Real Madrid have made a €160 million (S$250 million) bid for Paris St Germain’s France forward Kylian Mbappe, Spanish and French media reported on Tuesday (Aug 24).

There was no immediate comment from either club.

France’s L’Equipe said PSG’s position remained unchanged, with the Ligue 1 club determined to keep Mbappe until at least the end of his contract in June next year even if he could then leave for nothing.

Spain’s Marca said the move was a first step by Real, who have long had their sights on the 22-year-old World Cup-winner who scored 42 goals in all competitions for PSG last season and has reportedly said he wants to move to Spain.

The As.com website quoted Real sources as saying however that the fact money was not an issue for wealthy Qatar-owned PSG was an obstacle for Real.

Britain’s Sky Sports said the offer was made on Sunday.

Any sale of Mbappe would allow PSG to recoup some of the costs of Lionel Messi’s salary package after they signed the Argentina forward and six times Ballon d’Or winner from Barcelona earlier this month.

PSG ended last season with only one major trophy, the French Cup, after losing the league title by one point to Lille and crashing out in the Champions League semi-finals.

Real, now managed by Italian Carlo Ancelotti, were runners-up domestically last season to city rivals Atletico.

Mbappe joined PSG from AS Monaco in 2017, on loan initially and then permanently a year later in a deal valued at €180 million.

Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick has told The Punch newspaper that the body is seriously working on various possibilities to ensure that the Premier League Super Eagles players are released for Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying match against Cape Verde on 7 September.

This is as a result of the English Premier League decision not to release players to travel to countries designated as ‘red zones’  for Covid-19.

There are 26 countries on the list. Even though Nigeria is not included, the Super Eagles’ opponents in the Match day 2 of the qualifiers, Cape Verde are in the red flag list.

It therefore follow that the seven Super Eagles players in the English Premiership will not be available for the 7 September match even though they can play against Liberia in Lagos.

An under-strength squad appears most likely against a potentially strong Cape Verde which caused sensation in the season 2013/2014 and ranked among African top three in FIFA rankings.

Cape Verde were almost making it to Brazil 2014, but for annulment of their crucial win against Tunisia on account of fielding ineligible player.

They were undefeated in their two Afcon qualifiers with Cameroon, whom they walloped 3-1 in Prai last March.

In Nigeria’s only match with Cape Verde on  9 January 2013, the Super Eagles only forced a draw in the duel played at Estadio do Algarve in Portugal.

If fielded, Ahmed Musa will be the only player from that 2013 match. Added to the possible list of players that may miss the match are the three Super Eagles in the Scottish League.

These are: Leon Balogun, Semi Ajayi and Joe Aribo, making a total number of 10 players that will be ruled out of the match.

Those affected in the Premiership are: Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, Frank Onyeka, Oghenekaro Etebo, Emmanuel Dennis and William Troost-Ekong.

Besides having to play Cape Verde with the exclusion of those 10 players, the NFF could press for a shift of either the match to January close to the opening duel of the Africa Cup of Nations when the African players are mandatorily have to be released, or asked for a shift of venue to a neutral ground.

The US Department of Justice has agreed to hand Fifa US$201 million (S$272 million) confiscated from corrupt football administrators, the governing body of world football announced on Tuesday (Aug 24).

Most of the cash comes from US legal actions in the wake of the “Fifagate” scandal, which erupted in May 2015 with the dramatic arrest of seven world football executives in Zurich and led a few months later to the departure of Sepp Blatter, Fifa’s president since 1998.

“This money was seized from the bank accounts of former officials who were involved in, and then prosecuted for, years of corruption schemes in football,” said Fifa in a statement on its website.

It said it had set up a ‘World Football Remission Fund’ under the supervision of the Fifa foundation to use the money “to help finance football-related projects with positive community impact across the globe”.

Gianni Infantino, who replaced Blatter at the head of Fifa welcome the deal.

“I am delighted to see that money which was illegally siphoned out of football is now coming back to be used for its proper purposes, as it should have been in the first place,” Infantino said.

“It’s great to see significant funding being put at the disposal of the Fifa Foundation, which can positively impact so many people across the football world, especially through youth and community programmes.” The cases prosecuted in the US centred on bribes and “racketeering” organised by football officials in South and Central America in exchange for the awarding of TV broadcasting rights for competitions, including the Copa America.

They resulted in the sentencing of Paraguayan Juan Angel Napout, a former president of South American football’s governing body Conmebol, to nine years in prison and Brazilian Jose Maria Marin, former head of the Brazilian Football Federation, to four years in prison.

A significant slice of cash will be funnelled into South American football.

Conmebol said it would be receiving US$71 million in recovered funds.

The funds “are being returned to Conmebol because it was a victim of the criminal scheme underlying the Fifagate investigation,” the governing body said in a statement.

The US justice system continues to investigate world football, particularly the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar and suspicions of vote buying.

Former Juventus chairman Giovanni Cobolli Gigli has called on the club to rectify the “mistake” of signing Cristiano Ronaldo by selling him as soon as possible.

Juve paid a club-record £99million to prise Ronaldo from Real Madrid  in the summer of 2018.

The Portuguese superstar joined on a four-year contract and plundered 101 goals in his first three seasons, winning every domestic honour available to him.

But the start of the current campaign has not gone to plan, with Ronaldo said to be pushing for a move to Manchester City after he reportedly requested to be on the bench  for Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Udinese.

Nonetheless, Ronaldo remains the biggest attraction in Serie A and Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri’s squad would be significantly weaker without the 36-year-old.

According to Mirror, Chairman Andrea Agnelli has previously justified the financial side of signing Ronaldo  and handing him a contract worth €31million (£26.5m) per season.

However, his predecessor sees things very differently and insists Juve will never make back the money they have stumped up for Ronaldo.

“I’ve always been honest: signing Ronaldo was a mistake. It’s impossible to recoup the investment and it will remain that way,” Gigli – who was Juventus chairman between 2006 and 2009

“He’s a great player, but I have to be honest – the sooner he leaves, the better for him and for Juventus.

“I hope that Massimiliano Allegri knows how to continue using him like he did against Udinese. That is, with intelligence and when the game is in progress.

“Ronaldo hampers Juventus’ attack. Without him, they can do excellent things in collective terms.”

Gigli’s wish for Ronaldo to leave Turin may soon be granted, as the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, is understood to be negotiating a transfer with City chiefs.

Pep Guardiola’s side will reportedly target the former Manchester United  and Real Madrid forward if they fail to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham  in the final days of the transfer window.

Ronaldo, for his part, is keen on the transfer as he believes joining City would give him the best chance to add to his five Ballons d’Or.

Super star, Cristiano Ronaldo is pushing for a return to the Premier League after over a decade and to a familiar  city… Manchester.

Latest information has it that his intention to go to Manchester may not be a return to Manchester United, but rather, to their ‘noisy neighbours’,  Manchester City this summer in a sensational swap deal which depends on the club’s pursuit of Harry Kane.

Ronaldo, 36, had seemed poised to stay at Juventus  for the final year of his contract after hitting out a “disrespectful” rumours linking him with an exit earlier this month.

City, meanwhile, have been pursuing Kane, 28, throughout the summer but they remain a long way off meeting Tottenham’s asking price.

Ronaldo has been alerted to City’s stalling efforts to sign Kane and his camp have been engineering a move to the Etihad over the last few days.

That’s according to French sports newspaper who claim the Portugal superstar has openly told those around him about his desire to leave Juventus before the window shuts early next week.

The report adds Ronaldo has identified City as his ideal destination out of the handful of clubs who could afford to sign him and meet his £31million-per-year salary demands.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid  forward is desperate to add to his five Ballons d’Or and believes Pep Guardiola’s side would give him the best chance of doing so.

Ronaldo is understood to have spoken to a number of City stars whom he shares a national team dressing room with, including Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo.

He is convinced the move can happen, but much depends on the ability of his agent, Jorge Mendes, to broker the transfer.

Mendes is said to be working around the clock and could orchestrate a swap deal which would see Silva, another of his clients, move the other way.

Tennis star Serena Williams has withdrawn from the U.S. Open just days before it starts due to a torn hamstring.

The 39-year-old shared the news with her followers in a statement posted on her social media page.

“After careful consideration and following the advice of my doctors and medical team, I have decided to withdraw from the U.S. Open to allow my body to heal completely from a torn hamstring,” the six-time U.S. Open winner wrote. “New York is one of the most exciting cities in the world and one of my favorite places to play — I’ll miss seeing the fans but will be cheering on from afar.”

She closed out the statement writing, “Thank you for your continued love and support. I’ll see you soon.”

Williams is the latest big name to pull out of the tournament after reigning men’s champion Dominic Thiem, four-times winner Rafael Nadal and British No 3 Kyle Edmund all withdrew due to injury.