AS Roma : Gasperini ferme la porte à un départ de Manu Koné

Courtisé avec insistance par Chelsea, Manu Koné ne semble pas près de quitter l’AS Roma. Alors que les Blues auraient fait de l’international français leur priorité pour renforcer leur milieu de terrain, notamment dans l’éventualité d’un départ d’Enzo Fernandez vers Manchester City, la Roma affiche une position ferme à l’approche de la fermeture du mercato.

Selon les informations disponibles, Chelsea a déjà pris contact avec l’entourage du joueur afin de se renseigner sur les conditions d’une éventuelle opération. La Roma aurait fixé ses exigences entre 50 et 60 millions d’euros, mais aucune offre concrète n’aurait encore été transmise au club italien. Le temps presse donc pour les Londoniens, qui doivent désormais décider s’ils souhaitent passer à l’offensive pour tenter de convaincre la Louve de lâcher son milieu de terrain.

Gasperini ne s’attend pas à un départ

Après la large victoire de la Roma contre Lecce (0-4) ce lundi, Gian Piero Gasperini a toutefois refroidi sérieusement les espoirs londoniens. Interrogé sur un possible départ de Koné, l’entraîneur italien s’est montré catégorique, expliquant qu’il n’avait « absolument pas l’impression » que son joueur allait partir et qu’aucun membre de la direction ne l’avait informé d’une telle possibilité. Le technicien a également assuré que les propriétaires du club n’avaient « aucunement l’intention de vendre des joueurs ». livefromquarantine.club

Le message est donc clair : la Roma entend conserver Manu Koné. Reste à savoir si cette position résistera à une éventuelle offensive de Chelsea dans les dernières heures du mercato. Pour l’heure, aucune proposition n’est arrivée sur la table romaine et Gasperini compte toujours sur l’ancien milieu de terrain du Borussia Mönchengladbach pour la suite de la saison.

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Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has challenged emerging youngsters to build on their promising starts after Mpho Padime and Simphiwe Masilela impressed when given their opportunity.

The Buccaneers will look to secure their third consecutive victory in the Betway Premiership when they take on Kruger United at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.

Pirates head into this fixture sitting in top spot in the league, level on 10 points with second placed Mamelodi Sundowns.

Abdeslam Ouaddou has challenged Orlando Pirates’ emerging youngsters to build on their promising starts after Mpho Padime and Masilela impressed when given their opportunity.

Ouaddou believes the club will continue to create pathways for young talent, but stressed that the players must remain humble, dedicated and professional if they are to establish themselves at the highest level.

“Not only him (Mpho Padime}, I think we can include Masilela in the talk. Well, done to both of them. I think Pirates is a club that is giving chances to the young. It’s not the first time, and we continue the process. They did very well, we saw they have great potential,” said Ouaddou.

“Now, they must keep on working, they must keep on being humble, listening to be coachable. It’s only the first game. A career is a minimum of 10 years. When I have an opportunity to give them game time, definitely I will give them.

“But they must still work and be very professional because in football you can go high quickly, but you can fall quickly as well.

“Well done, keep working. Be careful about your life. You have to be professional. Think football, you train, you go home, you rest. You eat good, you drink water and not something else. Don’t smoke, don’t take things that can destroy your body,” he concluded.

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L’UEFA a finalement annoncé qu'elle levait, pour un an, sa menace de boycott des compétitions organisées par la Fifa. Cette menace avait été décidée après la révélation du projet de Gianni Infantino d’ouvrir la Coupe du monde à des investisseurs privés. Mais qu’a obtenu l’UEFA en échange de cette suspension ? Malgré le retrait du boycott, l'instance européenne maintient la pression sur le patron de la Fifa. Comment compte-t-elle faire barrage à la réélection de Gianni Infantino à la tête du football mondial ?

The Calabash, as it was dubbed during the 2010 Soccer World Cup – also known as Soccer City or, for sponsorship reasons, FNB Stadium – in Joburg is the battleground for the third Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test match between the Springboks and All Blacks on Saturday.

The series is perfectly poised at one-all, and although there are two matches left, this is the last game in South Africa, and both teams will be fired up to pick up another win in the country, before heading to the USA for the final game.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said he was looking forward to the clash, with this the first game at the ground for the Boks since 2013, when they played their third ever game at the stadium.

“It’s an exciting thing for us, we love taking the game to the people (in Soweto). I know a lot of people from outside will be going (to the game) and I am not sure how many people there can afford a ticket. But whenever I have been there it’s been a great experience,” said Erasmus.

“I am not sure if the vuvuzelas will be as loud as they usually are (during big soccer matches), but we are excited to play there again. We are training there today (on Monday) and on Wednesday as well.

“So it’s a nice, different thing for us to experience and for the people that can afford a ticket on that side, to see the players in person, so we are looking forward to it.”

Both matches important

Erasmus said Saturday’s match was important for a number of reasons.

“It is the last game in front of our home South African crowd (this season). We don’t play again here until next year, so that makes it a big one for us and we would like to say goodbye in a nice way,” explained the Bok boss.

“None of us have been able to call a winner so far, and that makes for a great series. So I think if we can keep the negative things out of the media and hype this game up like it should be hyped (it will be great).

“It’s a massive game between number one and two (in the world) and that keeps switching (between the teams) all the time. It’s exciting, nice and competitive, so let’s keep it like that.

“It doesn’t help if we just win here and then go and lose in Baltimore. Then it’s a (series) draw. So it’s just a game where we can get an advantage, to make sure we can’t lose (the series), but we still have to go and win (in the US).”