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Tuesday Kickoff: Messi, Alves, De Gea and more

Lionel Messi Copa Del Rey 1 (Getty Images)

Despite an original flurry of Spanish reports stating that one of the game’s biggest stars would undergo surgery this week, Barcelona has revealed that Lionel Messi won’t miss time for the club.

Messi, who missed part of Barcelona’s FIFA Club World Cup competition in December, is expected to return to training on Wednesday despite reports stating the forward would be undergoing kidney surgery. The club will conduct more testing to determine the Argentine’s status today. (REPORT)

Dani Alves has reportedly received a £27m offer from an unnamed Chinese Super League club. The Barcelona defender has been with the La Liga side since 2008. (REPORT)

Football Leaks has revealed that Real Madrid offered Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea a six year, £66.7m ($96.1m) contract last summer. The two sides ultimately couldn’t complete the deal after failing to sign the necessary paperwork in time. (REPORT)

Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets has said that he could be tempted to move to English Premier League side Manchester City by new head coach Pep Guardiola. The 27-year old made his first-team debut with the Blaugrana during the 2008-09 season under Guardiola. (REPORT)

According to former mentor Giovanni Galeone, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri will leave Serie A to become Chelsea’s next head coach. Galeone said, “Allegri is certainly among the five best coaches in the world. I think he will leave Juve because the offer from Chelsea is truly fantastic.” (REPORT)

Memphis Depay started for Manchester United’s Under-21 side on Monday, tallying an assist in the team’s 7-0 win. Belgian attacker Adnan Januzaj reportedly exited the match in the opening 45 minutes after suffering hamstring discomfort. (REPORT)

Former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Carragher was among those who exited the team’s match against Sunderland early over the weekend due to a rise in ticket prices. (REPORT)

MONDAY REWIND

Leicester City took a huge leap in the English Premier League title race with its 3-1 win against Manchester City, Zlatan Ibrahimovic recorded a goal and an assist against Marseille and more in The Weekend’s Best. (REPORT)

U.S. Men’s National Team striker Jozy Altidore and a group of Olympic hopefuls all did some positive things in Friday’s 1-0 win against Canada, while defensive reform is still needed. (REPORT)

Guatemala striker Carlos Ruiz has reportedly been ruled eligible to play for his country in next month’s CONCACAF World Cup qualifying matches against the USMNT. (REPORT)

Former New York Cosmos midfielder Marcos Senna has taken a role in Villareal’s front office, while the Fort Lauderdale Strikers acquired former AS Monaco youngster Matheus Carvalho on Monday. (REPORT)

Are you happy to hear Messi won’t miss significant time? Should Alves complete a move to China? Will De Gea exit Manchester United this summer?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. £27m for Alves?!? and another £9.2m per year?! he’s 32 with a year left (granted with an extension option) on his contract. these numbers are not sustainable. you can’t just take someone’s market value and quadruple it. this is even worse than MLS overpaying for USMNT players. further, a lot of discussions bring up the TV contract in China. but again, it’s a bubble that was inflated out of thin air. you don’t go from $9M a year to $100M a year over a few months naturally. or, if we do, your product is the best there is. which the Chinese league is not. i’m very curious to see how long this can last. and to be clear, this has nothing to do with China in terms of culture/living there. people would be surprised by the quality of life in a lot of places in China. i’m simply questioning the sustainability. this has NASL written all over it. the only difference is they have the Chinese government backing all of this.

    for all the talk about this being bad for MLS, i think this is worse for your mid-table club in a top European league. A team fighting for a Europa league spot used to be able to sign these players but they cannot compete with these transfer fees and salaries.

    Reply

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