Barcelona captain Lionel Messi will retire wherever he wants amid doubts over his future, according to former team-mate Luis Suarez.
Messi is out of contract at the end of the current campaign and the record six-time Ballon d'Or winner appears likely to leave on a free transfer amid strong links to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain and Premier League giants Manchester City.
The 33-year-old attacker had tried to exit Camp Nou prior to the start of 2020-21 before opting to remain with the embattled LaLiga powerhouse.
Suarez won four LaLiga titles and the Champions League among other honours during his time together with Messi before joining Atletico Madrid in the off-season and he hailed the superstar.
"This afternoon I spoke with him, he was very happy about yesterday's victory [over Granada]," Suarez told El Transistor.
"He is [playing] at a spectacular level, he is the best in the world.
"Messi will retire wherever he wants, he can decide whether it's at Barcelona, in Argentina or wherever."
Suarez has starred since leaving Barca after six years at Camp Nou, spearheading Atletico's title charge this season.
The 34-year-old has scored a LaLiga-high 14 goals to help Diego Simeone's Atletico sit 10 points clear atop the table, ahead of second-placed Barca with a game in hand.
Suarez averages the fewest minutes per goal (one goal every 85 minutes) among players to have scored at least two goals this season.
The Uruguay international reflected on his Barca exit following Ronald Koeman's arrival, adding: "When Barcelona told me that they did not count on me it was hard, I did not expect it.
"They were very difficult moments because of the manner [in which it happened]. Koeman called me and told me that I was not in his plans.
"When Barcelona made it official that they did not count on me, conversations began with Atleti, with Cholo [Simeone], with Miguel Angel...
"There was interest from many clubs, not just Juventus. I wanted to make the right decision, the best for me and my family."
Ten Hag confident over Fernandes stay despite reported Bayern interest in Man Utd star
Bruno Fernandes is reportedly drawing interest from Bayern Munich and Saudi Arabian clubs but Erik ten Hag remains confident the midfielder will stay at Manchester United.
The Portugal international, who joined the Red Devils from Sporting in January 2020, is said to be attracting attention from numerous clubs in the Saudi Pro League.
Bundesliga giants Bayern are also reportedly weighing up their options in attempting to sign Fernandes, though under-fire Ten Hag expects him to remain at Old Trafford.
When pressed at Tuesday's press conference on Fernandes' future, Ten Hag responded: "It is the same question as last week. So I answered.
"The same answer. Now in all the years he was, he was a tremendously important player for Manchester United and creating the most chances across the Premier League.
"So many assists, so many goals. It's clear he's a very important player for us."
Indeed, since his debut against Wolves on February 1, 2020, Fernandes leads United for chances created (644), goals (79) and assists (63) across all competitions.
In the same period, the 29-year-old also leads the way among Premier League players overall in chances created, ahead of Kevin De Bruyne (519), Trent Alexander-Arnold (424) and Pascal Gross (388).
Though Ten Hag is keen to keep Fernandes in Manchester, Raphael Varane has announced his intentions to leave the Red Devils at the end of the current season.
Casemiro is also said to be of interest in Saudi Arabia, where clubs are reportedly targeting moves for the likes of Mohamed Salah, De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku.
Andre Blake signs ambassador deal with JustBet
Jamaica Reggae Boyz Captain and Goalkeeper Andre Blake has signed an endorsement deal with Supreme Ventures Limited’s sports betting brand, JustBet.
The 33-year-old Goalkeeper, who celebrates ten years in the nets for the Reggae Boyz, joins the JustBet roster as one of the faces of its new advertising campaign unveiled at the Jamaica Premier League semi-final on Sunday.
As part of the sponsorship, SVL will use Blake in their JustBet ad campaign and support his charity initiatives for 2024.
In welcoming Blake to the SVL family, Kamal Powell, Head of Marketing at SVL, noted that Blake is an excellent role model given his exploits as arguably the best goalkeeper in Jamaica's history, "Andre has represented Jamaica consistently and his talent is undeniable. We are impressed by his winning attitude, his passion for the sport and the high level of leadership and integrity that he displays, which are all the core values of Supreme Ventures and JustBet.
"We are delighted to have him on board as we promote the exciting competitions we deliver to our customers, and we have a shared vision for sports development in Jamaica."
For Andre Blake, this will help to further his efforts to give back to the sport.
"Supreme Ventures has supported sports in Jamaica, including football, for many years, and so I'm excited to work with their team, not just in the new ad campaign but also by supporting the Andre Blake Foundation", commented Blake.
Other faces of the 2024 ad campaign include Race Car driver Fraser McConnell and Olympian Stacy-Ann Williams.
Philadelphia Union v New York City FC: Cushing salutes togetherness of in-form NYCFC
Nick Cushing hailed the togetherness demonstrated by New York City FC as they look to continue their impressive form against a struggling Philadelphia Union.
The Boys in Blue endured a poor start to the MLS season – losing four of their opening five matches – but have tasted defeat just once in their last seven.
Last weekend's 3-2 victory over Toronto FC was New York's fourth in five matches, and Cushing saluted the character shown by his squad in recent times.
"We're training incredibly well," he said. "Our intensity and our culture is excellent at the moment.
"I'm so proud of the team because if you look at the way the bench celebrated the third goal [against Toronto], these are guys there that really want to get on the field.
"The way they celebrate for their team-mates and for the team shows me that [togetherness]."
Despite their impressive form, though, NYCFC face a potential banana skin in Philadelphia, who have prevailed in each of the last five meetings between the Eastern Conference sides.
"They are a really hard team to get results against, especially there [at home]," Cushing added. "There's an opportunity there for us, but we have to prepare well."
The Union are without a win in five matches – losing three – and have been beaten in each of their last three on home soil.
Jim Curtin's side had started the season with a seven-game unbeaten run, and the head coach has urged his players to draw inspiration from that as they bid to turn their fortunes around.
"I'm a big believer that you can make your own luck," he said.
"We've shot ourselves in the foot quite a bit in recent games, played from behind quite a bit, had to chase games and put a lot into them, and we get punished.
"We have to stick together as a group and find a way to tighten things up. We're on a really bad stretch here, but we know we're capable of going on unbeaten streaks already like we've had this year.
"We have to turn it around, and we can't feel sorry for ourselves."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Philadelphia Union – Daniel Gazdag
Despite Union's recent struggles, Gazdag has been in fine form – scoring in three straight home games, though they have all ended in defeat.
The Hungary international is the first player to score in three successive home matches but appear on the losing side each time since Colorado Rapids' Kei Kamara in 2019.
New York City FC – Hannes Wolf
Wolf set up two of NYCFC's three goals in their victory over Toronto FC last time out.
The midfielder became the first Austrian to claim at least two assists in an MLS game after Daniel Royer (2020), Andreas Ivanschitz (2016) and Andreas Herzog (2004).
MATCH PREDICTION: NEW YORK CITY FC
New York have won four of their last five matches, scoring multiple goals in each of their victories.
They had only scored two or more goals once in their opening seven games of this season.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia are currently on the longest losing home streak in their history, having lost each of their last three at Subaru Park.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Philadelphia Union: 49.7%
New York City FC: 22.8%
Draw: 27.5%
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