Gareth Bale insisted Major League Soccer is not a retirement league , and he hopes his move to Los Angeles FC will allow him to stay in contention for Wales at least until Euro 2024.
While his initial deal with LAFC is only a one-year agreement, it could be extended through to 2024, when Wales will be hoping to compete in the European Championship.
Bale left Real Madrid at the end of June after his contract was allowed to expire, with the forward – who was once the most expensive player of all time – enduring a difficult final few years at the Santiago Bernabeu.
His attitude and commitment to Madrid were often called into question by supporters, who routinely voiced their frustration towards him in recent years.
But Bale has continued to be worship…
Barcelona s nightmare has continued after it was confirmed Sergio Aguero is likely to be out until mid-October due to a calf injury.
Already having to contend with the unexpected departure of talisman Lionel Messi, Barca are in a dire financial situation heading into the new season.
They will now also be without one of their new arrivals for up to 10 weeks, though LaLiga s salary restrictions have meant Barca have not yet been able to register Aguero, who joined on a free transfer from Premier League champions Manchester City.
The 33-year-old left City after 10 years with the club, but his final season was hampered by injury and COVID-19 lay offs.
He managed only eight starts in 2020-21, playing 720 minutes in total across 20 appearances in all competiti…
Gareth Bale s unwanted piece of Premier League history has been taken by Oliver Burke after Sheffield United lost again at Burnley.
Tottenham winger Bale, a four-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, previously held the record for the longest wait for a first Premier League win.
After his initial move to Spurs from Southampton in 2007, the Wales superstar went 24 matches without ending on the winning side.
Not until September 2009 did Bale play a part in a top-flight triumph, making a late cameo at left-back in a 5-0 defeat of Burnley.
The Clarets were the opposition again on Tuesday as Sheffield United s Burke attempted to avoid topping Bale s miserable mark.
But a 1-0 reverse courtesy of Ben Mee s header meant Burke, a 63rd-minute subst…
Jose Mourinho s words of advice to Dele Alli have been well publicised ever since the release of the Tottenham-focused All Or Nothing documentary series in 2020.
I am 56 now and yesterday I was 20. Time flies. One day I think you will regret it if you don t reach what you can reach, the former Spurs boss told Alli, who for the first time in his rough career was, at the start of the 2019-20 season, enduring a rough patch of form.
I am not expecting you to be the man of the match every game. I am not expecting you to score goals every game. I want just to tell you that you will regret it. You should demand more from yourself.
Less than 18 months after the documentary aired, Alli s Tottenham spell was over, moving to Everton on what was initially a free transfe…
Whenever Manchester United come up against a team managed by David Moyes, it provides the perfect opportunity to look back on the Red Devils rather turbulent recent history.
Moyes was, of course, the original successor to Alex Ferguson. The Chosen One , as the infamous banner read, and, to many, a harbinger of mediocrity.
That s slightly unfair on Moyes as although United won the title just before he ascended the Old Trafford hot seat, he was left with an aging squad that needed replenishing, plus the club s deep reverence for Ferguson ultimately stopped them moving with the times.
For years, Ferguson essentially operated as a head coach, recruitment director and sporting director rolled into one. The Scot was so effective and influential that, once he d left, Un…
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola wants more from Kevin De Bruyne who he says is not playing at his top level despite a stunning goal in Saturday s 3-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
The two-time Premier League Player of the Season fired in City s third goal with a curling right-foot shot from just beyond the box to seal the points in the 75th minute.
Since De Bruyne s Premier League debut for City in September 2015, he has scored more goals from outside the box than any other player in the competition in this period (24).
The goal was the 31-year-old Belgian s second of the Premier League season while he has also contributed nine assists, yet Guardiola is expecting more.
He can be better. He s not playing at his top level, not yet, Guardiola told r…
AC Milan boss Paulo Fonseca was in an angry mood following his side s 2-1 loss away to Fiorentina on Sunday, suggesting the decisions to give three penalties turned the game into a circus .
Remarkably, all three spot-kicks were saved during the match. The home side initially saw Moise Kean s penalty kept out by Mike Maignan, while David de Gea then saved from Theo Hernandez who was later sent off and Tammy Abraham either side of half-time.
But after the game, Fonseca s attention was on the performance of the officials rather than the goalkeeping.
I don’t like to talk about refereeing but this isn’t football. Football is about contact and a mere touch shouldn’t be enough to award a penalty, he told DAZN.
Just a simple touch can lead to a penalty, w…
Pernille Harder s hat-trick handed Bayern Munich a winning start to their Women s Champions League campaign, beating Arsenal 5-2 in Group C.
Harder, who scored 24 times in 48 appearances for Arsenal s London rivals Chelsea, once again haunted the Gunners, striking her first goals in the competition in almost two years.
After three games in the Women’s Super League, Arsenal sit sixth, having won once and drawn twice, with the latest defeat piling more pressure on head coach Jonas Eidevall.
The Gunners started brightly at the FC Bayern Campus and took the lead in the 30th minute when Katie McCabe s delivery was swept home by Mariona Caldentey.
However, the hosts drew level two minutes before the break when Georgia Stanway s searching ball picked out th…
Aston Villa are interested in signing Nico Williams from Athletic Bilbao in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Villa could loss Moussa Diaby in the coming days to the Saudi Pro League, and the Villans, who will play in the UEFA Champions League next season, have identified Williams as a potential replacement.
TEAMtalk has reported that Villa have held talks with Williams’s agents over a move, but Unai Emery’s side face stiff competition from Chelsea and Barcelona. Both the Blues and the Blaugrana are also in touch with the entourage of the 22-year-old winger, who helped Spain to UEFA Euro 2024 finals.
Williams is one of the best young wingers in Europe and has been superb for Bilbao for a while. The 22-year-old scored five goals a…
Lionel Messi revealed I don t know if it s my best World Cup after his inspirational performance against Croatia helped Argentina reach another final.
Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot before providing a remarkable assist for Julian Alvarez s second goal at Lusail Stadium, where Lionel Scaloni s side will face France or Morocco in the showpiece on Sunday.
The Argentina captain has now found the net five times in Qatar – moving him level with Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappe in the race for the Golden Boot.
The 35-year-old surpassed his tally of four when he guided his nation to the final in 2014, where he won the Golden Ball for the tournament s best player despite narrowly missing out on glory following a 1-0 defeat to Germany.
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