French Ligue 1
Messi apologises to PSG for Saudi trip
Lionel Messi apologised to Paris St Germain and his team mates on Friday after being suspended for making a trip to Saudi Arabia earlier this week and missing a training session as a result.
French media reported that Messi was suspended for two weeks after an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia when he was supposed to train with the squad the day after the Ligue 1 leaders’ 3-1 defeat at home to Lorient on Sunday.
“I sincerely believed that I would have the day off after the game as had been happening in previous weeks. I had this trip organised and I couldn’t cancel it, I had already cancelled it before,” Messi said in a video on Instagram.
“I apologise to my team mates and I’m waiting for what the club wants to do with me,” added the Argentina forward.
PSG boss Christophe Galtier said earlier on Friday that he had nothing to do with the club’s decision to suspend Messi, who is set to miss the next two matches at Troyes and home to Ajaccio as they look to keep their Ligue 1 lead intact.
“We’ll see when Leo returns, we’ll see what happens. Obviously there will be discussions with the entire club, but also with Leo,” Galtier had said at a press conference.
PSG are five points clear of Olympique de Marseille with five matches left in the season.
Messi has received a formal offer to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal next season, a source close to Argentina’s captain told Reuters , with a contract renewal at PSG not on the cards for the World Cup winner who turns 36 next month.
The oil-rich nation appointed Messi its tourism ambassador last year and he visited Jeddah in May 2022.
He returned in January to play a friendly match with PSG against a team of Saudi League stars, when he faced great rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
-Reuters
French Ligue 1
Sacked former Cote d’ivoire coach, Gasset announces retirement as Marseille manager
![](https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/gasset.jpg)
Jean-Louis Gasset who was sacked by Cote d’Ivoire after the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations last January has announced his retirement as a coach of Olympique de Marseille.
He will take charge of his last game on Sunday before retiring from management, the 70-year-old said on Friday.
Gasset was appointed as interim manager by the Ligue 1 club in February after the sacking of Gennaro Gattuso, and Marseille are eight in the standings going into their final Ligue 1 game of the season at Le Havre.
“Sunday will be the last match of my career,” Gasset told a press conference.
“That I stay in football, that my experience, my ideas and my networks are used is a possibility. I don’t know how to garden, I won’t have anything to do. But as a coach, it’s over.”
The Frenchman’s previous job was with Ivory Coast from which he was sacked after the team’s poor performances in the Africa Cup of Nations group stage. They scraped through as the last lucky losers before going on to win the tournament on home soil.
-Reuters
French Ligue 1
Departing Mbappe backs good friend Dembele to become Ligue 1’s best
![Sealed And Delivered! Mbappe Has Already Signed Contract With Real Madrid -](https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Sealed-And-Delivered-Mbappe-Has-Already-Signed-Contract-With-Real.jpg)
Kylian Mbappe has backed winger Ousmane Dembele to be a success at Paris St Germain and fill his boots after he exits the club, as he won his fifth successive Ligue 1 Player of the Year award.
France captain Mbappe, 25, last week announced that he will leave the French champions at the end of the season after a seven-year stay, during which he became their all-time top scorer with 256 goals.
Mbappe’s frustration lies with PSG’s performances in the Champions League, a trophy they have never lifted despite huge investment in the squad. He has been heavily linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid, who are in the final this year seeking a 15th European crown.
His 26-year-old compatriot Dembele joined the Parisian club, who have won 10 of the last 12 Ligue 1 titles, from LaLiga side Barcelona in August last year, signing a five-year deal.
“I have shared and played with incredible players, like Dembele who is here, he is a friend and one day he will pick up this award,” Mbappe said on Monday at the award ceremony.
“I thank the club as a whole, the coach, who has helped me and trusted me, his staff, the doctors, all the people at the club, the sporting management, the president, the shareholders of the club, of course, the Emir of Qatar who came to find me at the age of 18, who has accompanied me in all my decisions…”
He said his next chapter is going to be very exciting but did not reveal any further details.
“Now I’m turning the page in my life. Everything that comes next is super exciting, but that’s another subject,” Mbappe said.
“Thank you all, I’m going to miss you. I have always tried to do my best, and I also want to thank my family, who have always been with me in good times and bad.
“My father, who is here, I know that it was very important to him that I made history in Ligue 1 before I left and I think that with humility I have done everything you wanted.”
-Reuters
French Ligue 1
Mbappe Set To Quit PSG –
![Sealed And Delivered! Mbappe Has Already Signed Contract With Real Madrid -](https://www.sportsvillagesquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Sealed-And-Delivered-Mbappe-Has-Already-Signed-Contract-With-Real.jpg)
France captain Kylian Mbappe has informed Paris St Germain that he is leaving the club in July as a free agent seven years after joining them, The Athletic website reported on Thursday.
Mbappe, a member of France’s 2018 World Cup-winning team, signed for PSG from Monaco in 2017 for 180 million euros ($194 million) to become the second most expensive player ever after Brazilian Neymar, who joined the French champions the same year for 222 million euros.
“Mbappe has communicated his decision to PSG but the terms of his exit are yet to be fully agreed. An official announcement is expected once the situation is finalised in the next few months,” the report said.
The 25-year-old striker, who helped the capital club win five Ligue 1 titles and three French Cups, is PSG’s all-time leading scorer with 243 goals in 290 appearances.
PSG have not responded to a request for comment.
Mbappe last year sent a letter to PSG stating that he would not take up the option to extend his contract by a year when it expires in June.
He has long been linked with Real Madrid, reportedly rejecting a 200 million euro ($215.36 million) offer in 2021. He was again set for a move to the LaLiga side in 2022 before announcing a contract extension with PSG before the transfer window opened.
PSG, who lead the Ligue 1 standings by 11 points, host Nice on Friday.
-Reuters
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