The main rumors of the week discuss Lionel Messi's decision regarding his future, the problems faced by "Barcelona" in the summer transfer market, and "Zenit's" new player Jerson's decision to forgo the opportunity to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. This was reported by Euro-football.ru.
These news and many other details are presented in the regular section of the "Euro-Futbol.ru" website. Lionel Messi's current contract with "Inter Miami" is set to last until the end of 2025.
The Argentine star is thinking about the next World Cup. Recently, the match against "PSG" in the Club World Cup clearly showed the difference in level between Europe and MLS.
The Paris club won 4-0 in the first half. Therefore, Messi is considering playing in a high-level championship for six months before the 2026 World Cup.
However, the likelihood of his return to Europe is assessed as low. "Barcelona" does not want to re-sign Messi, and no good alternatives have been found.
Thus, he will extend his contract with "Inter Miami" for at least another season. The main decision regarding Messi's future has been made; now it remains only to sign a new contract.
The "Real" club is providing Rodrigo with limited playing opportunities in the last three Club World Cup matches. He was on the field for 23 minutes and remained on the bench in the other matches.
If this situation continues, Rodrigo's chances of going to the World Cup with the Brazil national team will decrease. Therefore, he wants to talk to the club's head coach Xabi Alonso to get information about his future role.
"Arsenal" plans to add Rodrigo to their squad and give him a key role. The London club is ready to spend over 90 million euros on him, but they may act closer to the closing of the summer transfer window.
"Barcelona" is trying to acquire a new wing defender as the team wants to reduce its reliance on Rafinha and Lamine Yamal. They recently planned to sign Niko Williams, but the player signed a new decade-long contract with "Athletic."
This situation was an unexpected blow for "Barcelona." The club had agreed on financial matters with the player, and even the documents were prepared.
In this situation, the player's agent demanded to add a clause that the player could leave the team if the contract was not registered by July. "Barcelona" could not agree to this, as the financial situation is still unstable.
According to some sources, Niko and his agent aimed to use "Barcelona" for their own interests to secure a better contract with "Bilbao." As a result, the Catalans spent time and effort in this process without achieving a result.
Now "Barcelona" has blacklisted Williams and will not approach him in the future. "Real" is offering Vinicius Junior to extend his contract, but negotiations are proving difficult.
The player is demanding not only a salary increase but also a bonus when the contract is extended. Bonuses are given when signing contracts with free agents at "Real," but it is not customary to provide bonuses during contract extensions.
Vinicius wants to demonstrate his star status with this demand. Negotiations are ongoing.
Although the "Zenit" club has not officially announced it yet, Jerson's transfer from "Flamengo" to the St. Petersburg club has been confirmed. "Al-Nasr" club was also interested in the player, but Jerson declined the opportunity to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
This is because the transfer to "Zenit" was almost completed, and there was no possibility of turning back. Jerson gave up not only the chance to play in Ronaldo's team but also a high salary.
Opinions vary on how Jerson will perform at "Zenit." Some believe he will become a star in the Russian Premier League, others consider him an average player, while others predict he will fail.
Comments on this matter can be made. The news was prepared by Alexander Tikhiy.
