Marseille have sacked Gennaro Gattuso as their manager and replaced him with Jean-Louis Gasset.

Gattuso took over at the French club in late September and leaves with the club ninth in Ligue 1.

The Italian claimed just nine wins from his 24 matches as manager, losing six times during his spell in charge.

Gasset, 70, was recently sacked by Ivory Coast after the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations, before they went on to win the tournament.

“Olympique de Marseille announces the end of its collaboration with Gennaro Gattuso,” Marseille said in a statement.

“Marseille would like to extend its special thanks to Gennaro and his entire staff for the unfailing commitment and professionalism they have shown on a daily basis, and wishes them all the best for the future.”

Gattuso joined Marseille as a replacement for now Villarreal manager Marcelino, who himself had only been at the helm in the south of France for three months.

Gattuso, who as a player won the World Cup with Italy in 2006, has also had spells managing AC Milan, Napoli and Valencia.

After a slow start to his time in France, four straight league wins in December took Marseille up to sixth in the table.

But Marseille have not won any of their last six Ligue 1 matches, four of which have ended in draws.

Gattuso took charge of 15 league matches at the Stade Velodrome, winning five, drawing five and losing five.

Marseille were also knocked out of the Coupe de France last month after a penalty shootout defeat to league rivals Rennes.

Despite the poor run of form, Marseille remain in the Europa League. Finishing second in Group B behind English debutants Brighton, Marseille host Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday (20:00 GMT) in the second leg of their knockout round play-off match, having drawn 2-2 last week.

Source: BBC

Paris St-Germain striker Kylian Mbappe has agreed to join Real Madrid this summer.

The France captain, 25, has told PSG he intends to leave the club with his contract expiring in June.

Mbappe has not signed a contract with Real yet, but the deal could be announced once it is no longer possible for the clubs to meet in this season’s Champions League.

The World Cup winner is PSG’s record goalscorer with 244 goals.

Mbappe wanted his future sorted before March, so on 13 February, before training, he met PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and told him he was leaving and joining Real.

After reports emerged last Thursday that he would leave, Mbappe was left out of the starting line-up for Saturday’s match against Nantes, but came off the bench to score a penalty as PSG went 14 points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

He is set to sign a five-year deal with Real, earning 15m euros (£12.8m) a season, plus a 150m euro (£128m) signing-on bonus to be paid over five years, and he will keep a percentage of his image rights.

Real manager Carlo Ancelotti has already thought how he will use Mbappe in his team, with England midfielder Jude Bellingham playing a deeper role, Brazilian Vinicius Jr playing on the left and Mbappe playing left of centre.

If Croatia midfielder Luka Modric leaves this summer, then Mbappe would inherit the number 10 shirt he wears for France.

PSG are 2-0 up against Real Sociedad after the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, while Real lead RB Leipzig 1-0.

How have we got here?

Mbappe won the French title with Monaco before joining PSG as an 18-year-old in 2017, initially on loan before a 180m euro (£165.7m) move.

Overall, he has 244 goals and 93 assists in 291 games for PSG and has helped the club to five Ligue 1 title wins.

Mbappe was set to leave PSG on a free transfer at the end of the 2021-22 season but ultimately signed a two-year contract extension, with the option of a further year.

However, after Mbappe told PSG he would not agree to the additional 12 months of the deal, he was not selected for their pre-season tour to Japan last July.

He subsequently refused to meet with representatives of Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal, who made a world record £259m offer for him.

He later returned to first-team training following what PSG said were “very constructive and positive” talks.

Mbappe turned down a move to Real when he agreed to his current deal with PSG in May 2022.

He has a one-year extension clause, so it is expected his departure will involve either a sale with a transfer fee or financial sacrifices on the player’s part.

“He is no doubt one of the players anyone would love to have on his side. He is an amazing player,” former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon told the BBC’s Football News Show.

“We have very young players – he will join Vinicius, Rodrygo, Bellingham – and I think we have a very strong team. That’s why we are leading La Liga and also we’ve won all our matches in the Champions League.

“So, for him it would be fantastic. Every fan of Real Madrid would like to see him playing in the Bernabeu.

“He will leave a mark. If he continues to play as he has up until now, for sure he will be one of the important players we have had in our history.”

Source: BBC

France captain Kylian Mbappé has told officials at Paris Saint-Germain that he intends to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season, a source close to the Ligue 1 champions said on Thursday.

The 25-year-old, who arrived in Paris from Monaco in 2017, had extended his contract in 2022 until 2024 but last summer declined to activate a clause allowing him to stay another year at PSG.

Mbappé has been widely tipped to move to Real Madrid and, according to a source close to the matter, has already entered negotiations with the Spanish giants.

“The terms of the departure have yet to be fully agreed,” the source said, adding that the club and Mbappé will make an official statement “when everything is finalised in the next few months”.

PSG declined to comment when contacted by AFP

Mbappé will leave PSG on a free transfer but the blow to the club will be softened by an agreement they reached last summer which will see the player waive bonuses amounting to around 60 to 70 million euros ($65.6 million to $76.6 million).

After seven seasons at PSG, Mbappé, the club’s all-time top scorer, looks set to seal a move to Real Madrid, the club that the player has dreamt of since he was a child.

Real have made no secret of their desire to bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu. In 2019, 2021 and 2022, club president Florentino Perez considered signing him, only to be rebuffed each time.

For PSG, the departure of their main star, a year after the exits of Neymar and Lionel Messi, marks the beginning of a new era of uncertainty.

Source: AFP

Kylian Mbappe is expected to sit out Paris Saint-Germain’s Ligue 1 meeting with Lille on Saturday as the club does not want to risk his injured ankle with a Champions League last 16 tie looming.

The PSG star suffered the injury in his side’s French Cup last 16 win over Brest on Thursday in which Mbappe scored the opening goal.

Initial medical tests were reportedly “reassuring” but PSG coach Luis Enrique will not want to risk his prize asset ahead of the Champions League visit of Real Sociedad five days later.

Further tests on the player who is being linked to a move to Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season are scheduled for Friday.

While Mbappe’s future is uncertain, so too is PSG’s continued presence at their Parc des Princes home.

The club’s bid to buy the stadium from owners the Paris City Council appears to have been quashed after a meeting on Thursday.

“It’s finished now, we want to leave the Parc des Princes,” said the club’s Qatari president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.

Lille, sitting fourth, will give Enrique’s men a decent test ahead of next Thursday’s important European date.

The culprit for Mbappe’s injury was Brest defender Lilian Brassier, who was sent off after a second yellow card and was then subjected to racist attacks on social media.

Brest, who are flying high in third and host Clermont on Sunday, issued a statement roundly condemning the online abuse received by their player.

PSG, vying for their third straight domestic league title and 12th in all, are coasting at the top, eight points clear of Nice, who host south coast rivals Monaco.

Nice, owned by Manchester United’s new stakeholder Jim Ratcliffe of Ineos, thrashed Montpellier 4-1 in the French Cup in midweek.

Friday’s sole fixture gives Marseille the perfect opportunity to secure their first win of 2024 when relegation-threatened Metz turn up at their Velodrome headquarters.

Marseille are looking to bounce back after last weekend’s defeat to fallen giants Lyon who are away to Montpellier.

A win would ease nerves at Marseille where various crisis meetings have been held as they have slipped down to eighth.

Source: AFP

Barcelona manager Xavi says he will step down at the end of the season.

The former Barcelona and Spain midfielder took charge in November 2021 after leaving Qatari side Al Sadd.

He guided them to the Spanish title in his first full season in charge in 2022-23, but Saturday’s 5-3 home defeat by Villarreal leaves them 10 points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid.

“I think the situation needs to change course,” said the 44-year-old. “I cannot allow the current situation.”

Xavi, who won 25 honours during an illustrious playing career at Barcelona, will officially step down on 30 June despite still having a year left on his contract.

The 2010 World Cup winner said this month he would “pack his bags” if his players lost faith in him following a 4-1 defeat by rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup.

Barca responded with back-to-back wins, but then went out of the Copa del Rey with defeat at Athletic Bilbao on Thursday before slipping further behind in the title race at Villarreal.

They have progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League, where they will play Italian club Napoli in February.

Source: BBC

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is to step down from the role at the end of the season.

Klopp took over as Reds boss in October 2015 and his contract was due to run until 2026.

He led Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years in 2019-20, having won the Champions League the previous season.

“I told the club already in November,” the German told the Liverpool website.

Source: BBC

Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry has revealed he suffered with depression during his stellar playing career.

The 46-year-old, who won the World Cup with France and is Arsenal’s all-time top goalscorer, told the Diary of a CEO podcast that the coronavirus pandemic made him appreciate his mental health struggles as he cried “almost every day.”

Henry has linked that to his past and a search for approval from his father, who was often critical of his performances as a young player.

“Throughout my career, and since I was born, I must have been in depression,” said Henry.

“Did I know it? No. Did I do something about it? No. But I adapted to a certain way. That doesn’t mean I’m walking straight, but I’m walking. You’ve got to put one foot (forward) and another one, and walk. That’s what I’ve been told since I’m young.

“I never stopped walking, then maybe I would have realised. (But during) Covid – I stopped walking. I couldn’t. Then you start to realise.”

Henry was in charge of Canadian side Montral Impact when the pandemic hit, leaving him isolated and on the other side of the world from his family.

“I was in isolation in Montreal, and not being able to see my kids for a year was tough,” he added.

“Tears were coming alone. Why I don’t know, but maybe they were there for a very long time.

“Technically, it wasn’t me, it was the young me. (Crying for) everything he didn’t get, approval.”

Henry, who is now coach of France’s under-21 team, said his father’s desire was for him to be “an amazing football player” from the moment he first held his son.

“As a little boy it was always ‘you didn’t do that well’. So obviously when you hear that more often than not, that’s what’s going to stay,” said Henry.

“(It) did to a degree help the athlete….(it) didn’t help so much the human being”.

Source: AFP

Franz Beckenbauer, one of German soccer’s greatest players, who captained the team to World Cup victory in 1974 then won the tournament again as manager in 1990, has died at the age of 78, German news agency DPA reported on Monday.

Beckenbauer was a classy, dominant presence on the pitch for West Germany and Bayern Munich, with whom he won three successive European Cups, and had the nickname Der Kaiser, or “The Emperor”.

Source: Reuters

Carlo Ancelotti extended his contract with Real Madrid to June 2026 on Friday which would rule him out of becoming Brazil national coach.

“Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti have reached agreement on the extension of his contract till June 30, 2026,” Real said in a statement.

It had been reported in July this year that 64-year-old Ancelotti would become the first foreigner to coach Brazil in almost 60 years once he saw out his present Real contract next year.

The Brazil Football Confederation had named Fernando Diniz as the temporary manager before they anticipated Ancelotti taking control for the 2024 Copa America.

Ednaldo Rodriguez, the then president of the CBF, held months of negotiations with Ancelotti, who had previously stated the Real job would be his last in football.

However, it appeared one of the most glamorous and challenging jobs in football had brought a change of mind.

“We went after him not only due to his record, but also because he is a decent person,” Rodrigues told beIN Sports earlier this year.

“Those who have worked with him say that he is open, cultured, and he appreciates Brazilian football.”

However, under Diniz Brazil’s woes on the pitch have continued and the presently occupy the sixth and final regional qualifying spot for the 2026 World Cup.

Ancelotti is regarded as one of the greatest coaches of all time.

He has won the Champions League four times — twice with AC Milan and also on two occasions with Real Madrid.

He has won domestic league titles with Real and Milan, in England with Chelsea, in Germany with Bayern Munich and in France with Paris Saint-Germain.

Source: AFP