Real Madrid remains the "dreamland" for any footballer, according to Manchester City striker Erling Haaland's agent Rafaela Pimenta.
Haaland has scored an incredible 33 goals for City this term – four more than any other player across Europe's top five leagues – and has set a number of records along the way.
Despite being in the first season of a five-year deal at the Etihad Stadium, the Norway international continues to be linked with a move to LaLiga heavyweights Real Madrid.
City manager Pep Guardiola previously denied reports that Haaland has a release clause in his contract that will allow him to join Madrid at the end of next season.
But Haaland's agent did little to quash talk of a future switch to the Spanish capital when asked about the 22-year-old's future at the FT Business of Football Summit in London.
"There is the Premier League, and there is Real Madrid. Real Madrid has something of its own that makes it the dreamland for the players," Pimenta said.
"Madrid keeps this magic going. They don't have the league competition every week, but they do have the Champions League.”
Haaland has previously said the attractiveness of playing under Guardiola at a club where father Alf-Inge once played was too much to turn down.
However, Pimenta suggested the former Borussia Dortmund star already knows which club he will join next.
"We have to make a plan, we need to have a goal," she said. "Maybe we won't achieve it, but if we don't know where we're going, then for sure we don't get there.
"We make plans, yes, we make plans even if they are a 15-year-old. We cannot be sitting down and waiting."
Haaland is one of a number of high-profile clients represented by Pimenta, along with the likes of Paul Pogba, Matthijs de Ligt, Marco Verratti and Ryan Gravenberch.
All of those players have either played in or been strongly linked with a move to the Premier League, which Pimenta feels is still the elite division in world football.
"When I started in this business, if I told [a player], 'you're moving to England', they would ask me, 'what did I do wrong?'," she said.
"Now when we talk to players, and ask them what is their goal, they say the Premier League. They don't say a team, City, Chelsea, Arsenal, they say 'the Premier League'.
"This is the first time in 25 years that I hear so many players say I want to go to a league, not to a club. This is the place to be for an agent.
"An agent needs to be where a player wants to be. It's a fantastic league. It's so competitive, every game is a challenge, everyone wants to watch it."
Unai Emery eases concerns over Leon Bailey's fitness after Arsenal victory
Aston Villa's head coach, Unai Emery, has moved to calm concerns over the fitness of Jamaican sensation Leon Bailey after the winger was substituted at halftime during their pivotal 1-0 victory over Arsenal at Villa Park.
Bailey, who provided the crucial assist for John McGinn's seventh-minute goal, raised eyebrows when he did not emerge from the tunnel for the second half.
Emery addressed the situation in the post-match press conference, providing insight into Bailey's condition. Despite the initial worry among Villa fans, Emery hinted that fatigue rather than injury might be the reason for the substitution.
"He was tired, completely tired! Hopefully, he's not injured, but I don't know exactly," Emery reassured, offering a glimmer of hope regarding Bailey's well-being.
Bailey's impactful performance against Arsenal came on the heels of his winning goal against Manchester City last Wednesday night. His ability to make a difference in crucial matches has quickly endeared him to Villa supporters.
However, the Jamaican international has battled injury concerns since joining Aston Villa from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2021. Despite these challenges, Bailey has remarkably missed just one league match throughout the season, sitting out the 6-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion back in September.
The timing of Bailey's potential setback raises questions about his availability for the upcoming Europa Conference League clash against Zrinjski on Thursday night.
The hope is that Bailey's early substitution against Arsenal was a precautionary measure to manage fatigue rather than a recurrence of his injury struggles. As Villa pursues success on multiple fronts, including European competition, the fitness of key players like Leon Bailey remains a critical factor in their aspirations for a successful campaign.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns to AC Milan as senior adviser to ownership group
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has taken a new role with RedBird Capital Partners as a senior adviser to AC Milan’s ownership and management.
The 42-year-old retired from football following Milan’s final game of the last Serie A season, but has returned to the club in his first job since his playing days as an adviser to the management and owners.
Ibrahimovic will serve as a senior adviser to the ownership, which is led by RedBird and longstanding partners the New York Yankees.
The former Sweden striker will play a key role with the club, dealing with their sporting and business operations to help the club build on the success since Redbird took ownership the club.
Ibrahimovic will work with the playing side, which includes development and high-performance training, while having a say in Milan’s commercial business and supporting special projects, including the building and development of the club’s new stadium.
The American investment firm, which also has stakes in Liverpool’s owner Fenway Sports Group, took over the Italian club in 2021 and helped them win the Serie A title in 2021-22 while taking the club back into the Champions League.
Ibrahimovic will work alongside RedBird founder Gerry Cardinale as well as first-team coach Stefano Pioli and chief executive Giorgio Furlani.
Ibrahimovic told the club website: “I am extremely grateful to be joining both RedBird and AC Milan in these important and influential roles.
“RedBird has partnered with some of the greatest athletes, teams and business figures in the world to create businesses with meaning and impact. I look forward to contributing to their investing activities across their sports, media and entertainment properties.
“My love for the Rossoneri will never die, and the opportunity to be a part of its future in a meaningful way is something I could only have dreamed of.
“I have greatly admired the commitment, passion and hard work RedBird and Senior Management have demonstrated since acquiring the club. This is not a decision that I take lightly – it is one which is very important and personal to me and my family.
“I’ve thought long and hard about the first steps in my post-playing career, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to start that journey as a member of RedBird and AC Milan. For me and my family, this is truly a homecoming with the cherished club where I ended my playing career and am now starting my next chapter.”
Where Aston Villa’s winning home run ranks in Premier League history
Aston Villa’s stunning home form stretched to a club-record 15 games as Saturday’s success against Arsenal took them into elite Premier League company.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at fortress Villa Park.
Record run
Going into their midweek game against Manchester City, Villa’s run of 13 home league wins dating back to last season was already their longest of the Premier League era – but with the champions and their main challengers coming to Birmingham back-to-back, the fun looked set to end.
Instead, winners from Leon Bailey and John McGinn saw Villa kick on to the longest run in their history as their resurgence under manager Unai Emery gathers pace.
Crystal Palace, Brighton and Fulham, twice apiece, Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Tottenham, Everton, West Ham and Luton are their other victims.
They have scored 39 goals – conceding only seven, and never more than one in a game. Ollie Watkins is their top scorer in that time with nine goals, one ahead of Douglas Luiz.
Elite company
Villa’s streak ranks among the five longest home winning runs in the Premier League era, with Emery matching Pep Guardiola’s recently concluded streak of 15 with City – who won 10 straight to end last season and their first five this term before draws with Liverpool and Tottenham.
Next in Villa’s sights is Manchester United’s 19 successive home wins between October 2010 and October 2011 – a far cry from United’s current home form.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side had the chance to stretch their run to 20 and a full year with maximum points at Old Trafford, only for the run to end in astonishing style as Mario Balotelli inspired City to a 6-1 derby romp.
City hit 20 earlier in their current era of dominance, Roberto Mancini’s side with a perfect Etihad Stadium record from March 2011 to March 2012 when Sunderland, vanquished 5-0 earlier in the sequence, drew 3-3 – the only two points dropped on home soil that season by Mancini’s title-winners.
The record belongs to Liverpool, who won their final seven home games of 2018-19 as they pushed champions City all the way and then their first 17 of their title-winning 2019-20 season – again, the 1-1 draw with Burnley that ended the run marked their only dropped points at home.
They went on to win their next eight and went 68 league games, and over three-and-a-half years, unbeaten at Anfield before remarkably then losing six in a row – a warning to Villa regarding how suddenly things can change.
Good omens
Villa top this season’s home league table with eight wins from eight. Liverpool also have a perfect record but from seven games, while Newcastle have won seven out of eight.
They are third outright with 35 points, only the fifth time in their history they have had such an impressive record after 16 games.
The other occasions when, converting to three points for a win, they would have been on 35 or more are their 19th-century title-winning seasons of 1898-99 and 1899-1900, a runner-up finish in 1910-11 and their most recent title in 1980-81.
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