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Eduardo Camavinga “very happy and proud” to join Real Madrid

French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga has said that he has realised a childhood dream by joining Real Madrid.

The 18-year-old’s future was the subject of much speculation over the summer transfer window, with a number of clubs said to be interested in signing him from Rennes.

Real Madrid completed a move for the France international just before the deadline, though, with the midfielder penning a six-year contract at the Bernabeu.

Camavinga, who made 88 appearances during his time at Rennes, has said that he is “very happy and proud” to have made the move to the Spanish capital.

“My move to Real Madrid was done very quickly. I am very happy and proud,” Camavinga told reporters. “But I don’t want this announcement to change my work with [France’s] under-21s. Whether I play at Rennes or at Real Madrid I will continue to give my best, and of course I dream of the senior team, but step by step.

“Now I’ll go to Rennes to pack my bags, I’ll move to Madrid and I’ll continue on my journey. It’s a dream I had when I was a kid. I can’t wait to discover the stadium, which is very impressive. I hope to play there as soon as the building work is finished.”

Camavinga could make his debut for Los Blancos against Celta Vigo on September 12.

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Cristiano Ronaldo in line to train with Manchester United on Thursday

Cristiano Ronaldo will reportedly train with his new Manchester United teammates on Thursday ahead of making his second debut for the club against Newcastle United on September 11.

The 36-year-old became the all-time highest international men’s goalscorer on Wednesday night when he scored his 110th and 111th goals for Portugal in their 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland, but a booking in the latter stages of the contest means that he is suspended for the clash with Azerbaijan, which saw him released from international duty early.

Ronaldo flew into Manchester Airport on Thursday evening but was immediately forced to isolate for five days in line with government regulations.

Providing that Ronaldo returns two negative coronavirus tests then he will be able to link up with his new teammates next week, and according to journalist Tom McDermott, the former Sporting Lisbon youngster will begin training at Carrington on Thursday.

McDermott has also claimed, via Twitter, that the former Juventus attacker will be in the starting XI for Man United’s clash with Newcastle on September 11.

The Portuguese, who will again wear the number seven shirt for the Red Devils, has penned a two-year deal at Old Trafford, returning to the club that he previously represented between 2003 and 2009.

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Manchester City set to quadruple Phil Foden’s wages

Manchester City are reportedly prepared to offer Phil Foden a new deal which would see him almost quadruple his wages at the Etihad.

The 21-year-old burst onto the scene under Pep Guardiola and starred in the 2020-21 season, banking 16 goals and 10 assists from 50 appearances across all competitions.

Foden’s deal with the Premier League champions is not due to expire until the summer of 2024, but City supposedly want to reward the youngster’s stellar performances with a bumper new contract.

According to the Daily Star, Foden currently pockets a modest £40k per week in Manchester, but Guardiola’s side are keen to up his wages to £150k per week following his rapid rise.

The report adds that City are aiming to tie the England international down for the next six years, which would see him follow Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson, John Stones and Ruben Dias in signing new long-term deals.

Foden – who is yet to make an appearance this season due to a foot injury – already has 124 appearances for Man City under his belt, with 31 goals and 22 assists to boot.

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Arsenal reach preliminary agreement with Antonio Conte

Arsenal have allegedly reached a ‘preliminary agreement’ with Antonio Conte to take over from Mikel Arteta next month.

The Gunners have made an abysmal start to the 2021-22 Premier League season, collecting zero points and zero goals from clashes with Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Arteta did deliver an FA Cup in his first half-season in charge, though, and the Gunners board are believed to retain faith in the Spaniard to turn Arsenal’s fortunes around.

However, Todofichajes reports that Arsenal director Edu has reached a ‘preliminary agreement’ with Conte to take control of the reins from October, and Arteta must make a ‘radical’ change in the next few weeks to save his job.

The report claims that Conte has agreed to become Arsenal’s next head coach so long as he does not take charge any later than October, and he was initially contacted by the Gunners following their loss to Chelsea.

Conte has been out of the game since leaving Inter Milan following their triumphant 2020-21 Serie A campaign, and he previously won 70 of his 106 games in charge of Chelsea between 2016 and 2018.

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Morocco coach slams “unacceptable behaviour” from Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech

Chelsea midfielder Hakim Ziyech has been omitted from the Morocco national team due to “unacceptable behaviour” according to their head coach Vahid Halilhodzic.

The North African nation secured a 2-0 win at home against Sudan in their first World Cup qualifier on Thursday and will now prepare for an encounter away in Guinea on Monday.

Morocco have had to cope without Ziyech, their star midfielder, who has been left out by Halilhodzic after he accused the 28-year-old of lying about an injury before a set of friendly fixtures in June.

“His behaviour in the last two matches, especially the last one, was not that of a national team player who as a leader in the team has to be a positive role model. He arrived late and after that, he even refused to work,” the 69-year-old told a press conference on Wednesday.

“For the first time in my coaching career, I have seen behaviour that disappoints me. A player who refuses to play a game, admittedly a friendly, on the pretext that he is injured.

“The medical staff made several examinations and said he could play. He then refused to warm up in the second half because he was disappointed to be a substitute. For me, that type of behaviour is unacceptable.”

Ziyech, who suffered a shoulder injury in Chelsea’s UEFA Super Cup victory against Villarreal in early August, has featured for just eight minutes so far this season, coming on as a substitute in a 2-0 Premier League win away at Arsenal.

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FIFA PROBES RACIST ABUSE OF ENGLAND PLAYERS IN HUNGARY

After England players faced racial abuse in Hungary, FIFA said Friday it will take “adequate actions” once it has investigated the incidents.

The statement from FIFA stopped short of directly condemning Hungary fans for the abuse, which included monkey chanting, in Thursday night’s World Cup qualifier at Puskas Arena in Budapest. England won 4-0.

“FIFA strongly rejects any form of racism and violence and has a very clear zero tolerance stance for such behavior in football,” world soccer’s governing body said. ”FIFA will take adequate actions as soon as it receives match reports concerning yesterday’s Hungary-England game.”

Hungary had recently been ordered to play two matches without fans but the sanction from UEFA didn’t take effect for the visit of England because the game was under FIFA’s jurisdiction.

The racist abuse has been condemned by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been criticized for his own racially offensive comments in the past.

“It is completely unacceptable that England players were racially abused in Hungary last night,” Johnson said on Twitter. “I urge (FIFA) to take strong action against those responsible to ensure that this kind of disgraceful behaviour is eradicated from the game for good.”

England’s players were jeered for taking a knee, pelted with plastic cups after goals and then targeted with alleged racist chants.

Pitch-side reporters for domestic broadcasters ITV and Sky Sports said they saw and heard individuals among the Hungary supporters behind one of the goals aim monkey chants at Raheem Sterling and unused substitute Jude Bellingham, who are Black. Sky Sports showed video footage of one spectator giving the abuse.

The game was played in front of a crowd of 60,000 mostly Hungarian fans about two months after UEFA ordered the team to play three matches without fans — one of which was suspended for a probationary period of two years — as a punishment for what was termed “discriminatory” behavior by its supporters at all three of its Euro 2020 group games.

Those behind-closed-doors games have to be in UEFA competition, though. World Cup qualifiers are organized by FIFA.

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BRAZIL BEAT CHILE TO STAY STRONG IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Everton Ribeiro came off the bench to score the goal that gave Brazil a barely deserved 1-0 win over Chile on Thursday that maintained their 100% record in 2022 World Cup qualifying.

Chile matched Brazil for most of a bad-tempered match but Ribeiro fired home after 64 minutes to give the visitors all three points.

Brazil have won all seven of their qualifiers so far and the five-times world champions are six points clear of Argentina, who beat Venezuela earlier in the night, in the 10-team South American group.

Brazil’s preparations for the match were thrown into turmoil by some clubs’ decision not to release their players due to concerns over the lengthy quarantine on their return.

Nine players from England did not join the squad as expected and two of those called up in their place from Zenit St Petersburg arrived in Brazil but were recalled to Russia before the Chile game.

And while Brazil could still count on the likes of Neymar, Casemiro and Marquinhos they were second best for most of the first half and had goalkeeper Weverton to thank for a series of saves that kept the game goalless.

Coach Tite introduced Ribeiro and Gerson for Vinicius Junior and Bruno Guimaraes at halftime and Ribeiro justified his inclusion when he seized on a parried Neymar shot to fire home in a packed penalty box.

Chile have won just one of their seven games and face two testing away matches against Ecuador on Sunday and Colombia next week.

The top four qualify automatically for Qatar and the fifth-placed side goes into an inter-regional playoff.

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CRISTIANO RONALDO TO WEAR NUMBER SEVEN SHIRT AT MANCHESTER UNITED

Manchester United have confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo will wear the number seven shirt on his return to the club.

The Portugal captain (36) completed a sensational move back to United on transfer deadline day, rejoining from Juventus on a two-year deal.

During his first six-season spell at Old Trafford, Ronaldo wore the number seven shirt as he helped Alex Ferguson’s side secure the Champions League and three Premier League titles before moving on to Real Madrid in 2009.

Manchester United confirmed Edinson Cavani would now take up the number 21 – but there was no mention of whether special dispensation had been requested from the Premier League to process the switch following the start of the domestic campaign.

“Cristiano Ronaldo will wear no. 7 for United again, like he did between 2003 and 2009. As we all know, the no. 7 is a special number in the history of United,” the club said on www.manutd.com.

“It has previously been worn by club icons like George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Now, it returns to the man who succeeded Beckham in it, Ronaldo.

“Ronaldo inherits the number from Edinson Cavani, who wore the shirt last season and in our away win at Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.

“As our new signing is allocated no.7, El Matador will switch to no.21, the same number our prolific striker wears for the Uruguayan national team.”

On Wednesday night, Ronaldo broke the men’s international scoring record with a late double as Portugal came from behind to beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1 in a dramatic finish at the Estadio Algarve.

However, after removing his shirt in celebration during stoppage time, Ronaldo was cautioned and having been booked earlier in the World Cup qualifying campaign, the forward is suspended for Tuesday night’s trip to Azerbaijan.

As a result, Ronaldo has been released from the Portugal squad ahead of Saturday’s friendly against World Cup hosts Qatar in Hungary, so could be set for an early reunion back with United.

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STERLING, KANE LEAD ENGLAND OVER HUNGARY IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

England eased to a comfortable 4-0 win over Hungary at the Puskas Arena on Thursday to move five points clear at the top of World Cup qualifying Group I.

It was a miserable night for Hungary on the field and the country’s Football Federation is likely to face a FIFA investigation after crowd misbehaviour and reports of racial abuse of two of England’s Black players.England showed no signs of a hangover from their Euro 2020 final defeat by Italy with an excellent second-half display from Gareth Southgate’s side.

“It is a real tough place to come, we knew it was going to be a difficult game and such a big game in the group as well, we knew if we won here it puts us into a great position and almost one foot into the World Cup,” captain Harry Kane said.

“It couldn’t have been better than 4-0 away from home, a great night for us,” he added.

Raheem Sterling put England ahead in the 55th minute, after a frustrating first half, slotting home a low pull-back from Mason Mount who had been found by Jack Grealish.

Sterling was the provider for England’s second eight minutes later, when his deflected cross was headed in by a stooping Kane.

Harry Maguire made it 3-0 in the 69th minute with a header from a Luke Shaw corner that Hungary keeper Peter Gulacsi got a hand to but which crept over the line.

Declan Rice added the fourth, three minutes from the end, with a shot from outside the box which got through the body of Gulacsi who should have kept the effort out.

Gulacsi had made a series of saves from Kane with the England striker lacking his usual clinical touch.

Hungary, already facing two games behind closed doors in UEFA competition after incidents at their national stadium during Euro 2020, could face sanctions from FIFA after fans threw objects, mostly beer cups, at England players on two occasions. A flare was also thrown on to the pitch.

British broadcaster ITV said racist “monkey noises” were aimed at Sterling and England substitute Jude Bellingham from the hardcore “ultras” behind the goal.

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Kylian Mbappe annoyed with Paris Saint-Germain over failed Real Madrid move

Kylian Mbappe has reportedly been left annoyed at Paris Saint-Germain‘s refusal to sanction a move to Real Madrid.

Los Blancos were supposedly willing to pay £197m to secure Mbappe’s signature in the most recent transfer window, but PSG did not respond to the mammoth offer.

As a result, Mbappe is set to remain at the Parc des Princes for one more season, and Real are expected to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with the 22-year-old in January ahead of a free transfer.

According to Marca, Mbappe was expecting PSG to accept Real’s nine-figure sum on deadline day and has been left “annoyed” with the Parisiens’ board for stalling over the bid.

While Real will have to wait one more year to secure the striker’s signature, PSG are now set to lose him on a free transfer after forking out a total of £163m to sign him from Monaco permanently in 2018.

The World Cup-winning Frenchman already boasts three goals and two assists from four Ligue 1 games this season, but he suffered a reported calf injury in France’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina during World Cup qualifying in midweek