According to reports on Sky News, British Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to complete the acquisition of a 25% stake in Manchester United(Man United) and begin immediately restructuring the management of Old Trafford.

Ratcliffe, the chairman of petrochemicals firm INEOS, is expected to be confirmed as a minority shareholder of the 20-time Premier League champions before the league resumes. Once that is done, he will take responsibility for football operations, with expected massive shakeups.

Richard Arnold has already left his position as chief executive of Manchester United, with Ratcliffe expected to bring in his replacement. Football director John Murtough is also likely to be moved on amid a dreadful start to the season for Erik ten Hag’s side.

The takeover will see Man United owner, the Glazer family, finalise a $33 per share deal with Ratcliffe that will see the British billionaire acquire a 25% stake at Old Trafford.

The Glazer family has faced intense criticism from fans over handling this key part of the club’s operations.

The Glazer family announced in November 2022 that they were exploring “strategic alternatives” for the club, including a possible sale and were open to fresh investment.

According to Reuters, Ratcliffe’s offer represents a premium of 79.1% to the stock’s Thursday closing price of $18.43, valuing the Old Trafford club at about $5.4 billion, excluding debt.
United’s U.S.-listed shares rose 9.5% to $20.10 in early trading on Friday.

The deal values United higher than Premier League rivals Chelsea, sold by Russian Businessman Roman Abramovich in May for $5.2 billion to an investment group led by U.S. billionaire Todd Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital.

United also generate more revenue and has a larger fan base than its London rival.

A 71-year-old Ratcliffe will also control the club’s player recruitment if the deal is finalised.

The deal structure that Ratcliffe has proposed would allow members of the Glazer family, as well as other shareholders, to cash out partially, one source told Reuters.

It is unclear if Ratcliffe is planning a full takeover or if the Glazers would be open to an outright sale.

Ratcliffe founded INEOS in 1998 and is the chemical group’s chairman and chief executive, with a two-thirds stake. Forbes pegs Ratcliffe’s net worth at $18.7 billion.

The British billionaire is no stranger to the business of sports. INEOS owns French Ligue 1 club Nice, Swiss Super League side FC Lausanne-Sport.

[Businessday]

After the drab 1-1 draw with Lesotho, the Super Eagles will tomorrow, in Rwanda, file out against troubled Warriors of Zimbabwe in continuation of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The result ramps up pressure on Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro just months out from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Injured striker Victor Osimhen was sorely missed as Nigeria lacked cutting edge against the minnows. Peseiro’s men need a quick response when they meet Zimbabwe on Sunday.

With their backs to the wall, the Super Eagles will want to bounce back to reckoning with a huge win from the encounter. Their hosts, the Warriors of Zimbabwe who drew 0-0 with Rwanda in their opening group match will also be out for a first win in the series.

For the Super Eagles, the draw with the Crocodiles of Lesotho was indicative of what awaits them in the series: nobody should expect Super Eagles to have it easy with any of the teams in the group.

Apart from Coach Peseiro’s technical frailties, it appears the players are not fighting enough. Their display in Uyo was shoddy, indifferent and fell far short of a true representation of Nigeria’s best. Some analysts have questioned their sense of patriotism, leading to calls for a reconfiguration of the entire architecture of the Nigeria national team. Rightly, some analysts have questioned the inclusion of some foreign-based players in the team and called on national team selectors to look inwards in order to give players in the domestic league a fair chance to compete for shirts in the national team.

Some of the invited players are bench warmers in their European clubs and that reflects in their outing in the national colours. It is crystal clear that the majority of Super Eagles players are average and overrated, yet Nigerians place so much expectations on them. In time past, countries like Lesotho were used as cannon fodders by the Super Eagles to advance their cause.

As the team prepare for the Warriors of Zimbabwe tomorrow, one expects that coach Jose Peseiro will do the right things; like his team selection, putting players in their rightful positions and have the ability to read the match and know when to effect changes that can also change the course of the match.

The Super Eagles can save Nigerians the usual permutations on their chances of qualifying for the World Cup with a commanding performance against the Warriors of Zimbabwe.

[Vanguard]

Victor Osimhen has made the final list for the 2023 CAF Best Player award, a statement from the football body has shown.

“CAF has announced the shortlists for the men’s categories for the CAF Awards 2023,” the African football governing body said on Friday.

The Napoli forward, who is the overwhelming favourite, is the only Nigerian to make the cut and will be aiming to cap off an impressive year in which he won the Italian Scuddeto and top scorer gong in the league.

A few weeks ago, Osimhen finished eighth in the 2023 Ballon d’Or awards held in the French city of Paris.

Apart from the Nigerian, other top players who made the final 10 nominees for the CAF award include holder and Senegalese forward Sadio Mane; Riyad Mahrez of Algeria; and Achraf Hakimi of Morocco among others.

The ultimate winner of each category will be decided after votes from a voting panel consisting of the CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head coaches, and captains of member associations and clubs involved in the group stages of the Interclub competitions, CAF added.

The Awards Gala is billed for Monday, 11 December 2023 in Marrakech, Morocco.

Final Shortlist For 2023 CAF Best Player Prize

Riyad Mahrez (Algeria, Al Ahli)
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon, SSC Napoli)
Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon, Besiktas)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, Paris Saint-Germain)
Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco, Manchester United)
Yassine Bounou (Morocco, Al Hilal)
Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco, Sevilla)
Victor Osimhen (Nigeria, SSC Napoli)
Sadio Mane (Senegal, Al Nassr)

Kylian Mbappe has reportedly agreed a deal with PSG to forego significant bonuses he is owed.

The French superstar had wanted to leave the Parisians and join Real Madrid upon the expiry of his contract in the summer of 2022. However, he made a late U-turn and penned a new deal with the French giants until 2024, with the option of an extra year to 2025 that only he could activate.

In the summer, Mbappe was exiled from PSG's squad after he informed the club he would not be utilising that extension, and leave on a free transfer next summer. He was subsequently left out of the club's pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea and forced to train with a group.

Later, Mbappe was then reintegrated after missing the first game of the season against Lorient.

According to French outlet RMC Sport, Mbappe was only allowed to return to the squad if he agreed to forego bonuses that he was owed.

The report claims PSG had originally insisted the only way he could rejoin Luis Enrique's first team was if he signed a new deal, something the forward refused to do and a prospect he continues to dismiss.

As a result, they changed tact and Mbappe has now given up approximately €80m (£70m) worth of bonuses after reaching an agreement with the club following his reintegration.

PSG remain desperate to extend the contract of their talisman, who continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid.

But, despite the constant speculation over his future, Mbappe shows no signs of letting it distract him after scoring 13 goals in 11 Ligue 1 outings this season.

Everton have been docked 10 points after being found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules, plunging the club into the relegation zone.

The punishment, the biggest sporting sanction in the Premier League’s history, leaves the Goodison Park club 19th in the table on a total of just four points after 12 matches.

Everton said they were “shocked and disappointed by the ruling”, announcing their intention to appeal.

The Premier League referred the club, who have posted losses for five consecutive years, to an independent commission in March for an alleged breach of its profitability and sustainability rules (PSRs).

Clubs are allowed to lose a maximum £105 million ($130 million) over a three-year period or face sanctions.

The Premier League said in a statement: “The club admitted it was in breach of the PSRs for the period ending season 2021/22 but the extent of the breach remained in dispute.

“Following a five-day hearing last month, the commission determined that Everton FC’s PSR calculation for the relevant period resulted in a loss of £124.5 million, as contended by the Premier League, which exceeded the threshold of £105 million permitted under the PSRs.

“The commission concluded that a sporting sanction in the form of a 10-point deduction should be imposed. That sanction has immediate effect.”

‘Harsh’ Punishment’

But Everton said the punishment was too harsh.

“The club believes that the commission has imposed a wholly disproportionate and unjust sporting sanction,” the club said in a statement.

“The club has already communicated its intention to appeal the decision to the Premier League.”

The statement added: “Everton maintains that it has been open and transparent in the information it has provided to the Premier League and that it has always respected the integrity of the process.

“The club does not recognise the finding that it failed to act with the utmost good faith and it does not understand this to have been an allegation made by the Premier League during the course of proceedings.

“Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted.”

Everton said they would monitor “with great interest” the decisions made in other cases concerning financial rules.

Premier League champions Manchester City were charged earlier this year with 115 alleged breaches of financial fair play regulations. That case is ongoing.

Only two other clubs have received points deductions in Premier League history.

Middlesbrough were deducted three points for failing to fulfil a fixture against Blackburn during the 1996/97 season, while in 2010 Portsmouth were deducted nine points after going into administration.

Both clubs were relegated.

Nine-time English champions Everton have been a continuous presence in the top flight since 1954 and have never been relegated from the Premier League but they only avoided the drop by two points last season and have spent years in the shadow of city rivals Liverpool.

Sean Dyche’s side are now level on points with bottom club Burnley on four points after 12 matches — and five points adrift of safety.

The Premier League has deducted 10 points from Everton, following an investigation into a breach of profit and sustainability rules.

The Goodison Park club insist they are “shocked and disappointed” by the punishment and will appeal.

An official club statement read: “Both the harshness and severity of the sanction imposed by the Commission are neither a fair nor a reasonable reflection of the evidence submitted”.

The deduction is the largest in the history of the Premier League.

It takes immediate effect, plunging Sean Dyche’s team into the relegation zone.

[DailyPost]

Former Super Eagles midfielder, Mikel John Obi, has observed that entitled families are more prevalent in Africa.

He pointed out that if one family member achieves financial stability, there is often a tendency for others in the family to relent in their daily efforts, placing the responsibility of financial provisions on the successful family member.

During an interview with fellow footballer, Rio Ferdinand, the former Super Eagles captain lamented how families are often entitled to a person’s money in Africa.

According to Obi, when an African person acquires money, many relatives and cousins begin to make demands, and sisters even married men believe they are destined to be a part of the family.

The football player mentioned that these people have so many children and expect him to care for them and that he sometimes has to be strong and put his own needs aside.

Mikel Obi stated that the extended family members believe he owes them money and threaten to go to the press if he refuses.

This, according to the footballer, is prevalent in Africa.

He said: “When you come from Africa when you make money, it’s not your money. You have all these relatives, cousins, and your sisters go off and get married to some guy who just wants to get married into Mikel John Obi’s family because his life is sorted, and then you start looking after this guy, and before you know it, they keep having so many kids and you look at it like,

“Okay, you’re having this many kids, who are going to look after them?’ It’s you! It’s the culture because, for them, you owe them that, so sometimes you have to be strong and say, ‘You know what, guys, enough is enough; I don’t care’. They give you this thing whereby ‘if you don’t do it, we’re going to go to the press’. After all, what have I done for you guys? But this happens a lot in Africa. Not everybody comes out and speaks about it.”

THE head coach of Lesotho Leslie Notsi has declared that there was not a great deal difference in quality between the Super Eagles of Nigeria’s Europe-based stars and his players who are mostly based in Africa.

Notsi’s side, ranked 153rd in the world by FIFA, shocked the Super Eagles in their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign opener in Uyo last night by securing a 1-1 draw.

Indeed it was the unfancied Crocodiles, ranked 113 spots below the Super Eagles, who drew first blood through Motlomelo Mkwanazi in the 56th minute before Semi Ajayi rescued a point for the misfiring team of Jose Peseiro.

“There wasn’t much difference (between Europe-based and home-based players),” Notsi said during his post-match press conference.

“Yes, of course there were situations where you could see quickness of thinking and speed, but at the same time we did not give them respect. We felt they are the same human beings as us.”

Notsi insisted that his players were not intimidated by the Nigerian stars as he and his technical crew knew there were weaknesses in the Super Eagles side they could exploit.

“We said ‘let’s go there and enjoy ourselves’. Enjoyment not in terms of just going there to waste time, but to have self-belief and for the players to express themselves in the areas that they’re good at,” he explained.

“We studied the Nigerian team and we knew areas we could capitalise on, where we thought we had chances of coming up with something for ourselves.

“There is a lesson we’ve learnt from this match and we have to cherish what we got then improve more going forward.”

With the draw, Nigeria and Lesotho are level on one point each in African qualifying Group C with Rwanda and Zimbabwe, who played a 0-0 draw on Wednesday.

South Africa wil host Benin Republic in Durban on Saturday to round off the group’s first matchday.

The Super Eagles face Zimbabwe in Butare, Rwanda on Sunday in their second fixture, while Lesotho welcome Benin Republic to Durban, South Africa on Tuesday.

Only the group winners will qualify for the 2026 World Cup from Africa’s nine groups, with the best runners-up going into a play-off tournament with other confederations.

[NaijaTimes]

Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will clash in a “historic” fight for the undisputed heavyweight title in Saudi Arabia on February 17, it has been announced.

British star Fury will put his WBC belt, Lineal heavyweight belts on the line, while the WBA, IBF and WBO titles held by Ukraine’s Usyk will be up for grabs in Riyadh.

The winner will be crowned the heavyweight division’s first undisputed champion since Lennox Lewis who reigned from 1999 to 2000.

Fury, 35, and Usyk, 36, were originally expected to clash on December 23 but Fury’s poor displayed in a split-decision victory over MMA star Francis Ngannou last month forced a delay.

The pair will finally step into the ring in 2024 as Fury looks to add to his record of 34 wins with one draw since turning professional in 2008.

“This is a historic event. The whole world of boxing has been waiting for many, many years, and they now have this fight,” Fury’s promoter Frank Warren told reporters at a press conference in London on Thursday.

“For the first time this century, we will have an undisputed heavyweight champion.

“As a promoter I’ve been banging my head against the wall. But now we have the creme de la creme. These two undefeated heavyweight fighters.”

In typically combative mood at the press conference, Fury referenced his 2015 victory over Usyk’s fellow Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko, which earned him the WBA, IBF and WBO titles.

“I already relieved one Ukrainian of all the belts, and now I’m going to take them all back,” Fury said.

“Usyk’s a champion, I’m a champion. It’s going to be a fight for the ages.”

Fury believes a victory over Usyk would cement his status as one of the all-time greats.

“He’s a good boxer, slick. But I’ve seen people like him before, and when they fight the big man, they lose,” he said.

“I believe we’re both destined to be here. I’m destined to become the undisputed champion, and more than that, cement my legacy.”

Usyk kept his cool amid Fury’s insults, which included taking swipes at his opponent’s height and his ear-ring.

“Yes I’m a little man. I’ll speak in the ring,” Usyk said.

Fury has held the WBC belt since he defeated Deontay Wilder in 2020 and has defended the title three times.

He stopped Dillian Whyte at Wembley in April 2022 and beat Derek Chisora at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium eight months later.

Usyk, who has won all 21 of his fights, has been the WBA, IBF and WBO title holder since defeating Anthony Joshua in 2021.

The Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is reportedly close to leaving Championship team Leicester City to sign with FC Barcelona the following summer.

Aside from FC Barcelona, the English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur are also preparing to challenge the Spanish champions for the services of Wilfred Ndidi.

His deal at Leicester City is set to expire at the end of the current campaign, and renewal is primarily dependent on Leicester City’s chances of returning to the Premier League next summer.

After Leicester was relegated to the Premier League the previous season, Ndidi was rumored to be leaving the King Power stadium, especially after players like Harvey Barnes, Timothy Castagne, and James Maddison left for elite clubs.

However, he remained at the club and he has made 15 appearances in all competitions, recording three goals and four assists so far this season. He has helped Leicester gain the upper hand in the standings with 13 wins in their opening 16 games.

Barcelona are trying to sign the Super Eagles midfielder for free, as they have done for the past two seasons, due to their well-known financial difficulties.

Because of the Bosman ruling, Barcelona will be able to sign Ndidi to a contract in January with the expectation that he will be available for a free transfer the following summer.

The Catalans are not the only team interested in the Nigerian, as Ange Postecoglou, the manager of Tottenham, has reportedly shown a strong interest in Ndidi.

Teamtalk, a UK publication, reports that Postecoglou is willing to bring Ndidi to the team when his contract expires in the summer of 2024 because he does not think Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is the best fit for his system.