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Man City, Inter, Chelsea And Juve To Face Off Pre-Season In Hong Kong

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English and Italian football giants Manchester City, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Juventus will square up for pre-season friendlies in Hong Kong in August, the clubs announced on Tuesday.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, currently arm-wrestling Arsenal for the Premier League title, will take on Inter Milan on Saturday, August 1, spearheaded by their Norwegian goal machine, Erling Haaland.The match will kick off the “Hong Kong Football Festival” at the city’s futuristic 50,000-seat Kai Tak stadium.

The gleaming arena opened a year ago, featuring a roof that can be closed and air-conditioning to combat the fierce summer heat and humidity in Hong Kong.

Chelsea will play Juventus on Wednesday, August 5, to round off the mini-tournament.

Inter, under former Romanian international Cristian Chivu, are eight points clear at the top of Serie A as they look for a 21st title, second only to Juventus, who have won a record 36 Italian top-flight championships.

Juventus are fourth and looking to secure a Champions League spot under Luciano Spalletti.

Chelsea beat PSG to win the Club World Cup in the United States last year but have since parted company with then manager Enzo Maresca.

Liam Rosenior took charge but is under pressure to keep his job after Chelsea lost five of their last six Premier League matches to drop to sixth, seven points adrift of the Champions League places.

It remains to be seen whether Rosenior will still be in charge when Chelsea land in Hong Kong, as they were also drubbed 8-2 on aggregate by PSG in the Champions League last 16.

All the teams will hold open training sessions ahead of the matches, giving Hong Kong fans an extra chance to see star players such as City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, Inter’s Lautaro Martinez, and Juventus’s Dusan Vlahovic.

The action does not stop there for fans in the football-mad southern Chinese city, as Bayern Munich and Aston Villa have already announced they will play a friendly in Hong Kong on Friday, August 7.

During pre-season last year, 50,000 sell-out crowds in Hong Kong watched Liverpool play AC Milan and Tottenham face Arsenal in the first North London derby outside of the UK.

Tens of thousands also turned out to watch the teams’ open training sessions.

AFP

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Jadon Sancho clashes with Man Utd supporters after Villa reach final

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Jadon Sancho argued with Manchester United fans after Aston Villa reached the Europa League final this week.

Villa ran riot on Thursday night, beating Nottingham Forest 4-0 to claim a 4-1 aggregate victory and book their place in the Europa League final against Freiburg.

The Premier League side are into a first European final for 44 years whilst Sancho will play his third in as many seasons after finals with Chelsea and Borrusia Dortmund in the past few years.

However, after the game, fans ripped into Sancho who they believe simply does not contribute enough to the clubs he has helped reach finals in recent years.

“Let’s have a quick look at @Sanchooo10’s input in getting to those finals,” one United fans posted.

To which Sancho replied: “Yeah, make sure you have a good look!”

Another United fan jumped in: “Made a European final playing absolutely no part (he come on for 4 minutes tonight) and he’s suddenly acting as if he’s (Kylian) Mbappe. Shows his weak & poor mentality, m***.”

Sancho did not bite as he responded: “Have a good night, bro!”

When told he “peaked at 21” and was called a “nothing footballer” who couldn’t succeed at United by a user named ‘Christiano’. Sancho mocked the X user by asking: “Just wondering, is your name actually Christiano?”

The England star’s final post came at 12.28am as he posted: “Jokes aside Love n Hate today is for @AVFCOfficial goodnight Villans,” Sancho wrote. “See you in Istanbul!”

Sancho got to the Champions League final with Borussia Dortmund in 2024, the Conference League final with Chelsea in 2025 and has now reached the Europa League final with Villa in 2026.

He will be seeking to make it 2 successful finals out of 3 with Villa who could make history later this month in Istanbul.

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Gerrard Tips Kane To Win 2026 Ballon d’Or

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Former Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard, has tipped Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane to win the 2026 Ballon d’Or.

Gerrard believes the England captain deserves the top individual award.

Speaking to TNT Sports, Gerrard also explained how the former Tottenham Hotspur star can get his hands on the Ballon d’Or.

“More goals, more top performances. I think if he [Kane] can add another medal come the end of the season, I think that would be huge. I think that probably puts one hand on it [Ballon d’Or] for him,” the former Aston Villa manager said of Kane regarding the 2026 Ballon d’Or.

“Then, if he was to go away with England and have a successful tournament in terms of goals and where England gets to in the competition, I think he would strengthen his case.

“And I’d love nothing better than to see him be successful from now until the end of the season, and get the individual award that he will crave.
“In the back of his mind, he will want that, and he deserves it.”

Kane is one of the favourites for this year’s Ballon d’Or, alongside the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Declan Rice, Michael Olise, Lamine Yamal, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, among others.

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Nunez reaches Saudi Arabia exit agreement

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Former Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez has reportedly reached an agreement with club Al Hilal over his departure this summer.

The 26-year-old only left Liverpool for Saudi Arabia in a deal said to be worth £46 million last summer but is already eyeing an exit.

Nunez has struggled in Saudi, scoring just nine goals and providing five assists in his 24 games across all competitions.

Al Hilal recently made the decision to axe Nunez from their Saudi Pro League squad following the arrival of Karim Benzema.

According to Uruguayan outlet El Observador, Nunez and his club have now reached an agreement that would allow him to leave this summer.

Juventus, AC Milan and even Chelsea have all previously been linked with a move for the striker, with a return to Europe likely.

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