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Apologies – Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola apologises to Kalvin Phillips for publicly calling him out for being overweight

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1 year ago

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Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola has apologised to Kalvin Phillips for publicly revealing the midfielder was overweight last season.

Phillips was told to stay away from Manchester City over Christmas on failing to hit target weight after returning from a post-World Cup holiday to New York.

 

The 28-year-old, who is now on loan at West Ham United, recently admitted that he felt hurt by how Guardiola announced the issue in the public.

 

His mother, Lindsay, stopped attending City matches. Phillips has said that he didn’t disagree with Guardiola’s assessment but that there are ‘different ways to go about’ things. The pair have never since discussed the issue.

‘Yeah, I’m sorry,’ Guardiola said. ‘[Apologising] once in eight years is not bad. But I’m so sorry. I apologise to him. I do apologise. I’m so sorry.

In an interview with Mail Sport last summer, Phillips claimed that he was unaware of Guardiola’s comments until he had already returned to training.

‘Oh no I spoke about that,’ the City boss added. Asked when they spoke, he replied: ‘Before. I spoke to him. I never before said something here [before I] speak with the players in that case.’

 

The England international has maintained that he ‘laughed’ at the public furore around his weight last year, adding to Mail Sport that: ‘It doesn’t faze me. I’m the footballer and living my dream, doing the thing I love.

‘I’d gone to New York for three or four days after Qatar. I’d flown all day.. I’d had breakfast, lunch, dinner and landed. Slept during the flight as well. And straight into football.

‘I’d had a full day of eating. There is water retention and stuff on a flight. It was a misunderstanding really.’

Guardiola, who bristled at questions around pressure on City after their 1-1 draw against Chelsea, can take his side back to second with victory over Brentford on Tuesday night.

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Club World Cup 2025: Six Round of 16 fixtures confirmed

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1 day ago

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June 26, 2025

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At least six Round of 16 fixtures at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup have now been confirmed.

Inter Milan finished top of Group E, thanks to a 2-0 victory over 10-man River Plate.

Late goals from Francesco Pio Esposito and Alessandro Bastoni sealed the win for the Serie A side, who will face Fluminense in the next round.

Monterrey, who are Group E runners-up, will play Borussia Dortmund for a place in the quarter-final.

Benfica will take on Chelsea in another last-16 game on Saturday, while Palmeiras will go head-to-head with Botafogo in an all-Brazilian affair.

On Sunday, Paris Saint-Germain will square up against Inter Miami, in what has been dubbed the Lionel Messi Derby. Flamengo play Bayern Munich.

There are two more Round of 16 match-ups yet to be determined.

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Messi remains highest-paid player in MLS [Top 5]

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1 day ago

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June 26, 2025

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Inter Miami superstar, Lionel Messi, remains the best-paid player in the Major League Soccer, MLS, for the second consecutive year.

This was revealed in data published by the MLS Players Association. It showed that Messi earns a total guaranteed compensation of $20.45m.

The figure also represents a bit of the 38-year-old’s earnings, as he also gets from other revenue streams like an endorsement deal with Adidas and a revenue-sharing agreement with league broadcast partner Apple.

According to Sportico, Messi could rake in up to $150m over the course of his two-and-a-half year contract with Miami and MLS back in the summer of 2023.

Toronto FC forward, Lorenzo Insigne, is in second place with a guaranteed earning of $15.44m.

In third spot, is Messi’s Inter Miami teammate Sergio Busquets at $8.5m. Atlanta United forward Miguel Almirón is in fourth position at $7.87m followed by San Diego FC forward Hirving “Chucky” Lozano at $7.63m.

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Transfer: It doesn’t matter – Ighalo speaks on Osimhen moving to Saudi Arabia

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2 days ago

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June 25, 2025

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Former Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo has said it does not matter whether his compatriot Victor Osimhen moves to Saudi Arabia now or in the future.

Ighalo, speaking with News Central, claimed that the option of moving to the Middle East would always be available to Osimhen.

“He knows what he wants. We were together two days ago, but we didn’t talk about football; we just had fun,” he said.

“I believe he knows what he wants; he’s grown, he’s worked hard, and if he calls me for a word, I’ll speak from my opinion, but any decision he makes, it’s a win-win for him.

“If he goes to Saudi now, if he doesn’t go until two years later, it doesn’t matter, because last year they came, he didn’t go; they came this year, he’s declined; they’ll still come again.”

Ighalo himself played in the Saudi Pro League for Al-Shabab, Al-Hilal, and Al-Wehda.

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