Latest news with #Ibrahimović
Miami Herald
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
‘Big Ghost in a Circus'-Zlatan Ibrahimovic Weighs in on Messi, Inter Miami Thrashing
Zlatan Ibrahimović has slated Inter Miami in his defense of Lionel Messi following the team's elimination from the FIFA Club World Cup. Having pulled off an unlikely group-stage victory over Porto to progress to the knockout bracket, Miami fell 4–0 to reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16. That ends their tournament with $21.05 million in prize money, still far more than the club could earn from a championship-winning season in Major League Soccer. Ibrahimović hasn't always come across as the greatest Messi fan over the years, perhaps frustration left over from his own disappointing season at Barcelona in 2009–10 when Pep Guardiola's all-conquering side was built around Messi, Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta. But, after seeing his former club wipe the floor with Miami, the retired Swede piled all of the blame on Messi's teammates, diverting it away from the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner. "Messi's defeat? No, don't talk about the defeat as if it was his fault! Messi didn't lose, Inter Miami did! Have you seen this team?" Ibrahimović said immediately afterwards, via Footmercato. Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Metro
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
EA Sports FC 26 cover star leaks and they've been on before
Several leaks have emerged for EA Sports FC 26, including the next batch of Icons and who will be on the game's cover. As we hit the summer months, the announcement of the next EA Sports FC game is guaranteed to be just around the corner. The past few entries, including last year's EA Sports FC 25, were all officially revealed in July, ahead of a September launch. The inevitable EA Sports FC 26 is expected to follow suit and, as is also tradition, leaks have outed several details already. This includes who will be gracing the cover of EA Sports FC 26 and according to several leakers, it's set to be a repeat of last year. According to leaker LeanDesign, who leaked last year's cover star, England and Real Madrid player Jude Bellingham will once again be splashed on the cover for EA Sports FC 26. Repeat cover stars aren't unusual for the series. Lionel Messi has appeared on four FIFA covers, from FIFA 13 through 16, while Cristiano Ronaldo had a back-to-back billing on FIFA 18 and FIFA 19. The footballer who has featured on the cover the most is Wayne Rooney, who notched up seven games from FIFA 06 until FIFA 12. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. In other leaks, reliable insider Fut Sheriff has revealed the next batch of stars set to appear as Icons in Ultimate Team for EA Sports FC 26. You can check out the full list below, but one of them, Sweden's Zlatan Ibrahimović, is a somewhat surprising addition. More Trending In 2020, Ibrahimović criticised EA for allegedly using his name and likeness in the game without his permission. 'Who gave FIFA EA Sport permission to use my name and face? @FIFPro? I'm not aware to be a member of Fifpro and if I am I was put there without any real knowledge through some weird manouver [sic],' he tweeted at the time. EA responded with a statement which pinned the blame on FIFPro, the organisation which represents professional footballers. 'This is between FIFPro, the players within their association and their representatives,' an EA spokesperson told Forbes. Ibrahimović disputed this claim in subsequent tweets, but his presence as an Icon in EA Sports FC 26 suggests the dispute has been settled. Zlatan Ibrahimović – Sweden Andrés Iniesta – Spain Toni Kroos – Germany Marcelo – Brazil Giorgio Chiellini – Italy Alex Morgan – USA Francesco Totti – Italy Oliver Kahn – Germany Sara Thunebro – Sweden Cha Bum-kun – South Korea Steffi Jones – Germany Sissi – Brazil Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: The Alters review – send in the clones MORE: The best Mario Kart World character is not who you'd expect MORE: Xbox to be hit by fourth wave of layoffs in 18 months says report
New York Times
07-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Inter Miami has De Bruyne's MLS discovery rights – and could sign him this summer
Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne could become teammates with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami this summer in a move that would send shockwaves around MLS. The South Florida side holds De Bruyne's MLS discovery rights, which gives Inter the first right to negotiate with the Belgian star, according to multiple sources briefed on the potential move. Advertisement De Bruyne, 33, announced Friday that he would leave Man City at the end of the season, after what has been one of the most remarkable runs in Premier League history. The midfielder has won 19 trophies and contributed to 187 goals in his 10 seasons at the club. His success prompted City manager Pep Guardiola to advocate for a statue of the midfielder. 'Listen, I don't know, but I will bet a lot of money that it is going to happen,' Guardiola said at his news conference ahead of last weekend's Manchester derby against United at Old Trafford. 'I don't know, but of course, come on, he deserves to be in this level.' While De Bruyne had a flirtation with MLS expansion side San Diego FC last year, the club is not in the picture for his signature at this time. Instead, it's Messi's star-laden side that has come to the fore. Fitting De Bruyne into the team will require some flexibility in terms of the payday involved. In Messi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, Inter Miami already has the maximum of three designated players (DPs), the roster designation that allows players to be paid beyond the league's salary cap – with team owners footing the overages. That means De Bruyne would have a hard cap on how much he could be paid in 2025. The most likely scenario for Miami signing De Bruyne comes via the path once taken by the LA Galaxy with Zlatan Ibrahimović. The legendary Swedish forward joined the LA Galaxy in spring 2018 after his contract was terminated by Manchester United. At the time, the Galaxy had three DPs: forward Giovani dos Santos and midfielders Jonathan dos Santos and Romain Alessandrini. Ibrahimovic signed a two-year deal paying him $3 million, which brought him in using a cap tool called 'targeted allocation money.' Advertisement After his first season with the Galaxy, however, that deal was torn up and Ibrahimović signed a new deal paying him $7.2 million. That caused some MLS teams to cry foul, saying that the Galaxy had skirted the rules with a handshake agreement to give Ibrahimović a new deal after the first season. (Any automatic trigger or option would have counted toward Ibrahimović's cap number and caused him to be a DP in 2018.) Later, upon leaving MLS, Ibrahimović also was named as part-owner of Swedish giant Hammarby, which is owned by AEG, the company that also owns the Galaxy. Miami has ample cap space to do a similar TAM-level deal if De Bruyne is willing to side-step DP status in his first half season in MLS. In the league's last club roster profile release in March, Miami had more than $3.15 million in general allocation money, which is essentially extra salary cap space. The club has signed two players, Baltasar Rodríguez and Allen Obando, since that release of cap information, though both came in on loan deals. If De Bruyne signs as a 'TAM player,' he could not make more than $871,875 in 2025, which is half of the maximum TAM charge of $1,743,750. Budget charges are annualized in MLS. With this summer's Club World Cup coming to the U.S., De Bruyne would only be able to participate with Manchester City, though he would have to sign an extension to do so. His contract expires on June 30, about halfway through the tournament. He would be ineligible to play for Inter Miami until July 24, when MLS's secondary transfer window opens. Reports have also connected De Bruyne with a potential move to Saudi Arabia, and another European suitor could come into the picture. If he does opt for MLS and Inter Miami, signing De Bruyne with an eye on giving him a new contract in 2026 would put Inter Miami in a bit of an interesting position going into the World Cup year. Advertisement All four of its star players — the quartet of former Barcelona stars Messi, Alba, Busquets and Luis Suárez — are out of contract at the end of the season. In order to open a DP spot for De Bruyne, one of Messi, Alba or Busquets would have to agree to a non-DP deal, or not re-sign in Miami, in order to accommodate De Bruyne taking that DP spot. Alba, 36, occupied a TAM spot for his first season-and-a-half in Miami. Busquets will turn 37 this summer. De Bruyne would certainly add more attacking firepower to Inter Miami, though that might not be exactly what the Herons need at the moment. Their 12 goals are tied for sixth-best in MLS. Last year, it was defensive issues that caused Miami to falter in the playoffs. Still, it's not often a player of De Bruyne's quality is available to an MLS team – let alone one that already has four global stars on its roster.
