Sports
Kante Prefers Chelsea Stay To Madrid, Barcelona Move
N’Golo Kante remains keen to stay at Chelsea despite reports in the Spanish media linking him with a transfer to Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Kante has missed 20 of Chelsea’s 42 games this season due to a host of injuries to his hamstring, knee and ankle, and concerns over his long-term fitness have seen Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho strike up a good partnership in his absence.
Meanwhile, Billy Gilmour’s emergence and Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s return from injury add to Frank Lampard’s options with Ross Barkley and Mason Mount also in the squad.
Chelsea is also monitoring Lille’s 21-year-old midfielder Boubakary Soumare but he currently ranks lower on the club’s priority list than a left-back and another forward.
Manager Lampard is yet to signal to any of his first-team squad whether or not they will be surplus to requirements in the off-season as he bids to create a competitive training environment until the end of the coronavirus-hit campaign.
Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has long been an admirer of Kante and is said to be looking for a back-up option for Casemiro, with Rennes’ 17-year-old wonderkid Eduardo Camavinga and Soumare also on the Blancos’ shortlist.
But Kante, who is currently Chelsea’s highest-paid player on £290,000 ($362k) per week, is unlikely to accept a back-up role.
Barcelona would interest Kante as well but only if he was told that Chelsea want to sell him ahead of the summer, with reports in Spain claiming the Blaugrana would be willing to offer Philippe Coutinho in exchange as part of a swap deal.
Kante is settled in London and he has three years left on his Blues contract but he previously harboured ambitions of playing for one of Spain’s big two clubs at one stage in his career.
Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, along with Serie A giants Juventus, were interested in Kante when he signed for Chelsea from Leicester for £32 million ($40m/€36m) in 2016.
French champions PSG had wanted to create a homecoming story for the World Cup winner. However, he has been cautious about returning home due to off-field legal issues with his former agents.
Kante has denied allegations in the French investigative publication Mediapart which suggested that he was threatened at gunpoint to sack his agent Abdelkarim Douis by his former advisors in Paris.
The report goes on to say that the dispute was resolved upon Kante’s contract renewal in 2018, with an agent fee being shared between his current agent and his former advisors.
However, in February 2020, Kante’s ongoing legal battle with his former image rights advisor Nouari Khiari were detailed .
Meanwhile, like all their fellow Premier League clubs, Chelsea is training at home with advice coming in from the coaching team on routines to keep fit ahead of a return to action which will be in mid-May at the earliest.
Lampard has been in regular contact with his squad and he is using the increased amount of time to do some long-term planning for the club’s future.
“We have the good young players, we have had experienced players around them that have helped them this year, but we know there are little areas within the squad [we can improve],” Lampard toldTidesports source.
The Kenya Football Federation (FKF) has launched an investigation into allegations that goalkeeper Patrick Matasi has been involved in match manipulation.
The 37-year-old, who plays for Kenyan Premier League club Kakamega Homeboyz, has won over 30 international caps.
His most recent appearance for the Harambee Stars came in October last year, in a qualifier for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
An undated video posted online appears to show Matasi agreeing a deal to influence the outcome of a league game.
“I have spoken to him. He was also shocked at what he was seeing in the video and he told me he doesn’t know about match-fixing,” Homeboyz owner Cleophas Shimanyula told Tidesports source .
The FKF said it would work with world governing body Fifa, the Confederation of African Football and other “relevant authorities” during its investigation.
“We reaffirm our zero-tolerance policy on match manipulation and are committed to safeguarding the credibility of our competitions,” a statement added.
“This investigation will adhere to FKF’s anti-match manipulation regulations and Fifa guidelines, ensuring a fair, transparent, and thorough process.
“The rights of the player and his club will be respected, and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings.”
Shimanyula backed Matasi, pointing to the fact the veteran has kept three clean sheets in as many games since joining the club a month ago.
“When we watched this video, we found that Matasi has not wronged the club,” he said.
“In a video there can misinterpretations and false narratives and we cannot trust everything.
“He will keep playing for us because there’s no wrongdoing on his part as far as we are concerned – unless there’s evidence or the FKF writes to us to say they are suspecting the player of some wrongdoing.
“He is innocent until proven guilty and then we will act.”
The FKF has called on anyone with credible information to assist its investigation, with any reports to be handled with strict confidentiality.
Shimanyula also challenged the Kenyan footballing community to provide evidence against Matasi.
“Kakamega Homeboyz is against any form of match manipulation,” he said.
Uefa has opened an investigation into allegations of indecent conduct by four Real Madrid players during their Champions League last-16 win against Atletico Madrid.
Antonio Rudiger, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Dani Ceballos allegedly made gestures towards the home fans after Real Madrid beat their city rivals on penalties to book their place in the quarter-finals.
TV pictures showed German defender Rudiger appearing to make a throat-slitting motion, apparently towards the crowd after the shootout victory, while Mbappe was shown seemingly making a crotch-grabbing gesture.
Spanish media said Atletico reported the actions to Uefa last week.
The players could be at risk of suspension but there is no guarantee the case will be heard before their quarter-final with Arsenal. The first leg for that tie is at Emirates Stadium on 8 April and the return leg a week later.
In a statement, Uefa said: “[An] ethics and disciplinary inspector has been appointed to investigate allegations of indecent conduct” made by the four Real Madrid players.
“Further information regarding this matter will be made available in due course.”
The Premier League has announced it will have two transfer windows this summer to allow Manchester City and Chelsea to sign players before the Club World Cup.
The window will open between Sunday, 1 June and Tuesday, 10 June, then close for five days before running again from Monday, 16 June until Monday, 1 September.
This summer features the first expanded Fifa Club World Cup, which involves 32 teams and adopts the format of the regular World Cup of the past few years.
Chelsea and Manchester City are the Premier League teams in the tournament which takes place in the United States from Sunday, 15 June.
But the Premier League can only have 12 weeks of a summer window – hence the five-day break in order to run it until 1 September.
Fifa has allowed new players to be registered for the Club World Cup from 1-10 June, and again from 27 June-3 July for the knockout stage.
This is happening firstly, to bring order to the global registration system, world governing body Fifa only permits the transfer window in any individual country to be open for 16 weeks in any calendar year.
In Europe, precedent dictates four of those weeks are for the winter window, leaving 12 in the summer. In 2024, the Premier League transfer window opened on 14 June and closed on 30 August.