Christian Ronaldo wants Manchester United to let him leave the club if they receive an appropriate offer for him this summer.

The Portugal forward, 37, returned to Old Trafford from Juventus last summer.

However, while he was United’s top scorer last season – and third in the Premier League – the overall campaign was seen as a big disappointment.

United finished sixth in the Premier League so missed out on Champions League qualification.

That means Ronaldo, who has a year left on his United contract plus an optional year, faces playing in the Europa League for the first time.

It is not something he is viewing with relish and the five-time Ballon d’Or winner feels there could be more attractive options available to him at this stage in his career.

The former Real Madrid forward is anxious to stress he respects United but as he enters the final stages of his career, he wants to compete for the biggest prizes.

It is understood United do not regard Ronaldo as a player who is for sale.

While it would be a blow to United’s prestige if they were to lose one of the greatest players they have ever had, it would also solve a few issues for new manager Erik Han Tag  

Ronaldo clashed with HARRY MAGUIRE over the United captaincy last season, while interim boss Ralf Rangnick’s desire to implement a pressing game was thwarted by Ronaldo’s refusal to fit in with such a system.

Adesanya was the more accurate striker and controlled the proceedings from range throughout

Israel Adesanya brushed aside the challenge of Jared Cannonier in a masterclass of technical precision at UFC 276. 

The middleweight champion’s clash with his American challenger never quite ignited and Cannonier struggled to lay a finger on the elusive Kiwi for large sections of the contest. 

Adesanya, who thrilled fans with a homage to WWE star The Undertaker in his walkout, was too fast and intelligent for his challenger but whet the appetite for his next defence. 

‘The first time I had you on skates, next time I’ll have you Frozen, like Elsa’, he said to Alex Pereira – the only man to have ever knocked him out – who obliterated Sean Strickland earlier in the night to earn what will inevitably be a title shot

The compelling narrative was pushed forward when the UFC decided to match Pereira up on the same card in only his third UFC fight. 

He holds two kickboxing wins, including the heavy KO, against Adesanya, adding a real layer of interest to the prospective bout. Pereira has looked brilliant in his MMA career so far and possesses the kind of lethal power that may trouble the champion where all others have failed.  

Chelsea legend, Didier Drogba believes Victor Osimhen has the potential to become the best striker in the world,

The Ivoirian who scored 164 goals in 381 games for Chelsea and is also the top scorer in the history of the Ivorian national team believes the 23-year-old can achieve this dream in the coming years.

“I like him (Osimhen) a lot,” Drogba told Marco Giordano in an interview. Great striker, he can be the best in the world and when you have the talent like he’s got, I think it’s just a question of momentum.”

Despite his goals for both the Super Eagles and Napoli this past year, the 23-year-old was snubbed by the Confederation of African Football for the Men’s Player of the Year award for 2022.

Osimhen scored 14 goals and recorded five assists in 27 appearances in the Serie A in the concluded 2021/2022 season.

His compatriot Moses Simon was the only Nigerian nominated by CAF that also has Mohamed Salah and Saido Mane who is the last man to have been crowned Africa’s best, back in 2019.

Others nominated for the award include Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, Musa Barrow, Youssouf M’Changama, Edouard Mendy, Leicester City midfielder Nampalys Mendy, Saliou Ciss and Kalidou Koulibaly.

He also netted four goals and one assist in the Europa League for Napoli who finished third in Serie A last season with 79 points from 38 games.

Brazil forward Neymar, 30, is considering leaving Paris St-Germain this summer after finding out the club are happy for him to depart, with Chelsea being contacted by the player’s agent to find out their level of interest. 

Manchester United are closing in on a deal for Christian Eriksen and have made a verbal offer to the 30-year-old Denmark midfielder after his contract at Brentford expired. 

Manchester United have told Eriksen and his agent they are willing to hand the player a two-year deal worth £150,000 a week, while Brentford, Tottenham, Everton, Newcastle and Leicester are also interested. 

Chelsea, Paris St-Germain and Bayern Munich are pushing to sign 25-year-old Barcelona and France forward Ousmane Dembele, who is available on a free transfer.

Chelsea and Manchester City are nearing agreement for England forward Raheem Sterling, 27, on his £45m move to Stamford Bridge. 

Arsenal, who are close to confirming the £45m signing of 25-year-old Manchester City and Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus, have agreed personal terms with Leicester City’s 25-year-old Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans. 

Barcelona have decided against turning 26-year-old Wolves and Spain winger Adama Traore’s loan spell into a permanent deal. Barca had an option to sign Traore for 30m euros (£26m). 

Watford and Nigeria striker Emmanuel Dennis, 24, is among Everton’s list of targets as they look to replace 25-year-old Brazil forward Richarlison, who has joined Tottenham for £60m. 

Spain midfielder Marco Asensio, 26, could leave Real Madrid in the summer as they are not offering him an extension to his contract, which expires next year. AC Milan are among those interested, although some Premier League clubs could also make a move.

Tottenham have joined West Ham, Everton and Newcastle United in considering a move for England midfielder Jesse Lingard, 29, after his departure from Manchester United following his contract expiring. 

French striker Hugo Ekitike, 20, has told Reims he wants to stay, despite their accepting a bid from Newcastle United.

Tottenham are closing in on the signing of Barcelonaand France defender Clement Lenglet, 27, although Brazil defender Emerson Royal’s Spurs future is uncertain with Atletico Madrid and Roma interested in the 23-year-old. 

Spain defender Hector Bellerin, 27, is back training with Arsenal following a successful loan with Real Betis. Bellerin said his time with Betis helped him “fall in love again with this sport”.

Brentford are pushing to sign Hull City and England Under-21 striker Keane Lewis-Potter, 21, for £20m. 

Leicester City are confident of signing 21-year-old Belgium striker Charles de Ketelaere from Club Bruges despite strong interest from Leeds United.

Leeds are lining up a loan move for RB Leipzig’s 23-year-old United States midfielder Tyler Adams, who can also play at full-back and as a winger

Manchester City and United States goalkeeper Zack Steffen, 27, is set to join Middlesbrough on a season-long loan. 

Marseille boss Jorge Sampaoli quit the club amid frustrations with the club’s transfer policy and an inability to sign Arsenal and France defender William Saliba on a permanent deal after the 21-year-old impressed on loan. 

Nottingham Forest have secured the signing of Manchester United and England keeper Dean Henderson, 25, on loan for the season, with Burnley and Wales keeper Wayne Hennessey, 35, also expected to join. 

Sheffield United, Stoke City, Blackburn Rovers, Swansea, Bristol City and QPR are interested in signing Aston Villa and England Under-19 midfielder Tim Iroegbunam, 19, on a season-long loan. 

Brighton, Leicester, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest are keen on taking 19-year-old English defender Levi Colwill on loan from Chelsea.

Hearts boss Robbie Neilson wants to sign Wolves’ 24-year-old Republic of Ireland midfielder Connor Ronan.

Tottenham, Southampton, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Wolves are interested in signing 15-year-old Scottish midfielder Murray Campbell from St Mirren. 

Millwall are set to complete a loan deal for Leeds United’s 19-year-old English defender Charlie Cresswell next week. 

Chelsea are plotting a move for 17-year-old Everton and England Under-17s defender Ishe Samuels-Smith.

Semi-automated offside technology will be used at this year’s World Cup, promising decisions that are more accurate and a lot quicker, world soccer’s governing body FIFA said on Friday.

In what can be considered an extraordinary development in the officiating of the game, technology will be able to resolve contentious offside calls with a speed and accuracy unimaginable less than a decade ago.

Using cameras strategically positioned around the stadiums, and a chip in the match ball, FIFA said the technology will go a long way to cutting down on continuous Video Assistant Referee (VAR) decisions on marginal offside calls and reduce the time needed to check.

“We have been working on a more consistent use of VAR, in particular concerning the line of intervention,” said Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, at a news briefing.

“We are aware that sometimes the length of checks or reviews is too long, in particular, concerning offside.”

The solution, FIFA unveiled, is the so-called SAOT, which will bring a futuristic, space age feel to the game, with spectators able to see some of the 3D animation when the VAR decisions are explained on a stadium’s giant screen.

The technology has already been tested at two tournaments over the last seven months and had been expected to be approved for the World Cup in Qatar from Nov. 21-Dec. 18. It will be used at all the venues at the tournament.

It uses 12 dedicated tracking cameras mounted under the roof of a stadium to track the ball and up to 29 data points of each individual player, 50 times per second, calculating their exact position on the pitch. The 29 collected data points include all limbs and extremities relevant for making offside calls.

SENSOR DATA

A sensor inside the ball sends data 500 times per second, allowing a precise detection of the kick point for offside decisions.

All this information will ensure the VAR makes a much better informed decision, Collina added.

“The testing has been a major success and we are very confident that in Qatar we will have a very valuable support tool to help referees and assistant referees make the best and most correct decision on the field of play,” he said.

“Someone called it ‘robot offside’; it’s not. The referees and the assistant referees are still responsible for the decision on the field of play.”

By combining the limb and ball-tracking data, and applying artificial intelligence, the new technology provides an automated offside alert to the video match officials inside the video operation room whenever the ball is received by an attacker in an offside position.

Before informing the on-field referee, the video match officials will validate the proposed decision by manually checking the automatically selected kick point and the automatically created offside line, which is based on the calculated positions of the players’ limbs.

“This process happens within a few seconds and means that offside decisions can be made faster and more accurately,” said FIFA, which has used universities in Boston, Melbourne and Zurich to help build the technology.

“More tests will be conducted in the coming months to fine-tune the system before a global standard is implemented to ensure that the new technology can be used in the world of football,” the statement said.

The 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations has already been ground breaking and the tournament will for the first time see the use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) at all 28 matches of the tournament.  

“This is a bold step in the right direction. As women’s football is growing in Africa, it is important that we adopt the latest trends and technology to enhance the game. We have some of the best match officials in Africa in Morocco and training and development of them is key for us. Four female match officials, Salima Mukasanga of Rwanda, Carine Atemzabong of Cameroon and Fatiha Jermoumi, and Bouchra Karboubi from Morocco, were part of the list of match officials at the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon and did an amazing job. By using VAR for all matches at WAFCON we are looking to continue the progression and development of the standard of CAF women’s football,‘’ says CAF Director of Referees, Eddy Mailet.

The full implementation of VAR at key CAF events was a priority for CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe when he took office last year and since then: 

– All 52 matches at the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon used VAR.  

– VAR was used for the Knockout stages of the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup 2021/22. 

– VAR was used for the first time at the latter stages of the TotalEnergies Women’s Champions League  

– VAR was used at two TotalEnergies Super Cup finals: 2020 and 2021 

– VAR was used at the last phase of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 African qualifiers (last 10 countries), both home and away.  

The WAFCON kicks off on Saturday night, 2 July 2022, in Rabat at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex, when hosts Morocco face Burkina Faso at 21h30.

The women’s national teams of hosts Morocco and Burkina Faso are all set to do battle in the opening match of the 2022 Women’s African Cup of Nations.

The Atlas Lionesses are favourites to kick off the tournament positively against the Stallions in this first duel of Group A at the impressive Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, which will kick off the 14th edition of WAFCON and the first to be hosted by the Moroccans.

The moment long awaited by lovers of women’s football across the African continent has finally arrived, with the match kicking off on Saturday night at 21h30pm local time.

This is the first time that the two women’s teams of Morocco and Burkina Faso have met in an official competition.  They faced each other in a friendly in October 2017 in Salé and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

After 22 years of absence from the competition, the Atlas Lionesses will look to do better than they did in their two previous participations in the tournament, when they failed to progress past the first round in 1998 and 2000.

While the Moroccan women may well be favourites, they will have to manage the inevitable pressure faced by any organizing country that plays the opening match in front of its expectant home fans.

Moroccan supporters are committed to their cause and much is expected of the Atlas Lionesses, a fact that does not perturb their coach Reynald Pedros.

“Indeed, the event is important for the players and the country, but the whole thing is not to put negative pressure on the players. Personally, I did not talk much about this match to my players and the goal is to make this pressure positive,” he said at a pre-match press conference.

Automatically qualified as host country, Morocco is bolstered by the recruitment of the Frenchman Pedros as coach, but also the arrival of several players plying their trade in Europe, such as Tottenham striker Rosella Ayyane

The Moroccans have also held no less than 14 friendly matches against opponents of different calibre, including Spain, Senegal and Ghana.

“The group is our strength,” says team captain Ghizlane Chebbak, who added that ‘’a lot has changed in the Moroccan national team since the arrival of this staff. Moroccans are increasingly following the performances of the women’s team. We hope to see a lot of people at the stadium on Saturday to support us and we hope to live up to their expectations.’’

In turn Burkina Faso are participating in their very first WAFCON after a successful qualifying campaign in which Pascal Sawadogo’s players eliminated Benin 5-2 on aggregate and Guinea Bissau 7-0 on aggregate in impressive double-headed qualifiers.

Looking relaxed during the pre-match press conference, the coach of the Ladies Stallions, Sawadogo, said that his primary objective during this match is to “seduce the public and the fans and prove that women also know how to play football.”

“It is often said that behind every man is a great lady, but today I will say that we are side by side. I can’t talk about the strengths and weaknesses of our opponent but what I can say is that Moroccan women play good football. We will play to our qualities and we will bleed to win. I think our group is very balanced,” said Sawadogo.

Tournament preparations for Burkina Faso have been somewhat hectic due to budgetary constraints and they have had to be content with a training camp in Ouagadougou and a few friendly matches against Under 20 teams from local academies and clubs in the lead up to the tournament.

Despite these hazards the captain of the Burkina Faso women’s team, Charlotte Millogo, said that “the atmosphere is good within the group and the whole team is ready to play a good game. We left all our problems in Ouagadougou and we are focused on our competition.”

Are the Ladies’ Stallions able to create surprises in this tournament against the odds?

The answer will come after 90 minutes on Saturday 2 July, as experienced Rwandan referee Salima Rhadia Mukansanga gets WAFCON 2022 up and running.