Newcastle United's new boy Matias Fernandez-Pardo will wear the number 20 shirt on his debut season for the Magpies. The post Matias Fernandez-Pardo’s Newcastle United Shirt Number Emerges appeared first on Inside Futbol | Latest Football News, Transfer Rumours & Articles.
Newcastle United transfer target Bilal El Khannouss will stay put at Stuttgart after the Magpies did a deal for Matias Fernandez-Pardo. The post Matias Fernandez-Pardo To Newcastle Knock-on Effect Means Star Won’t Join Magpies appeared first on Inside Futbol | Latest Football News, Transfer Rumours & Articles.
BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club discussed Manchester City's late move for Chelsea's £120m-rated Enzo Fernandez, despite already signing midfielders Elliot Anderson and Ayyoub Bouaddi this summer. As reported by BBC Sport's senior football correspondent Sami Mokbel, Enzo Maresca is keen to reunite with his former player, who is also open to moving to Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal have expressed interest in Lyon’s Malick Fofana (Picture: Getty) Arsenal are weighing up a deadline-day move for Malick Fofana after being given encouragement in their pursuit of the Lyon winger. The Gunners are keen to bolster Mikel Arteta’s title-winning squad with one more attacking signing before the summer transfer window shuts on Tuesday night. Arsenal, who have enjoyed a bright start to their Premier League title defence, have signed Bruno Guimaraes, Ezri Konsa and Christos Tzolis so far this summer. Tzolis has impressed on the left wing but Arteta is interested in another player who can play in that position after agreeing to sell both Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli. Exclusive Premier League previews Get ahead of the start of the season with our weekly football newsletter. Sign up now for free. Arsenal are considering an official bid for Fofana after being offered the Belgium international by intermediaries ahead of deadline day. Fofana was linked with a host of clubs last summer, with Arsenal’s Premier League rivals Chelsea, Liverpool, Fulham and Nottingham Forest all contacting Lyon to discuss a deal. The Independent say there is ‘a need’ for Lyon to raise some cash after failing to qualify for the Champions League, with Fofana potentially available for around £50m. Mikel Arteta is keen to sign another attacker (Picture: Getty) European football journalist Andy Brassell believes Fofana would be a shrewd signing for Arsenal after they failed to bring in Brazil icon Vinicius Junior from Real Madrid. ‘Straight off, ever since Lyon have been eliminated from the Champions League play-offs, they’ve had a lot of players on the block,’ he told talkSPORT. ‘They are not just willing to sell, they need to sell, and they need to make around €50million, before the window shuts. Lyon and Belgium star Malick Fofana (Picture: Getty) ‘The quickest way of doing that, because they have at least one more definitely out already, is Malick Fofana. ‘Obviously, he’s been linked with a lot of different teams so far. Hull City made an approach and rejected that pretty much out of hand, slightly more politely perhaps. ‘Linked to Roma for a number of weeks, seems like Leipzig might be in and there’s even been talk in France that he’s been offered to Arsenal. Arsenal have agreed to sell Gabriel Martinelli (Picture: Getty) ‘Now, even though he’s not Vinicius Jr, clearly, I think him being offered to Arsenal is really interesting because he is a player exactly in the spot where they want a player. ‘His ceiling is very, very high. He missed most of last season because of a really bad ankle injury that he received in the game against Strasbourg. ‘He still had some pain when he came back, so it took a while for him to get that sorted out and since he has got that sorted out, he’s been really good in the early part of this season for Lyon when he has played. {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Arteta praises Arsenal's maturity in 1-0 win over Aston Villa","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/01\/1030376710448723935\/480x270_MP4_1030376710448723935.mp4","description":"Arteta also stressed the importance of squad depth after Konsa was substituted on for his debut for a Mosquera struggling with an injury.","duration":"T4M26S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/01\/07\/110968591-0-image-a-1_1788244180392.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-01T07:29:49+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = cont
With Lionel Messi putting his international career to rest and his stats finalized, comparisons with Diego Maradona have begun to arise. Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona established legacies as the two defining figures in Argentina national team history and two of the greatest athletes to ever play any sport. Now that Messi has officially announced his retirement from international duty, debate comparing the two iconic number 10s and their respective legacies has reignited across global sports media. On Monday, August 31, Lionel Messi formally announced his retirement from the Argentina national team via an Instagram statement, delivering a decision that caught fans worldwide off guard. Drafting the letter two days following the 2026 World Cup final against Spain, the forward revealed that the passing of his father weighed heavily on his choice to step away. While Maradona carried Argentina to the summit of global soccer while capturing the imagination of millions, Messi emerged as his heir apparent just a few years after Maradona’s playing days ended. Though the two aligned as manager and player at the 2010 World Cup, their statistical profiles across their international careers present striking contrasts. Maradona and Messi stats for Argentina Debuting in 1977 and stepping down 17 years later in 1994, Diego Maradona earned 91 caps for the Argentina national team, recording 34 goals and 26 assists. In contrast, Lionel Messi’s international tenure spanned nearly 21 full years from 2005 to 2026, amassing 207 appearances while tallying 125 goals and 57 assists. Diego Maradona of Argentina in action during a match. (Allsport UK) While trailing Messi in raw goals and assists, Maradona captured the heart of the nation with his transcendent run at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, considered by many the finest individual performance in tournament history. He immortalized his name during a legendary quarterfinal performance against England, scoring both the “Hand of God” and the “Goal of the Century.“ Hardware comparisons remain a central pillar of the debate, with Maradona claiming two major international trophies to Messi’s four. Maradona lifted the 1986 World Cup and added the 1930 Artemio Franchi Cup in 1993, though a doping suspension kept him out of Argentina’s winning 1991 and 1993 Copa America squads. Conversely, Lionel Messi collected four major senior titles with the Albiceleste, capturing the 2021 Copa America, the 2022 Finalissima, the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and the 2024 Copa America. Both icons also claimed a FIFA U-20 World Cup title early in their careers (Maradona in 1979, Messi in 2005), while the Inter Miami star added a 2008 Olympic gold medal to his portfolio. PlayerGamesGoalsAssistsTitlesDiego Maradona9134262Lionel Messi207125574 Maradona and Messi’s career in the World Cup The World Cup served as the ultimate stage where both Argentine legends cemented their standing among the sport’s greatest figures. Leading the Albiceleste across two distinct eras, their impact on the tournament proved incalculable in both cases. Diego Maradona featured in four World Cups between 1982 and 1994, debuting at Spain 1982 where Argentina exited in the second group stage. At Mexico 1986, he produced a legendary tournament performance with five goals and five assists, followed by a gutted run to the 1990 final in Italy despite playing through injury, before a drug test failure cut short his final appearance at USA 1994. Lionel Messi appeared in six World Cup tournaments, the most by any player in Argentine history. His journey began at Germany 2006 with one goal, followed by South Africa 2010 with Diego Maradona in the dugout, which marked the only World Cup campaign of his career in which he failed to find the back of the net. Diego Maradona head coach of Argentina alongside Lionel Messi. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) Brazil 2014 brought heartbreak as Messi scored four goals and added an assist before falling to Germany in the final. After a b
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