Inside story of Man City signing 'the Spider' Julian Alvarez and Lionel Messi's dad's admiration

Pep Guardiola says Gabriel Jesus is “the best in the world” at defending from the front.

Lionel Messi was caught on camera asking for ex-Manchester United starlet Angel Gomes' shirt after Paris Saint-Germain's victory over Lille.

The Premier League returns this midweek with most teams not having played a league fixture since the weekend of the 22-23 January with lots happening since then.

Wayne Rooney has revealed how he “disrespected” Sir Alex Ferguson after coming close to leaving Manchester United in 2010.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Mauricio Pochettino could trade places this summer as Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain brace themselves for some serious changes.United will need to appoint a new permanent manager in the coming months with interim head coach Ralf Rangnick's temporary deal set to expire at the end of the season, and Pochettino has been the frontrunner for some time.Meanwhile, reports suggest that Ronaldo already wants out of Old Trafford despite only returning to the club in August, with a move to Paris now looking likely.The French giants are preparing for life without Kylian Mbappe, who has reportedly agreed to join Real Madrid in the summer, and are considering replacing him with Ronaldo, according to the Mirror.The switch would see the 37-year-old lining up in the same team as eternal rival Lionel Messi for the very first time.Speculation surrounding the Portugal international's unhappiness in Manchester has intensified ever since the Red Devils were dumped out of the FA Cup on penalties by Championship side Middlesbrough on Friday.Ronaldo missed a number of chances during the game, including a penalty, and has now failed to find the back of the net in four matches, and is now one game away from his longest goal drought in over a decade.With United out of the Carabao Cup and trailing league leaders Manchester City by 19 points, the only piece of silverware Ronaldo can now hope to pick up this season is the Champions League.Which club would benefit most from this swap? Let us know what you think in the comments section below...As for Pochettino, United made an approach for him in November following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but prying him away from PSG mid-season was always going to be tough

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson amid an ugly contract dispute during his time at the Premier League giants.The attacker spent 13 highly successful years at Old Trafford, helping them to win five Premier League titles and the 2008 Champions League.All of those trophies were won while Ferguson was Red Devils manager, with Rooney becoming one of the key players in the Scot’s side.But in October 2010 a spat erupted between the England international and his manager, with Rooney announcing he wanted to leave the club amid a split over each party’s ambition.At one point in the ugly confrontation, Rooney stormed into Ferguson’s office and demanded to know which players would be targeted in the transfer window.Rooney has now lifted the lid on the dispute, revealing that he was left concerned by United’s decision to sell both Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez.“I just felt at that time the club had offered me a new five-year deal, we’d sold Carlos Tevez, sold Cristiano Ronaldo,” he told the Mirror.“So I wanted reassurances of who we’re bringing in if you want me to commit myself for the next five years.Who is the best player in Manchester United's history? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section...“Who are we bringing in to improve or are you going to try to build a team over the next three, four or five years to then be successful?“That’s literally what I was saying and (laughs) he told me to get out of the office!“He’s probably the best manager of all time, so to have a young lad come in and ask him questions of how the club moving forward I completely understand that as well.”Rooney would end up making a U-turn and signing a new five-year deal, but admitted he likely left Ferguson feeling ‘disrespected’ by

Following the closure of the January transfer window, Man City will be hoping to extend their advantage at the top of the Premier League table this weekend.

Lionel Messi is one of the many modern-day examples of players who have broken the mould and used their height to the best of their ability, with Lorenzo Insigne another forward who doesn’t tower over defenders.There is a strange joy in watching a short player race down the wing and dominate a game, and all over the world, there have been stars capable of such.So, who are some of the smallest players in the history of football? Daily Star Sport takes a look...For some reason, Joe Allen is an icon of the Premier League, and it might be due to how he could dominate a midfield despite consistently being the shortest player on the pitch.The 5ft 6in-star has played in the top flight of English football with Swansea City, Liverpool and also Stoke, who he has played for since 2016.Allen has been an important player wherever he has played, and on the international stage for Wales too, drawing immense praise from those who used to manage the 31-year-old or play alongside him.Brendan Rodgers, who coached Allen at Swansea and Liverpool, has previously labelled the playmaker the ‘Welsh Pirlo’ and ‘Welsh Xavi’.

Lionel Messi after claiming that winning FIFA's The Best award is "more important" than winning the Ballon d'Or.Messi narrowly pipped Lewandowski to a record seventh Ballon d'Or title back in November despite a sizeable proportion of fans believing the Polish striker had done enough to win.Instead, Lewandowski was crowned FIFA's The Best Men's Player last month, with Messi coming in second."I have been thinking lately and I have come to the conclusion that the FIFA award is more important," the Bayern Munich star told a Polish magazine, as per Marca."Only journalists vote for the Ballon d'Or, there is no clear verification.

Chelsea star was not selected for the Atlas Lions' recent African Cup of Nation squad due to an ongoing dispute with national team head coach Vahid Halilhodzic.The North African nation tumbled at the quarter-final stage of the competition, losing 2-1 after extra-time to a Mohamed Salah-inspired Egypt.When quizzed on where it all went wrong, Morocco's manager stood by his decision to snub Ziyech, categorically ruling out any chance of the wing wizard returning to the national team fold."The players I have selected are the best in the country," Halilhodzic told reporters in the aftermath of Morocco's AFCON exit. "I don't select a player who can unbalance the group."Not even if his name is Lionel Messi.

Pep Guardiola says January signing Julian Alvarez is good enough to join the Manchester City squad this month, but the club decided he would be better remaining at River Plate on loan.

Manchester United target Declan Rice has revealed he preferred Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard over United great Paul Scholes.

Talk centred around who will be Manchester United’s next manager continues to dominate discussions.

Manchester City fans have made it very clear they want the club to still sign Erling Haaland despite the arrival of Julian Alvarez.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have secured their legacies as two of football’s greatest-ever players. But when it comes to free-kicks, the superstar duo cannot claim to have the same level of dominance.A statistical ranking of the top goalscorers from direct free-kicks has revealed that neither of football’s global icons have made it into the top three, although Ronaldo and Messi are as close as ever in terms of their contributions.Ronaldo has scored just one direct free-kick from his last 90 attempts, dating back to the 2017-18 season when he was at Real Madrid.Barcelona legend Messi, now at Paris Saint-Germain, has been more prolific with a dead ball situation, scoring eight times since the start of the 2019-20 campaign.Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi, 34, can hang his hat on the half-century of free kicks he has whipped over the wall in his illustrious career.

Lionel Messi was finally able to don his iconic No.10 shirt for the first time since his summer switch to PSG on Monday night.The French giants faced off against OGC Nice in a Coupe de France clash on Monday night.And with competition rules stating that all players in the starting XI have to line up in shirts numbered between 1 and 11 with substitutes not permitted to wear a shirt number over 25.That bizarre rule, plus Neymar's absence, opened the door for Messi to wear his favoured digits once again.But his joy was short-lived after PSG were sent crashing out of the competition on penalties in a humbling defeat.Mauricio Pochettino's side were unable to find a way past Nice, with the scores level at 0-0 in Paris.Messi did, at least, notch his penalty to fire PSG into an early lead in the shootout.

Manchester City are looking to snatch Borussia Dortmund talisman Erling Haaland from beneath the noses of 'frontrunners' Real Madrid, according to reports.

Manchester City's sister club Troyes have confirmed the permanent signing of defender Erik Palmer-Brown two days after the transfer deadline.

Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling have been warned that their spots in the Manchester City team could be at risk when Julian Alvarez arrives at the club.

Floyd Mayweather on February 20.The 20-year-old YouTuber is known online as Money Kicks and is the son of an Abu Dhabi based entrepreneur and billionaire, Saif Ahmed Belhasa.Mayweather announced in late 2021 that his next exhibition fight would be held on the helipad of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.His opponent for this fight is set to be Belhasa, who only turned 20 as recently as last month but has won on both his two previous appearances in the ring.In July 2021, Belhasa beat fellow Emirate YouTube star Anas Elshayib via a unanimous decision before knocking out Ajmal Khan three months later.Belhasa has lived a life of luxury thanks to the riches of his billionaire father, with the mansion they call home including a range of luxurious features.The mansion is understood to have a full size football pitch within its ground as well as a zoo that houses around 500 animals.Celebrities have regularly visited the property during Bellhasa's lifetime, including Lionel Messi, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B, Anthony Joshua and Floyd Mayweather himself.Does Rashed Belhasa have any chance of beating Floyd Mayweather? Let us know in the comments section below.Belhasa began to gain notoriety online back in 2016 through his Money Kicks YouTube channel, where he started posting videos of his impressive trainer collection.Videos would often include footage of him showing off his shoes to the mansion's celebrity guests, with his collection consisting of more than 500 trainers according to Cosmopolitan Middle East.He has since launched his own series called Sneaker Talk, with a host of famous faces appearing on the show, such as Wiz Khalifa, Travis Scott and Mesut Ozil.In addition to his extensive shoe collection, Belhasa

The January transfer window might be closed, but rumours are never far away when it comes to Manchester City.