‘Not forgiven': Front page drags Lionel Messi, split from Beckham looms
The football legend is tipped to consider a loan switch to a more competitive league ahead of Argentina's WC title defence next summer.
FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
Inter Miami are keen to extend Messi's two-year contract beyond 2025.
But even if he does sign a new deal, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner could also squeeze in a temporary stint with a top-flight European club.
Reports in the icon's home country claim Messi wants regular high-level games before the 2026 World Cup in America.
It means the ex-Barcelona attacker could move for several months.
David Beckham's Miami stunned observers by reaching the Club World Cup in the USA, finishing second in Group A before getting knocked out in the round of 16.
French sports newspaper L'Equipe got stuck into Messi. A front page before the round of 16 match read 'Messi, all is not forgiven', while the tagline after PSG's victory was 'The Lesson.'
Messi in particular looked frustrated as his old club Paris Saint-Germain outclassed his MLS team 4-0 in the last 16.
The four-time Champions League winner was even accused by some viewers of trying to punch former teammate Vitinha.
Inter Miami co-owner Beckham was on hand to watch the match before making a quick dash across the pond to be at in the Royal Box for the first day of Wimbledon.
Messi has never played for an English club. But ex-Manchester City manager Mark Hughes claimed Sheikh Mansour came in for him - on the day the Emirati businessman completed his A$418 million club takeover in 2008.
Current Etihad chief Pep Guardiola is also understood to have fancied a reunion with his Barca old boy before his move to PSG in 2021.
There have been recent murmurs in Spain over a sentimental return to Barcelona.
But Spanish journalist Guillem Balague believes that's unlikely, due to Messi's difficult relationship with club president Joan Laporta.
So a first ever stint in England might sound enticing for a superstar with 112 goals in 193 internationals.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Giant Trump tax bill faces make-or-break vote in Congress
Donald Trump is seeking final approval Wednesday in the US Congress for his marquee tax and spending bill, with Republicans pinning their hopes on a narrow victory that will help seal the president's legacy. The party's senators passed the sprawling package by a tie-breaking vote Tuesday after a bruising 27 hours of infighting over provisions set to balloon the national debt while launching a historic assault on the social safety net. It was originally approved by the House of Representatives in May but must return for a rubber stamp of the Senate's revisions -- and success is far from guaranteed. House Speaker Mike Johnson is facing down rebels on all sides of his fractious party, and the voting timetable has been thrown into doubt by thunderstorms in Washington that are threatening attendance. "This bill is President Trump's agenda, and we are making it law," Johnson said in a statement, projecting confidence that Republicans were "ready to finish the job." The package honors many of Trump's campaign promises, boosting military spending, funding a mass migrant deportation drive and committing $4.5 trillion to extend his first-term tax relief. But it is estimated to pile an extra $3.4 trillion over a decade onto the country's ballooning debt, while forcing through the largest cuts to the Medicaid health insurance program since its 1960s launch. Fiscal hawks in the House, meanwhile, are chafing over spending cuts that they say fall short of what they were promised by hundreds of billions of dollars. Johnson has to negotiate incredibly tight margins, and can likely only lose three lawmakers among more than two dozen who have declared themselves open to rejecting the bill. - Canceled flights - Lawmakers were aiming to return from recess Wednesday morning to begin voting, although they have a cushion of two days before Trump's self-imposed July 4 deadline. But severe weather prompted the cancelation of more than 300 flights into Reagan National Airport in the 24 hours before Congress gaveled in, according to the flight-tracking service FlightAware. Several lawmakers booked alternative flights or embarked on long road journeys to the US capital, but Johnson has warned that travel issues could still push back the vote to Thursday. The 887-page text only passed in the Senate after a flurry of tweaks that pulled the House-passed text further to the right. Republicans lost one conservative who was angry about adding to the country's $37 trillion debt burden and two moderates worried about almost $1 trillion in health care cuts. Some estimates put the total number of recipients set to lose their health insurance at 17 million, while scores of rural hospitals are expected to close. Meanwhile changes to federal nutrition assistance are set to strip millions of the poorest Americans of their access to the program. Republicans Chip Roy and Ralph Norman -- angry over provisions adding to the deficit and softening of cuts to clean energy tax credits -- voted against the bill as it narrowly passed the powerful Rules Committee overnight. Johnson will be banking on Trump leaning on waverers, as he has in the past to turn around contentious House votes that were headed for failure. Desperate for what might end up being the only landmark legislative achievement of his second term, the president has spent weeks cajoling Republicans torn between angering welfare recipients at home and incurring his wrath. The president pressured House Republicans to get the bill over the line in a post on his Truth Social platform Wednesday that set out what he saw as the sky-high stakes. "Our Country will make a fortune this year, more than any of our competitors, but only if the Big, Beautiful Bill is PASSED!" he said. House Democrats have signaled that they plan to campaign on the bill to flip the chamber in the 2026 midterms, pointing to analyses showing that it represents a historic redistribution of wealth from the poorest Americans to the richest.

News.com.au
7 hours ago
- News.com.au
Kane Cornes blasts the AFL's ‘dumbest rule ever'
Kane Cornes has had an absolute gutful of what he calls 'the dumbest rule the AFL have ever brought in'. The 'stand rule' was first implemented back in 2021 and has had a number of tweaks since, all designed to speed up play and theoretically increase scoring in the competition. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. The numbers don't reflect that intention, however, and the rule has led to instances just about every week of players, fans and commentators being left confused over 50 metre penalties related to the rule. Port Adelaide premiership player Cornes believes it's time for the rule to be scrapped. 'It's an absolute mess … and I've had enough,' he said on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters. 'I've had enough of the dumbest rule the AFL have ever brought in and that is the stand rule. 'I'm so sick of it, I've given it a chance, it's been four or five years, it is just not working and it is far too complicated for everyone.' The program played a number of examples of the rule being breached last weekend, including Collingwood's clash with West Coast and Sam Darcy coming out of the forward line to mark a Swans player at the SCG. 'How this is a 50 and a goal is just blowing my mind that we are asking our players to not move on the mark,' Cornes continued. 'Even when they do it well, like Sam Darcy here – what more could he do? What do you want him to do? And that's 50. 'How are we accepting of this as an industry? This is costing goals, (Darcy) couldn't believe it.' Callum Mills is also shown being pinged in the same match against the Dogs, along with Lions forward Charlie Cameron against Geelong's Mark Blicavs in round 15. 'It hasn't done anything for scoring. The reason it was brought in, OK it was going to fix ball movement and scoring, well it's not,' Cornes said. 'It has done next to nothing when it comes to scoring and improving that. 'The stand rule, I've had enough, players have had enough, I'm sure those watching at home are sick of it. 'Nice try but let's just get back to footy the way it should be played and make life easier for everyone.' On the same program, Lions veteran Dayne Zorko was asked what he finds the 'most frustrating element of footy right now' and he immediately mentioned the contentious rule. 'There's a number but I think guarding the mark is one of the hardest ones,' he said. 'Players normally nail most changes, I think we're still struggling with this one.' Fans were left pretty divided over the rule change and the way it is interpreted. Bill Williams wrote on X: 'In my opinion the stand rule is brilliant. Who wants to go back to watching the man on the 'mark' carrying on like a headless chook or the ball carrier having to constantly ask the umpire 'where's the mark' as the marker could be any distance from the actual mark. A great improvement.' Ben Cameron tweeted: 'The decision against Mills in this clip is everything that's wrong with the current umpiring, Kennedy marks but Mills has no idea if it will be paid or not … if he lets him go & it's play on he looks silly, why not blow the whistle & let him get back behind the mark.' Joyboy suggested: 'Why does it HAVE to be 50 metres? If the rule is so hard to follow, make it 10 metres or something.' Another wrote: 'The stand rule is fine, the 50m penalty is the problem.' One fan declared: 'Absolutely it is a joke and needs to go.' The rules are regularly reviewed by the AFL, with a clarification on the 'stand' rule dropping ahead of the 2023 season. 'An opposition player cannot run toward the mark (and enter the protected area) and then elect to change their mind and retreat outside of the protected 5m area,' the AFL said at the time. 'Similarly, an opposition player cannot elect to leave the protected area and then change their intent and choose to come and stand the mark. 'Further all other players from the opposing team must be positioned behind the mark or otherwise outside the protected area.' It seems it has all just added up to more confusion and some simplification – or in fact a scrapping of the rule – might be needed moving forward.

Sydney Morning Herald
7 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Wallabies' simple plan to get Suaalii firing against Fiji and Lions
Ikitau was confident their partnership would continue to evolve and improve after the four Tests in the UK, adding it didn't matter what position Suaalii played, he had the talent to adapt and succeed. 'He's a natural footballer,' Ikitau said. 'He knows how to play whatever position he gets put in. But for us, it's just trying to get combinations in our training and trying to defend together, attack together … we saw on the spring tour there just the kind of plays that he comes up with.' As well as his athletic ability, Ikitau said Suaalii had shown in his four Test appearances that he was 'smart in defence and attack' and was his own harshest critic. Ikitau believes the Fijians' unpredictable, flamboyant brand of football – best illustrated by their boilover 22-15 win against Australia at the last World Cup – would be the ideal preparation for the blockbuster campaign against the Lions. 'You don't know what to expect from Fiji when you play them,' he said. 'Anything can happen. And I think with the Lions, they've got four different countries coming together and playing for the one team. 'So it's just making sure that you're ready for whatever. And it's no different with the Fiji team this week. So just preparing for whatever and just making sure that we're on our game.' Recalled lock Darcy Swain had a chance to run his eye over the Lions last weekend when he played in a Western Force side outgunned 54-7 by the tourists. Swain, who debuted for the Wallabies in 2021 and has appeared in 17 Tests, said the Lions were a level above most international teams. Loading 'It was pretty tough,' he said. 'They're a very skilful side and they're big, they're physical. They're just a really good side. 'Just think of any sort of northern hemisphere side, they're just a little bit better, obviously, because they're a combination of all four nations. They're obviously a lot better and they dusted us up.' Meanwhile, Wallabies forwards Rob Valetini and Will Skelton are reported to be in doubt for the clash with Fiji after suffering calf strains. The first Test against the Lions is on July 19 in Brisbane.