Declan Rice, the Arsenal and England midfielder, is close to reaching an agreement to sign a new long-term contract with the London club.
Rice has become one of the most prominent players in Arsenal's ranks since his move from West Ham for 105 million pounds sterling in July 2023.
The current player's contract expires at the end of next season, and negotiations regarding its extension began several months ago, before they have now reached an advanced stage.
The 27-year-old player has started more than 150 matches with Arsenal, and is considered one of the main pillars of the English national team, as coach Thomas Tuchel described him this week as one of the best midfielders in Europe.
Under the new contract, Rice is expected to receive a significant increase in his weekly salary, which currently amounts to about 240,000 pounds sterling, to become close to Bukayo Saka, the highest-paid member of the team, who earns about 350,000 pounds sterling per week.
This move comes after Arsenal announced, on Wednesday, that its coach, Mikel Arteta, had signed a new four-year contract with the English Premier League champion.
The star, Lionel Messi, admitted on Wednesday, the day after his farewell match with the Argentina national team against Benin at the “Monumental” stadium of the River Plate club in Buenos Aires, that he really misses the “Albiceleste” shirt.
Messi (39 years old) wrote on his Instagram account: “Yesterday was my last match and I really miss the Albiceleste shirt,” stressing, however, that he made “the right decision.”
Messi played his last match with the Argentine national team on Tuesday, and led them to a friendly victory over Benin 3-0, by scoring a goal from a penalty kick and passing two decisive balls.
The legendary leader of Albiceleste added in the poignant post: “It was an amazing journey, full of joys but also some sorrows,” thanking his family and colleagues, and praising in particular his legendary compatriot Diego Armando Maradona, one of the most famous people to wear the No. 10 shirt, who died in 2020 at the age of 60.
The former Spanish Barcelona star continued: “I know that he helped us by being here with us and also from heaven.”
Messi, who won the Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world eight times, announced his international retirement after a busy career that crowned him as the best Argentine scorer in history (126 goals), the best passer (70) and the most participating (208 international matches).
During “La Pulga” (the Flea)’s career with Argentina, she was crowned champion of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and was runner-up twice (in Brazil 2014 and the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico 2026).
It also won the Copa America title twice, in 2021 and 2024, and the “Vinalisima” Cup in 2022, which is a match that brings together the champions of South America and Europe.
At the youth level, the Albiceleste team, led by Messi, won the Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008, and the Youth World Cup in 2005.
EuroLeague Basketball rejected an official offer from the NBA to merge into a unified European entity, following a meeting of club owners held in the Italian city of Cernobbio.
The Spanish club Barcelona confirmed, on Wednesday, that the 13 clubs participating in the Euroleague had decided not to accept the American proposal, as part of a set of decisions related to the future of the tournament.
The list of clubs participating in the EuroLeague includes Barcelona and Real Madrid of Spain, Bayern Munich of Germany, Olympiacos of Greece, Milan of Italy, and ASVEL of France, owned by Tony Parker, in addition to two clubs based in Istanbul.
EuroLeague announced in an official statement that representatives of the clubs met to discuss and coordinate major strategic decisions related to the future of their collective ownership, without referring directly to the offer submitted by the NBA.
But Barcelona confirmed, in response to an inquiry from the Associated Press, that rejecting the American offer was among the decisions taken by the club owners during the meeting, which was attended by Catalan club president Joan Laporta.
Barcelona explained that the door has not been completely closed on the project, as the clubs and Euroleague can reconsider their position if the NBA submits a modified offer in the future.
EuroLeague did not reveal the details of the clubs’ votes or the position of each club separately, and merely announced the decisions related to the future of the competition.
The EuroLeague currently includes 20 teams, including 13 contributing clubs that enjoy immunity from relegation, while the rest of the teams obtain their places through their results in local leagues or through invitations to participate in the tournament.
On the other hand, the NBA, in partnership with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), is working on a new project to launch a European competition that includes 16 teams.
According to the French newspaper L'Equipe, the American League has offered an amount of up to 400 million euros ($448 million) to each club that agrees to join the new entity.
