Cancelo vs Pep

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Head Start

Cancelo speaks out against Guardiola 

Finding an interesting interview with a footballer is as rare as meeting a stranger with the same birthday as you. It’s rare. But when you find one, you can’t stop talking about it.

Joao Cancelo’s interview with A Bola is exactly that. 

So, what did he say? Here are the juiciest bits:

• “Lies were told. I’ve never been a bad team-mate… you can ask either Ake or Rico. I don’t have a superiority or inferiority complex towards them, but that’s the manager’s opinion.”

• “I think Man City were a bit ungrateful to me when they said that, because I was a very important player in the years I was there.”

• “These are things you don’t forget, I left my wife and daughter alone at home, terrified. People will only remember this because Mister Guardiola has much more power than me when he says something.”

We can only imagine the journalist licking his lips as the Portuguese full-back did his best impression of Jim Carrey in Liar Liar. In other words, he spoke his truth about life at City and Pep Guardiola.

Barcelona aren’t looking to sign Cancelo after his loan and he also struggled to make the Bayern Munich squad during his short-term loan last season. And, after this rant, it’s unlikely City fans will see Cancelo play under Guardiola again.

If Cancelo’s free at 8 pm on Tuesday nights… I’m sure he will get a run around for my 8-aside team. But he’ll need to work on his temperament first. 

Webber’s ‘jail’ comments

Speaking of fiery interviews… they’re like London buses. You wait for ages for one and then two come along together.

Except, this time it wasn’t meant to make the headlines - and it was more of a PR disasterclass.

The short of it: former Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber said that several black footballers could have ended up in jail if it wasn’t for football.

In the interview with The Pink Un, Webber said: “Jonny Rowe wouldn’t mind me saying it but him, Abu Kamara, Max [Aarons], Jamal [Lewis], Raheem [Sterling] back in the day at Liverpool, where they come from it had to work for them in football, because the alternative is potential jail or something else.”

The comments were met with furious reactions online and from those players he mentioned. It is understood that Webber has reached out to the families to apologise for the comment.

Everton takeover in doubt

777 Partners’ purchase of Everton has been conditionally approved by the Premier League, per Bloomberg. The Premier League sent a letter to the Florida-based investment firm that it is “currently minded” to approve their takeover of Farhad Moshiri’s 94.1% stake in the club.

But, Norwegian investigative outlet Josimar has said the conditions set on 777 will be stringent. 

Here’s a quick breakdown. Before purchasing Everton, it’s believed that 777 must…

• Convert loans of £150m into equity.

• Put funds in an escrow account to keep the club going for the rest of the season.

• Provide proof of funding to complete the new stadium.

• Repay investment group MSP £158m stadium loan by mid-April.

That means that 777 will need to pay at least £300m before buying Moshiri’s shares (c. £64-130m).

With 777 accused of “fraudulently transferring” assets and the firm’s basketball team is in a poor financial state, a takeover is not looking on the cards.

International Recap

Christoph Baumgartner scores the fastest-ever international goal (6 seconds) for Austria (Watch)

Hours later, Germany’s Florian Wirtz scored a screamer for Germany in just 7 seconds (More)

Bruma became the first player who isn’t Cristiano Ronaldo to wear Portugal’s iconic No.7 shirt since 2007 and scored his side’s fourth goal against Sweden (More)

17-year-old Endrick scored his first goal for Brazil to give the South Americans a 1-0 win over England at Wembley - becoming the youngest player to score an international goal at Wembley (More)

Off The Pitch

😤 Celebrities are publicly apologising for Kate Middleton’s “photoshop fail” after she revealed she has been diagnosed with cancer (More)

🥁 A child in rural Cameroon performs beautifully on a handmade drum set (More)

😬 The Russian Investigative Committee has released footage showing concert attack suspects being pushed and dragged into its Moscow HQ (More)

🇮🇪 Simon Harris is set to become Ireland’s youngest prime minister (More)

😲 Two Canadian men who were switched at birth nearly 70 years ago finally get an apology for the mistake (More)

🐘 An elephant lifted and dropped a tourist truck at a safari park (More)

Extra Time

AI has given us the best chip strategy for the remaining FPL gameweeks: FH GW34, BB GW37. If you have your wildcard, now might be the time to use it.

Vini Jr asks for Bellingham’s shirt after Brazil beat England 1-0… giving the England no.10 the perfect chance to practice saying his teammate's names in a Spanish accent. 

Dorking Wanderers manager and owner Marc White isn’t happy. He has sacked players with six games of the season left after his side’s 6-0 defeat and remains in the relegation zone. 

Steven Gerrard’s ‘still got it’ moment over the weekend. We think the Liverpool legend could probably make it in a few line-ups today.

Another midfield legend Zinedine Zidane also showed that class is permanent. Here’s a clip of the Frenchman in action at Real Madrid’s charity match. 

Football nutrition and Luton Town have come a long way in ten years. 88kg Steve McNulty was once their commanding centre-back of choice. 

José Mourinho is trying to find ways to keep himself busy… he was waving the chequered flag after Jorge Martín won the Portuguese GP this weekend.

Game Face On

Question: Which player had 13 years between his 2 Champions League wins in 1995 and 2008?

Hint: He was named Fulham’s Player of the Year in 2004.

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

FOOTBALL 

Friendlies: Multiple Matches (16:00 and 18:00 GMT, ViaPlay)

TENNIS

ATP: Miami Open (15:00 GMT, Sky Sports Main Event)

DARTS

Premier League Darts: (19:00 GMT, Sky Sports Action)

COMBAT

WWE: Live WWE Late Night Raw (01:00 GMT, TNT Sports 1)

HOCKEY

NHL: Multiple Matches (00:00 GMT, Viaplay)

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer: Edwin van der Sar

“If you eat caviar every day, it’s difficult to return to sausages.”

-Arsene Wenger