations. There were lots of aspects that needed to be negotiated.
“He is the best player in the world and has other offers, of course.
“After all of this process, there comes a moment where you have to say ‘enough’. You have to analyse it and look at the numbers.
“In La Liga we have to abide by the rules. We think they could be more flexible, but that is not an excuse. We couldn’t abide by it.
“Leo deserves everything. He has proven that he loves Barca. He has his roots in Barcelona. I’m sad but I’m convinced we have done the best for the interests of Barcelona.”
Laporta added: “Leo’s legacy is excellent, he has made history. He is the player with the most success in the history of the club. I hope we can overcome this situation.
“A new era starts now. There will be before and after Leo, as there was with other great players in the history of Barca.”
Lionel Messi’s camp are insisting Barcelona chose not to extend his contract.
Sport says Messi did not expect negotiations to sign a new contract with Barcelona to have an unhappy ending.
The forward is devastated at Barça’s announcement on Thursday that he will leave the club after 21 years at Camp Nou.
Barça said they had an agreement with Messi over a new deal but that La Liga’s financial rules made it impossible to register him for the new season.
On Thursday he received the confirmation that it would not be possible and that was reflected in his mood.
Sources insist the Argentina international was deeply distressed to find out Barça would be making the announcement.
There’s suggestions Lionel Messi’s demand to have a bigger say on transfers contributed to his contract breakdown with Barcelona.
Marca says it looked as if Messi was due to have his contract renewal with Barcelona made official, but now there are a number of factors which see the No.10 have more than one foot outside the Camp Nou.
One of those requirements was to have Argentina teammate Cristian Romero join him at Barcelona, as Messi felt that the defender’s signing would be a key move in strengthening the Barcelona squad and would also keep the team competitive throughout the 2021/22 season.
But Tottenham Hotspur have been quicker off the mark than Barcelona, and the Premier League side have practically closed the deal to bring Romero to England from Serie A side Atalanta.
As a result, that disagreement in transfer priorities has been a factor in the Messi being further away from signing a deal with Barcelona.
German sportswear manufacturing giants PUMA has terminated its four-year contract with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN).
The termination of the deal comes amidst an alleged leadership tussle between the Ibrahim Gusau-led AFN board and that headed by the Minister for Youths and Sports, Sunday Dare.
Consequently, the minister is said to have vowed that the Nigerian Athletes will not wear the PUMA kits.
According to reports, the AFN under the leadership of Ibrahim Gusau had entered into a controversial $2.76m deal with Puma on July 24, 2019, in Doha.
The deal led to a major crisis that split the athletics body into two factions, with both Gusau and Adeleye accused of sidelining other members of the board during the signing of the deal.
The deal, signed by Gusau-led AFN was due to expire in 2022.
Part of the contract is that PUMA will supply apparel to all age categories to Nigeria’s Athletics team for four years at no cost.
In addition, gold medalists at the Olympic Games will earn $15,000, silver medalists will get 5,000 while a bronze medal will fetch athletes wearing the PUMA apparel at the games $3,000.
PUMA terminated the contract in a letter dated Wednesday, August 4, 2021, and signed by the company’s director Manuel Edlheimb.
In the letter of termination of Sponsoring and Licensing Agreement PUMA said, “we are referring to the licensing and sponsoring agreement signed between our company and your federation”.
“As a direct consequence of the recent developments, particularly at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 and pursuant to clauses 9.2 and 7.3 of the Agreement, we hereby terminate the Agreement with immediate effect.
“PUMA especially declares to be discharged from any or all obligations towards all stakeholders involved and reserves all rights against these entities and individuals,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Department of State Services had last year cleared Gusau and his vice president Sunday Adeleye over corruption allegations levelled against him by the sports ministry.
Barcelona are still unable to secure Lionel Messi’s future with a new deal, because of LaLiga’s refusal to make any concession, the UK Mirror reports.
After being found guilty of operating significantly over the league’s wage rulings, Barca were punished.
This means they were not allowed to register new signings, except they cut down their wage bill.
Messi’s previous contract expired at the end of June, but he is ready to extend his 21-year stay.
However, LaLiga slapped Barca with the wage-related punishment in the period between the expiration of Messi’s previous contract and before he had the chance to sign a new one.
As a result, just like the new signings, Messi has been unable to be registered as a Barca player, with the new Spanish season now under two weeks away.
Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has pleaded with LaLiga officials, claiming: “We want more flexibility from the league to be able to include more signings.
“The negotiations with Messi are well underway, but we are fixing several issues on both sides.”
If recent reports are to be believed, Barcelona could have yet another issue to deal with, as La Liga are rumoured to be investigating whether the money they have cleared from their wage bill thus far has been done in a fair and legitimate manner.
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is quietly confident of Lionel Messi signing his new contract and staying.
The Catalan is keen to see the No.10 stay on at the Camp Nou for the 2021/22 season, despite his contract having expired at the end of June.
“We’re waiting for him to sign the renewal and to have him with us,” Pique said.
“I hope he’s convinced.”
Barcelona had a disastrous start to the 2020/21 season, which ultimately proved to be their downfall as they mounted an unlikely comeback in the title race, only to fall short in the final weeks of the season.
With LaLiga Santander being described as the “foundation for the rest of the season”, Pique is hungry for a strong start domestically.
“I’m going into this season with the same enthusiasm as my first,” Pique said.
“We must try to start well. Generally, when we win league titles, it’s because we pick up a good rhythm from the start and pull clear, or we build up a lead and maintain it.
“We’ll try to do the same and hope that Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid don’t do what they did last year.”