When you have the talent and trophy-laden career of Lionel Messi, it really doesn’t matter how you look. The Argentine superstar will be grateful for that as he has followed in the haircut horror footsteps of Aaron Ramsey in giving himself a bleached blonde makeover.
The Barcelona star’s wife, Antonella Roccuzzo, posted an image of Messi sporting his distinctive new look on her Instagram profile.
The current Ballon d’Or holder joins the likes of Ramsey, Samir Nasri and Phil Jones in taking the radical stylistic step.
Messi won’t care much about his hair though as he prepares to link up with his Barcelona teammates in England at St George’s Park.
Messi will join Neymar, Luis Suarez and the rest of the Barca stars in the 25-man squad, before turning out for their opening pre-season clash against Celtic at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on 30th July.
The 28-year-old has had a couple of months to forget. After missing a penalty in Argentina’s Copa America final shootout defeat to Chile, Messi announced his retirement from the international stage.
Messi’s troubles off the pitch continued as he was handed a suspended 21-month prison sentence for tax evasion in Spain. The Barca legend will hope to put his troubles behind him and focus on club football once more, as the Catalan giants set to out to defend their La Liga crown.
Newly promoted clubs have a long-held tradition of trying to drag tempt players from their former Championship rivals to pop up to the top flight with them – and it looks like Burnley are no different, with Talksport claiming the Clarets are keeping tabs on Leeds vice-captain Liam Cooper.
West Brom are also said to be interested in the 24-year-old centre-back, who joined Leeds for just £600k in 2014.
The Telegraph claim that Watford are readying a £20m bid to snatch West Brom striker Saido Berahino from right underneath Stoke City’s noses, with the Potters dithering on paying up for the 22-year-old.
Mark Hughes is keen on bringing the England Under-21 international to the bet365 stadium, but the club are struggling to justify dropping more than £15m on a player who has just one year left on his contract.
Having been linked with Chelsea after his goal against Belgium at the start of Euro 2016, it looks as though Emanuele Giaccherini is heading back to his homeland this summer – with GianlucaDiMarzio.com claiming that a deal has been agreed between Sunderland and Torino.
The two clubs are said to have agreed a fee of €2m (£1.7m), although it’s possible that Giaccherini will stall on putting pen to paper on the off-chance that Chelsea could make a late swoop.
West Ham could be close to offloading striker Enner Valencia to Lazio this summer, with the Daily Mail reporting that the Serie A side have put in an offer to take the Ecuadorian on loan with the option to buy him for £10m.
The Hammers are hoping not to make a loss on the £12m fee they paid to Pachuca in 2014, as they look to revamp their strike-force ahead of their first season at the Olympic Stadium.
The Sun report that Tottenham are getting ready to make Harry Kane their record earner in the coming weeks, with a five-year deal worth as much as £5m per year.
It’s said that negotiations over the deal began while the club were chasing the title earlier in the year, and have finally reached a point where both parties are happy to move forward with the £25m contract.
Everton are said to be weighing up a £17m bid for Leicester City’s title-winning goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel as they look to finally secure a steady number one goalkeeper, after a period of uncertainty with an aging Tim Howard and an average Joel Robles.
The Liverpool Echo report that the 29-year-old could be set to double his £35,000-a-week wages with a move to Goodison Park, as they look to reinforce their back line with the assistance of new investment from Farhad Moshiri.
The Foxes could be powerless to prevent their key man leaving too, with the Toffees hoping that the £17m bid will trigger a reported release clause in the Dane’s contract.
Comments from Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano have hinted that Schalke’s Leroy Sane could be on the verge of completing a £40m move to the Etihad, as he admitted that “two deals are close” to completion.
The Manchester Evening News report that Soriano’s comments are thought to be in relation to Sane and either Oleksandr Zinchenko – whose move was announced yesterday – or Everton’s John Stones.
In the same day as the Sun report that Arsenal have held talks over the transfers of Romelu Lukaku and Alexandre Lacazette, transfer specialist Emanuele Giulianelli claims that the Gunners have also made contact with the brother and agent of Napoli star Gonzalo Higuain.
He tweeted: “Arsenal want to take advantage from the situation of Higuain with Napoli and have asked informations to his brother Nicolas.”
Higuain has a reported release clause of £78.9m, but recently rejected an offer of an extension from the Serie A club, giving rise to hopes that he would be willing to leave the Serie A club if the right offer came in.
The Mirror report that Valencia have rejected a bid worth around £40m from Chelsea for Portuguese star Andre Gomes, as Antonio Conte looks to rejig his Blues squad after leaving Euro 2016 on Saturday.
Juventus and Manchester United have both been linked with moves for the 22-year-old, who blew hot and cold slightly in La Liga last season – but did enough to show his impressive potential and get some of Europe’s biggest clubs interested in him.
Reports from the Mirror on Tuesday morning claim that both Liverpool and Crystal Palace are confident of agreeing a deal over the transfer of Christian Benteke, as the pair fight over the exact fee the Eagles will pay for the Belgian.
The Reds are said to be trying to squeeze Palace to within a couple of million pounds of the £32.5m they paid Aston Villa last summer – getting all of the cash up front – but Palace are hoping to pay just £27.5m and stick the rest of the money onto the deal in add-ons.
Reports from Spain claim that agent Jorge Mendes is trying to convince Manchester United to throw in a bid for Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez, despite the 21-year-old signing a new deal at the Vicente Calderon less than two months ago.
Sport explain that Mendes owns a 40% stake in the player via his company, meaning that any deal to take the starlet away from his club would benefit him personally – especially if any clubs were to trigger his £68m release clause.
Mendes’ close relationship with Jose Mourinho is well-known, the so-called ‘super agent’ representing his countryman and negotiating deals to bring his clients to play under the Manchester United manager on more than one occasion.
Portugal winger Nani has joined Valencia, on a three-year deal from Fenerbahce, as per The Express.
The Spanish side fought off competition from clubs such as Everton and Stoke City to secure the 29-year-old’s signature, with Potters assistant manager Mark Bowen having expressed his side’s interest in bringing the player back to England on Tuesday.
A club statement read, “Valencia have reached an agreement with Luis Carlos Almeida – “Nani” – for the player to join the club for the next three seasons.
He is currently in France with the Portuguese national team, who will play in the Euro 2016 semi-finals against Wales this Wednesday. Nani will be presented as a Valencia player in the coming days.”
The winger’s eight-year spell at Manchester United ended with him viewed as a wasted talent, but a strong season in Turkey, followed by some impressive performances in Portugal’s run to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 have seen him rebuild his reputation somewhat.
It was that form that saw Stoke and Everton register their interest, but the 29-year-old has instead opted to join Valencia, as they look to bounce back from a chaotic season that saw Nuno Espirito Santo, Salvador Gonzalez and United legend Gary Neville all fail to steer the club away from trouble.
Leaving Old Trafford, where he laboured under comparisons with Portuguese compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo appears to have been the making of Nani, who was wildly inconsistent during his time in Manchester.
He is now a much more disciplined and consistent performer and has embraced his supporting role to Ronaldo throughout the ongoing tournament in France, having scored two goals and converting his shootout penalty in Portugal’s quarter-final triumph over Poland last week.
Valencia fans will hope Nani can inspire an upturn in fortunes at the Mestalla Stadium, after the club’s disappointing 12th place finish last season.
