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      in Soccer

      I’m a coach where Mbappe trained – heartbreaking reason this poverty-stricken area produces so many football stars

      by

      LITTLE Ismael weaves like a magician, the ball glued to his feet as he glides past opponents on the thread-bare astroturf.Moments later, the ten-year-old shoots into the bottom corner of the net — before triumphantly folding his arms in celebration, just like his footie idol Kylian Mbappe.
      Kylian Mbappe does his famous goal celebrationCredit: Getty
      Ten-year-old Ismael shoots into the bottom corner of the net — before triumphantly folding his arms in celebration, just like his footie idol MbappeCredit: Ian Whittaker
      Coach Faher Aboubou, of club AS Bondy with the talented young playersCredit: Ian Whittaker
      Schoolboy Ismael plays on a pitch surrounded by 10ft metal fences in the same poverty stricken neighbourhood where the Paris Saint-Germain and France ace, 24 — currently the world’s most in-demand player — honed his amazing kills.
      And we can reveal that, incredibly, almost half of France’s current national side hails from similar outlying areas around the capital known as the “banlieues”.
      The Sun visited this week and found the conveyor belt of fresh talent is continuing to churn out mini-Mbappes at a rate that should worry England fans ahead of the Euros next summer.
      Love your dream
      Forward Mbappe is hot property this transfer window as clubs battle it out to sign him.
      READ MORE ON KYLIAN MBAPPE
      He has been linked to Chelsea and Barcelona, and snubbed a reported world-record £260million offer from Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal.
      Coach Faher Aboubou, of club AS Bondy, where Mbappe began his career, reckons Ismael has the talent to follow in his hero’s footsteps.
      And he revealed the lad is typical of the youngsters using football to escape suburbs riddled with gangs and drugs — and a world away from the City of Love’s chic cafes and restaurants.
      Faher, 39, said: “In France there is a lot of prejudice, especially against young men with dark-coloured skin.
      Most read in Football
      “The joy of football is that these divisions disappear.
      “You are solely judged by your talent and, for this reason, these highly dedicated young footballers do the best they can to succeed.
      “They dream and then they turn their dreams into reality.
      “My advice to all of them is that they need to work hard at school, because only five or six out of 100 will have what it takes to reach the top level. But there are some terrific players here, including Ismael, who has incredible talent and never stops working.
      “He is determined to succeed. He is just the type of player that could turn into the next Mbappe. An important part of the game is that it keeps youngsters away from the drugs and the street bandits that would otherwise destroy their lives.
      “That is very important if you are living in a place like this.”
      Residents of Parisian suburb Bondy whistle in astonishment when asked about Al Hilal’s reported mega-money bid for Mbappe, who is currently rated world No1.
      It is understood the forward knocked back the offer as his heart is set on joining Real Madrid in Spain.
      But he is now locked in a tense stand-off with the owners of PSG as he only has one year left on his contract, at the end of which he could move for free.
      Wearing a Manchester United T-shirt with France and former Reds idol Paul Pogba’s name printed on the back, Faher added: “In the end it’s all about money, and there’s clearly too much money in the game.
      “Players can lose their value if they become obsessed by money. My view is that Mbappe is a very intelligent footballer and he will be thinking about his long-term career. He’s not solely interested in what he can earn.
      “Mbappe often comes back here to see the young players who, ultimately, are just like him. My view is that he’s going through a divorce at the moment with PSG.
      “It’s a long and troubling separation and it means he’s not solely concentrated on what he does next. I think he will go to Real Madrid, if not this year, then next.”
      The £605million-a-year deal offered to Mbappe by Al Hilal is mind-boggling compared to the average annual wage of £7,2000 in the banlieues.
      In Bondy — a commuter town in the socialist-run Red Belt, north east of Paris — around 40 per cent of the housing is council-owned.
      A large part of the 54,000 population is made up of African migrants, and 30 per cent of residents are classed as poor, defined in France as having a monthly income of less than £685.
      Crime is above average, with around 3,000 incidents re-corded in the area last year. Rioting erupted after police shot dead 17-year-old Nael M in the Paris suburb of Nanterre in June.
      Yet the French national team, which knocked England out of the World Cup last December, would have little depth were it not for the vast reservoir of talent it can call upon from its urban sprawl.
      Current Les Bleus stars including Mike Maignan, 28, Alphonse Areola, 30, Dayot Upamecano, 24, Jules Kounde, 24, Ibrahima Konate, 24, Axel Disasi, 25, Youssouf Fofana, 24, Kingsley Coman, 27, and Christopher Nkunku, 25, all hail from the banlieues. Mbappe, Randal Kolo Muani, 24, and Arsenal defender William Saliba, 22, were raised amid Bondy’s graffiti-covered tower blocks.
      Meanwhile, recent greats including Pogba, 30, N’Golo Kante, 32, Benjamin Mendy, 29, as well as former ace Thierry Henry, 45, all got their start in parts of the capital where most tourists would not dare tread.
      Zakaria Benbetka watched the recent riots unfold from the window of the Fashion Sports store in Bondy, where he works as a shop assistant.
      The 18-year-old said: “Babies are born with a football at their feet in the banlieues and they start playing as soon as they can walk.
      “Football is a way to escape because some of the things we see here are not normal. During the riots I saw 100 people break into Darty electronics over the road. They smashed the windows and stole whatever they wanted. Some of the rioters had weapons, it was scary.
      “But kids here are poor and hungry. Drugs are everywhere and some areas do not have electricity.
      “That is why young people dedicate everything to football. They know they have to work harder than everyone else to get ahead.”
       His friend Mehmet Celiblilet used to dream of being a footballer but now sells photographs to tourists in central Paris, earning between 40 and 70 euros a day.
      Mehmet, 30, said: “When I was growing up, the only thing we could do was play football. We didn’t have video games back then. There weren’t any basketball courts or anything like that, so football was our life.” Gaetan Ekagna, 47, was walking with his son Andrew, five, when we bumped into him.
      He immediately asked if we could find an agent for his older son, who is 17. Gaetan said: “My son is very talented and he would love to play for Chelsea one day.
      “Everyone is obsessed with football in Bondy. I have lived here for 35 years after moving to France from the Congo. It is incredible how many footballers come from here.
      “I don’t know why it is such a hotbed of talent and we need more football pitches in Bondy. Whenever my son wants to play he has to travel to another part of Paris.”
      Rania Bouriche is a waitress at Harry’s Café in the banileue, next to which a huge mural of Mbappe has been painted above the words, “Love your dream and your dream will love you in return”.
      The France ace grew up in a nearby tower block and is famed for celebrating his goals by folding his arms in front of his chest — a gesture he apparently stole from his younger brother Ethan when they were playing video games.
      Rania, 20, said: “People here are football crazy. I still remember when France won the World Cup in 2018, the atmosphere was amazing.
      Read More on The Sun
      “We weren’t as lucky last year as we lost to Argentina on penalties. But I’m sure with Mbappe in the team we will triumph at the Euros next summer — and the World Cup after that.
      “In France, there is too much talent.”
      Many of the current France squad including Konate, (front left), Kounde (front third left) and Mbappe, (front right) all hail from poor Paris suburbsCredit: Getty
      France and Arsenal ace Thierry Henry with young Kylian
      Bondy coach Faher says: ‘An important part of the game is that it keeps youngsters away from the drugs and street bandits that would otherwise destroy their lives’Credit: Ian Whittaker
      Bondy local Rania standing in front of a Mbappe muralCredit: Ian Whittaker More

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      in Boxing

      Tyson Fury’s Netflix show goes inside wild life of boxing superstar – with 6 kids, chaotic moods & lavish impulse buys

      by

      “UNLESS you live with us, I don’t think you can understand what really our life is . . . how mad it is,” says Tyson Fury’s wife Paris in their new Netflix reality show.But for the millions of devoted fans of boxer the Gypsy King, At Home With The Furys offers a pretty good insight into their chaotic world, with six lively kids, during his short-lived retirement in 2022.
      Champ Tyson Fury versus Dillian Whyte in 2022Credit: Getty
      Paris and Tyson with their broodCredit: Courtesy of Netflix
      The couple enjoy a rare moment of relaxationCredit: NETFLIX
      As the heavyweight champ, 34, battles with his hiatus from the ring, feeling lost and lacking purpose, Paris worries he will slip back into the depression and addiction that led him to the brink of suicide when he also quit the sport in 2019.
      She says: “When he last stopped boxing, Tyson had an alcohol and drug addiction.
      “He suffers from a few mental health problems. He’s got ADHD, depression, and it all spiralled out of control. We had a bad two years.
      “There’s no point saying that won’t happen again because that’s the elephant in the room I think about.”
      Read More on Tyson Fury
      Tyson’s bipolar disorder, diagnosed in 2017, means he has huge highs and deep lows and is prone to spontaneous acts — from booking a last-minute trip to Iceland to “pick a fight” with the world’s strongest man, to declaring he’s going to buy Blackpool airport and a second private jet.
      Somehow long-suffering Paris, 32, pregnant with baby No7, manages to find a way through the mayhem he creates, while calmly running their Morecambe Bay household and bringing up their huge brood, Venezuela, 13, Prince John James, 11, Prince Tyson II, seven, Valencia, five, Prince Adonis Amaziah, four, and Athena, who turns two this week.

      “Paris is amazing,” says Tyson. “We’ve been together 18 years and she’s put up with everything, all the good and bad times, the highs and lows. I wouldn’t be here without her. Where would I be? Dead, probably.”
      Tyson and Paris, who come from a traveller background, met when he was 17 and she was 15.
      Most read in Boxing
      For their first date they watched King Kong at the cinema, and she recalls: “I kept thinking, ‘Is he gonna kiss me?’ I’d never been kissed.
      “The movie went on for three hours and the moment King Kong climbs up the Empire State Building, that’s when Tyson decides to lean in and kiss me. It was the most awkward and embarrassing moment of my life.
      “Then he says, ‘Are you going to go out with me? Are you going to be my girlfriend?’ So I said, ‘Yeah’.”
      They married in 2008 and Tyson went on to become the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world, and now has an estimated £51million fortune.
      But the nine-part Netflix series also shows his grounded side.
      As he walks his dog he greets the many locals who say a friendly hello, posing happily for pictures and passing the time of day.
      With a collection of supercars which includes a Ferrari and a £384,000 Rolls-Royce Phantom, the self-proclaimed “King of the Chavs” prefers to drive around in his £500 2006 VW Passat, which he tells Paris is “worth less than your shoes”.
      And while Paris plans “Instagram-perfect” parties, including a lavish bash to mark Athena’s christening with a room full of pink balloons and a soft play area, the Gypsy King gets boxer shorts, socks and a £5 T-shirt for his 34th birthday.
      “Money isn’t the be all and end all of everything,” he says.
      “But for Paris it’s probably harder to go from lemonade to Champagne and back to lemonade again, rather than never having Champagne.”
      ‘Paris is amazing. Without her I’d be dead, probably’
      Tyson is a mass of contradictions. A devoted dad who often declares “home is where the heart is and where the family is”, he rails against the mundane routine of everyday life.
      Mucking in with household chores, he moans: “I’m the busiest retired man in the world.
      “I’d rather get punched the f*** out of me by ten world champions than stay at home a week and do all these jobs.”
      He is little help during the chaos before the morning school run, with Paris running around the house screaming: “Adonis, are you up yet?
      “Venezuela, are you in the bathroom?” — and when he’s left to look after the kids while she takes a ten-hour round trip to appear on TV’s Loose Women, he takes them all camping without telling her.
      Returning to an empty house, Paris fumes: “I’ve got a giant, 6ft 9in child. I don’t see the sense, the kids are in school tomorrow.
      “That’s the problem with living with him, he’s so up and down, which I suppose is a definition of the bipolar.
      “Instead of just being set in the routine of taking kids to school, which is normal, he’ll wake up and — ­bam! — we’re doing something else.
      I’d rather get punched the f*** out of me by ten world champions than stay at home a week and do all these jobs.Tyson Fury
      “I try to go along with his mood swings and his little ideas but these sorts of things are a definite interference in life.”
      She adds: “I’ll humour my husband and pretend this is normality when really, it is absolute madness.
      “But if I don’t let him have his little moments he gets a bit down and depressed and he gets upset.”
      In another impulsive moment, after goading strongman Thor Bjornsson over social media, Tyson flies to Iceland to challenge him to a fight.
      But on landing, he discovers Thor is in Rome, sending Tyson into a downer and causing him to fall off the wagon and sink a few pints.
      All this is witnessed by his dad John, who says: “When I’m looking at Tyson drinking I’m watching carefully because it caused so much trouble in the past. Last time Tyson retired he wasn’t in a good place and the fear of him going back there I couldn’t handle. I’d rather be dead than see him go down that road.”
      The undefeated champ’s frustration at having handed in his title is at its most palpable when he watches Anthony Joshua’s 2022 bout with Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk.
      ‘Boxing is not a game, it’s very dangerous’
      Dismissing the fight — which Usyk won — as “s***e”, he is pumped up as he posts on social media that he would “go over there and fight them both on the same night”, as worried Paris watches.
      She says: “Boxing is not a game, it’s a very dangerous sport. One punch can cause life-devastating effects. He’s got nothing to prove.
      “He’s never lost. He’s won all the belts. It wouldn’t be worth it to keep going in the ring and take those risks.”
      Shortly after the bout, Tyson announced his return to the ring, taking on Derek Chisora in a December 2022 clash that saw him once again walk away the victor.
      While Paris and Tyson come across as a solid couple, sometimes his behaviour clearly upsets her.
      As he returns from an event in the Isle of Man, Paris, who has been busy making his favourite trifle, has his coat thrust at her as he grunts that he’s going to see his dog, leaving her ranting: “I feel like putting the trifle over his head.”
      After arranging a romantic picnic and boat trip on a Scottish loch, he leaves her stranded in a tiny dinghy because he is annoyed, and he walks out when Athena’s christening party is in full swing, telling his wife he’s going to walk the dog.
      “When I’m low, Paris gets the brunt of it,” he says. “I don’t feel good about that.”
      Paris adds: “Tyson’s moods are on a regular up and down. It is hard to deal with on a day-to-day basis.
      “It does get on our nerves but I love him and I’m going to support him and help him.”
      But she admits she wanted to flee the marriage when his addiction and depression were at their worst.
      I’ve got a giant, 6ft 9in child. I’ll humour my husband and pretend this is normality when really, this is absolute madness.Paris Fury
      She says: “I don’t know what is worse, Tyson coming out of retirement and risking his physical health or staying in retirement and risking his mental health, because we’ve been at the bottom before. Tyson was going through the darkest time of his life.
      “He got massively overweight. The only thing he was interested in was lying in bed most of the day and drinking through the night.
      “At that point I really wanted to leave. But I thought if I left him, Tyson would go through with what he kept saying he wanted to do, which was kill himself.”
      Tyson has always been open about his fragile mental health and admits his 2019 retirement sent him to the brink.
      He says: “I’ve had a lot of dark moments thinking, ‘You’re going to end up in a padded room. You’ve lost your mind’.
      “You have thoughts of not wanting to live any more, even though you’ve got a family and kids and everything to live for.
      “Exercise for me is the key. The moment I stop exercising I go straight back to Hotel California — you can check out any time you want but you can never leave.
      “That’s mental health. It’s not IF you get unwell again, it’s when.”
      Dad John, a former boxer, agrees with Tyson’s view that regular exercise is the only thing that keeps mental illness at bay.
      He adds: “If I don’t train, I can’t function, I can’t think straight.
      “I’ve had it all my life. When I was younger we didn’t know anything about it. We thought a kick up the backside would sort it out.
      “In Tyson’s case, you could have all the fame or fortune the world has got to offer. When mental health kicks in, you can still slip 100 miles an hour to a dark place.”

      At Home With The Furys is released on Netflix on August 16.

      Nice thing in a small package
      THE touching moment Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague tell his brother Tyson and Paris they are expecting a baby is caught on camera in the reality show.
      And Tommy reveals the sweet way the influencer broke the news to him.
      Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury tell his brother Tyson and Paris they are expecting a babyCredit: NETFLIX
      Tommy reveals the sweet way the influencer broke the news to himCredit: NETFLIX
      “I came home and she had a little parcel and I thought it was a designer T-shirt or something,” he tells Tyson.
      “I thought, ‘That’s nice’ and I opened it up and it was a little baby-gro. That was it, it was a shock.”
      The couple, who met in Love Island in 2019 and had baby Bambi in January, also allowed cameras into their home for the documentary.
      Molly-Mae tells about joining the Fury family and how they have welcomed her.
      “I am the only non-traveller ‘wife’ but I’ve never felt out of place,” she says.
      “They’ve been so lovely to me and made me feel part of the family straight away.”
      Paris has nothing but praise for the 24-year-old and says she knows how daunting it can be to fit in. “Molly is a lovely girl,” she says.
      “Coming into the Fury family is intimidating because there are 6ft 9in giants walking around like it’s normal.
      “When I met Tyson they were all welcoming and I think if you come into the family and just embrace it, roll with it, you’ll get along fine.”
      She adds: “Chaos is a way of life for the Fury family. I don’t think you can impose order.”
      However, the different upbringings between the Love Island sweethearts is clear when they discuss the number of kids they want, with Tommy saying he wants ten and Molly-Mae drawing the line at three.
      She also worries about the differences ahead when it comes to raising her daughter, with Tommy insisting that, like Tyson’s children, they will be raised in the “traditional” traveller way.
      While Tyson’s oldest Venezuela left school at 11, as is customary in the community, Molly-Mae is keen for Bambi to complete her formal education.
      Read More on The Sun
      “With Tommy being raised a traveller, he’s had a conversation about our child not going to school but that’s non-optional,” she says.
      “I’ve been raised differently to that and there’s no question of our child not going to school. I just hope that doesn’t cause too many rifts.”
      Tyson poses for a selfie with fansCredit: NETFLIX
      Prince Adonis Amaziah gives the finger on the showCredit: NETFLIX More

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      in Soccer

      Man City star Kyle Walker’s ex Lauryn Goodman becomes a mum to a baby girl again – and the dad ‘is another footballer’

      by

      FOOTIE star Kyle Walker’s ex Lauryn Goodman has become a mum again to a baby girl and told friends she is “overjoyed”.She shares her first child — three-year-old son Kairo — with the England and Manchester City defender, 33.
      Kyle Walker’s ex Lauryn Goodman has become a mum again to a baby girl and told friends she is ‘overjoyed’Credit: BackGrid
      Lauryn has not revealed the father of her newborn, but pals believe him to be a footballer
      A source told The Sun on Sunday: ‘The baby girl is adorable. Very placid and feeding constantly’
      Lauryn, 32, has not revealed the father of her newborn, but pals believe him to be a footballer.
      She fell pregnant with Kairo in 2019 while Kyle was on a temporary split from wife Annie — the mother of his three older sons.
      Of the new arrival, a source told The Sun on Sunday: “Lauryn hasn’t said who the baby’s father is.
      “Her friends think it is a footballer and have asked her outright — but she won’t tell anybody.
      Read More on Football
      “The baby girl is adorable. Very placid and feeding constantly.
      “She has a huge amount of hair — a full head just like Kairo had when he was born.”
      Before the arrival of her daughter, influencer and ex-Towie star Lauryn was asked if she would reveal the dad’s identity.
      She replied: “It’s not a case of revealing, but it will be known when the time is right.”
      Most read in Football
      Lauryn also hasn’t disclosed the name of her newborn daughter.
      The source added: “She’s still trying to choose a name but is going to pick something beginning with K — just like older brother Kairo.
      “It took nearly a year before she publicly revealed Kairo’s name.
      “But she had privately decided on Kairo and had a necklace made up with the initials KW — which are the same as his dad’s — long before she made it public.
      “So I expect she won’t rush into revealing her daughter’s name either.
      “But she has asked her followers on Instagram for their thoughts about a girl’s name beginning with K.
      “Lauren is a brilliant mum.
      “She dotes on Kairo and is absolutely thrilled that this one is a little girl, one of each.”
      Lauryn was involved in a public spat with Kyle’s wife in June after Annie posted a photo on social media following Manchester City’s win in the Champions League final.
      The snap featured Kyle and their three children — Riaan, Roman and Reign — on the pitch captioned: “3 is the magic number.”
      Annie wrote: “Winning the champions league with your daddy.
      “All these memories you get to have with your daddy.
      “Nothing and no one will ever take that from you. We’ve got you 3.”
      Lauryn, who lives in Hove, East Sussex, hit back, saying that Kyle had four sons and Kairo should not be “eradicated from existence”.
      She added: “He is Kyle’s son.
      “He doesn’t just have three sons.
      “Annie needs to accept that.
      “Families come in all shapes and sizes these days, stepchildren, estranged children.
      “It is the job of the parents to act like adults and do the best for them, that’s what I try to do.
      “Annie, if you are reading this, just stop being so cruel to Kairo because our little boy has done nothing wrong and doesn’t deserve to have you so vindictively making digs at him and treating him like an outcast.”
      “When Annie got back with Kyle she knew I was pregnant.
      “If she couldn’t handle the fact he was going to have another child she should never have got back with him.”
      Annie and £150,000-a-week Kyle — a transfer target of German side Bayern Munich — have been together since they were teenagers.
      They split in 2019 after reality star Laura Brown revealed that she had romped with Kyle in his £200,000 Bentley.
      He moved out of the £3.5million family home in Cheshire and grew close to Lauryn.
      Read More on The Sun
      She fell pregnant and Kairo was born in April 2020.
      Kyle and Annie then rekindled their relationship and got married in November 2021, after he proposed to her with a diamond ring.
      Lauryn shares her first child Kairo with defender KyleCredit: Tim Stewart
      Kyle is a transfer target of German side Bayern MunichCredit: Getty More

    • 288 Shares139 Views

      in Motorsport

      I was a video game nut until Nissan let me race real cars – now I’m the inspiration for Hollywood movie Gran Turismo

      by

      THE first time Jann Mardenborough sat behind the wheel of a racing car in 2011, his only experience of being on a track was in a video game.The teenager had failed his driving test for being too hesitant and he had only tried out a go-kart at a friend’s birthday.
      Jann Mardenborough celebrates on the winners’ podium at the 2015 GP3 race in Sochi, RussiaCredit: Getty
      Archie Madekwe, Geri Horner and Dijimon Hounsou as Jann’s dadCredit: Alamy
      Archie As Jann in the movieCredit: Alamy
      Yet, aged just 19, he found himself clocking 185mph around Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit as he competed for the chance to be a professional racer.
      Now the story of how he won Nissan’s innovative GT Academy programme to transform young PlayStation talents into motor racing stars has inspired a Hollywood film, Gran Turismo.
      Starring Orlando Bloom, Stranger Things star David Harbour and Geri Halliwell, it tells how Jann overcame the odds — and a horrific crash — to prove that gamers can earn a place on a real race circuit’s starting grid.
      Out of all Nissan’s Academy graduates, Jann, now 31, rose the highest and stayed in the sport the longest.
      READ MORE MOTORSPORT NEWS
      He reached the podium in the gruelling Le Mans 24-hour race, won in Formula 3 and was signed by Formula 1 team Red Bull’s chief Christian Horner.
      Jann, who grew up in Ely, Cardiff — which was hit by riots after the fatal crash of two schoolboys on an electric bike in May — showed that he could keep up with the rich kids who dominate the sport.
      The traditional way into racing is via go-karting, often starting at the age of six, but it costs around £200,000 a year to compete at European level.
      Big chance
      Since the GT Academy closed in 2016 most youngsters can only dream of being on the winners’ podium.
      Most read in Motorsport
      Current top Formula 1 driver Max Verstappen’s dad Jos is a former F1 driver too and Jann,, who loved cars from a young age, says: “There is zero way for a normal, regular person to enter motorsports at a level I have competed at without a competition like GT Academy. It doesn’t exist.
      “They could find somebody with the talent of ­Verstappen, but we don’t know who it is, as they don’t have the opportunity.”
      In the beginning, for Jann — played in the film by Archie Madekwe — it was a challenge simply to be allowed to use his PlayStation.
      He started gaming well before you could earn a living from electronic sports — better known as esports — so his mum Lesley and dad Steve, an ex-journeyman footballer who played for Cardiff City and Wolves, did not approve of his obsession.
      Jann says: “They would turn the internet off during those times when I would ignore them.”
      His big chance for real racing glory came after businessman Darren Cox dreamed up the idea of putting the best Gran Turismo game players into actual high-powered vehicles.
      Starting in 2008, those with the fastest virtual track times could go on to spend a week at Silverstone competing to see who could handle the life-and-death speeds of real racing.
      Jann had to wait three years for his chance, because contestants had to be over 18 and have a driving licence.
      He only passed his test at the second attempt, and recalls: “I failed the first one because I was too hesitant on a roundabout. I don’t know why, it just happened. It’s a black mark.”
      There was no such hesitancy when he won a place at the Academy, ­beating 90,000 other PlayStation fans.
      He recalls: “My first time driving on the motorway was to the GT Academy finals and I wasn’t sure if the car would make it.
      “I’d never driven on a track, I’d never driven a car over 135 horsepower. All I had was Gran Turismo.”
      Suddenly he found himself putting on a helmet and climbing into a 485-horsepower Nissan GT-R sports car, competing with 11 other finalists at the Silverstone circuit in Northants.
      He recalls: “I was just overwhelmed by adrenalin. I’m doing 185mph down the Wellington Straight. It’s the fastest I had ever gone in my life and it was painful for me to think about going home and never experiencing this again.”
      Jann on the Nissan Academy simulator in 2012Credit: Patrick Gosling
      A snap from Jann’s Instagram account in 2015 as he prepares to race
      Unlike in a computer game, there is no reset button if you smash up a real car that can do 200mph, but Jann knew that being cautious could only result in defeat.
      He says: “You have to go over the limit, and that means crashing.
      “The reason people do karting at six years old is that you can go off the track and tune that feeling, so that when they jump in the car they know where the limit is. I didn’t have that.”
      But despite being up against drivers who all had some race track ­experience, Jann managed to win.
      Two weeks later he moved to Northampton to join a development programme, which included a tough fitness regime coupled with psychological testing.
      At his first proper competition outside the academy he experienced a backlash against “sim racers” — those whose experience is limited to ­simulated racing — with one arrogant driver telling Jann to let him pass.
      The top racer told the newcomer: “If you see me in your mirrors, don’t fight me, let me go.”
      Jann recalls: “That didn’t happen because the guy was in my mirrors.”
      In his first season in the British GT Championships he achieved three podium finishes, including one win, and the British Racing Drivers’ Club awarded him Rising Star status.
      The following year he finished third in the legendary Le Mans race and in 2014 Christian Horner signed Jann to his Arden International GP3 team.
      By then his mum Lesley had a lot more to worry about than the risk of Jann becoming addicted to computer gaming.
      He rolled one car in the Netherlands in 2012 and a year later another racer’s car was sent flying into the air after clipping the front wing of Jann’s vehicle.
      He tried his best to reassure his parents, and recalls: “I remember sitting at the dinner table, telling them the cars have roll cages, we have fire proof underwear, fireproof socks.
      “That did bring her down a little bit. I was going racing regardless, even if you say no, but it gave me a feeling to know my mother was calm when she saw me on the screen when something terrible happened.” And in March 2015 something terrible did happen at Germany’s Nurburgring Grand Prix race track — nicknamed The Green Hell by three times F1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart.
      As Jann came over the brow of a hill, a gust of wind lifted the front end of his car off the Tarmac. His Nissan GT-R somersaulted through the air, bouncing several times, then cleared the safety fence.
      Tragically, one spectator was killed as the car landed on a high bank.
      Jann was flown to hospital by helicopter, but his injuries were not found to be life-threatening. However, finding out someone had died in the crash was tough, and he recalls: “You are there, you are lonely — it’s dark, it’s very dark.”
      Jann has never seen footage of the fatal crash and didn’t watch the scene in the movie.
      He says: “I couldn’t watch it, I have never seen it.
      “It’s uncomfortable, I know exactly what happened. It’s not so easy, but it needs to be in there.”
      Race officials decided Jann was not to blame for the incident and within a week his team told their star to get back in a car.
      In the movie Geri Halliwell — the real-life wife of Christian Horner — plays Jann’s mum Lesley, and she impressed both mother and son with her portrayal, especially the crash scene where Lesley reacts to the sight of her son coming close to death.
      Jann says of his mum: “She loved it. She had her phone number and they would be speaking regularly. Geri would want to know how I would act in this situation.
      “Everybody knows Geri Halliwell, but now she is playing my mum. It’s weird, it’s so crazy, so far-fetched.
      “She did it perfectly. She nailed it.”
      Today Jann is still in the race game, most recently taking Nissans round hairpin bends in Japan. He says: “I have got a long time left in the tank.”
      And he thinks the movie should persuade motorsport’s money men to give more ordinary kids like him a chance to get revved up on the Grand Prix race track.
      He says: “I hope the Gran Turismo movie will inspire some private money, whether it be manufacturers or big multinational companies.
      “If they want to change motorsport, make it more accessible, you have to start there.
      “I’m a product of the GT Academy and Nissan and Sony took a big risk back then.
      Read More on The Sun
      “It’s proof that it works — there’s my career, a movie, the proof of what I achieved.”

      Gran Turismo: Based On A True Story is in cinemas from Wednesday.

      The movie’s cast, Maximilian Mundt, Geri Halliwell, Orlando Bloom and Archie Madekwe at the Canne’s Film Festival in MayCredit: Getty
      Geri plays Jann’s mum Lesley in the movieCredit: Getty
      Gran Turismo: Based On A True Story is in cinemas from August 9 More

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      How Lioness Lauren James could become first female Pele and brother Reece claims she’s better than some male Prem stars

      by

      ONCE upon a time little girls dreamt of being fairytale princesses and finding their happy ever after with a handsome prince.Today they fantasise about becoming England centre-forwards . . . and bagging the winning goal in a World Cup final. Thank God.
      Lauren’s performance this World Cup has been nothing short of sensational. She is a household name now, but she only made her senior England debut last SeptemberCredit: Getty
      Lauren learning the games as a child, with brother ReeceCredit: Instagram @laurennjjames
      Lauren with brother Reece, 23 — of Chelsea and England fame — and former footballer dad NigelCredit: Instagram
      Lauren James is leading the charge, inspiring a whole generation of females following her very own ­foot-perfect tournament Down Under.
      “It’s what dreams are made of,” she said fittingly on Tuesday night after her two-goal, woman-of-the-match, 6-1 demolition of China, which also saw her set up three goals.
      Lauren’s performance this World Cup has been nothing short of sensational. She may be a household name now, but the 21-year-old only made her senior England debut last September — so it’s been a meteoric rise.
      For long-time followers of the ­Lionesses — of which there are now millions — her performances really aren’t that out of the blue.
      READ MORE ON LAUREN JAMES
      As her big brother, Reece, 23 — of Chelsea and England fame — once declared: “I believe she is the best women’s footballer in the world and will be for the next ten to 15 years.
      “She’s technically better than some Premier League players.”

      By this, he meant the men. And he’s absolutely, categorically correct.
      The Chelsea Women’s Super League star has a technical nous, brains and feel for the game like few others.
      Most read in Football
      She is also refreshingly down to earth. Says one pal: “Lauren doesn’t play football for fame or money — she plays because she’s been in love with the game since the age of four.
      ‘First female Pele’
      “She’s never ridden off her brother’s coat-tails or asked him for handouts or contacts. Instead, she’s quietly been ploughing her own field and doing all of this on her own.
      “She works and trains so hard and is a hugely popular figure in the changing room.
      “Lauren is only 21 and really does have the world at her feet.”
      Despite her success, she doesn’t yet have the social media presence of her male sibling.
      While Reece boasts 1.4million and nearly 3million followers on Twitter and Instagram respectively, his talented sibling has 205,000 and 550,000 which, in advertising and sponsorship revenue terms, is quite a gulf.
      But with England now through to the World Cup final 16, and facing a game against Nigeria on Monday, Lauren’s popularity and earning potential will only rise. Already Nike-sponsored, further highly lucrative endorsement deals are sure to follow.
      Celebrity agent Jonathan Shalit — who has guided the careers of stars including TV judge Simon Cowell, actor Dame Joan Collins plus singers Charlotte Church and Katherine Jenkins — tips her to become one of the game’s first multi-millionaires.
      He says: “I absolutely love Lauren, who is an incredible inspiration to young sportsmen and ladies.
      “If England win the World Cup, Lauren deserves to be the first £50,000 a week women’s player.
      “Already she is ­destined to become a multi-millionaire, but she will be by Christmas if England win the tournament.
      “She could be the first female Pele, and is young enough to compete in four World Cups for England, which is astonishing.
      “Brands will be fighting for her — Nike to keep hold of her — and H&M, Adidas, Ralph Lauren, Chanel, MAC, Urban Outfitters, Levi’s, Calvin Klein, Prada, Louis Vuitton, etc to get her in their products.
      “She has vast appeal to a huge demographic and is a supremely talented young woman.”
      Unlike so many footballers, however, Lauren’s Instagram is refreshingly unflashy. Less Lamborghini on a Cannes beachfront, more grinding away on the training ground Wattbike.
       Her photos are mainly ­trackie-bum filled, or snaps of match day action.
      Lauren — promoting the World Cup in Oz, right — isn’t a fake eyelash, long-nailed, filler-filled Insta type. She’s a sportswoman. And almost every month, it seems she makes history.
       For starters, never in modern top-flight football have a brother and sister represented England.
      The offspring of former footballer dad Nigel — a defender who was on Aldershot’s books when he suffered a broken ankle in a motorbike accident and turned to coaching — the pair grew up playing the game together, alongside eldest brother Joshua.
      In an interview with The Sun last October for Black History Month, Lauren cited tennis aces Venus and Serena ­Williams as her heroes.
      Not so much as a whiff of influencer on her radar, then. Instead, Lauren is open about her ambitions — ones which extend beyond the touchlines. She explains: “To be a global icon and break down barriers is something that I also hope to do in the future. The credit has to go to the Williams women, as well as their father, who played a big ­supporting role, just like our dad.
      “My dad Nigel’s Grenadian ­heritage has been massive in our upbringing and given us a better understanding of different cultures.
      Sexist attitudes
      “I am proud to have that part of me, alongside my mum being English. It is just lovely to have it all.” Lauren is rapidly garnering a huge fanbase among impressionable kids — exactly the kind of woman they should be inspired by.
      Of their formative years growing up in south west London, dad Nigel proudly recalls: “It was just about playing. I used to set challenges in the back garden, and if they did well at that I’d give them 20p and then another 20p. Before you know, you’ve changed up £20 into 20ps and they’re all gone!
      “It became fun. The key thing was that they were doing the right things.
      “If you don’t know the standard you have to set yourself then there is no way they will improve.
      “In the end they pushed themselves to get better. I was doing it as work and they came into training with me so it was like, ‘If you want to be good at this, this is what you have to do’.”
      While many men in the game have been depressingly slow to back their female star counterparts, defender Reece has always been a big supporter. I interviewed him last October and, tellingly, he began the chat with talk of his sister.
      He called for women to be paid more in line with male footie stars and slammed outdated sexist attitudes to women’s football. He said: “I think maybe in the last five years the women’s game has come on — especially from them winning the Euros.
      “It’s put them on a much bigger stage. Most games are televised now and the women’s game is moving in the right direction. I don’t think it’s going to go backwards and that includes pay.
      Lauren in action against Aston Villa in the Women’s Super League in OctoberCredit: Getty
      Lauren won Player of the Match in England’s World Cup victory over ChinaCredit: Getty
      Lauren — promoting the World Cup in OzCredit: Getty
      “As it develops, and the teams and players and quality get higher — the pay, the fans, everything will match it.
      “It’s come a long way. It’s still got a long way to go.”
      With heroes like his sister at the fore, it won’t be long, surely, before we finally see parity between the sexes.
      Until then, it is Lauren’s time to roar.
      SIBLINGS HIT THE HEIGHTS
      LAUREN and Reece James are not the only siblings to represent their country at international level. And sometimes it is the women who outshine their brothers on the biggest stage . . .
      ENIOLA & SONE ALUKO
      England ace Eniola Aluko with Ipswich player brother SoneCredit: Getty
      ENIOLA was one of the Lionesses’ greatest forwards, scoring 33 times in 102 senior appearances for her country.
      The attacker, 36, won the Women’s Super League three times with Chelsea, the women’s Serie A with Juventus, played for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics and became a TV pundit.
      Her younger brother Sone, 34, played for England at youth level, but got seven senior caps for Nigeria. He is now with Championship side Ipswich Town.
      RIANA & RADJA NAINGGOLAN
      Siblings Riana, right, and Radja Nainggolan have both played for Roma and ItalyCredit: Twitter
      THE 35-year-old Belgian twins both played for Roma in Italy and represented their country at the highest level.
      But heavily tattooed Radja, who was criticised for smoking, played 30 times for Belgium while Riana has just one cap.
      That didn’t stop her once saying: “We kind of have the same style, only he is the male form and I’m the female form. If Radja was a girl too, I would be better.”
      SIMONA NECIDOVA & TOMAS NECID
      Simona Necidova played in the women’s Champions League for Slavia Prague and brother Tomas Necid also played for Slavia Prague’sCredit: extra.cz/fotka
      CZECH defender Simona, 29, has been capped 32 times by her country and has played in the women’s Champions League for Slavia Prague.
      Her striker brother Tomas, 33, also played for Slavia Prague and scored 12 times in 44 games for his country. The siblings both continue to play as pros in their homeland.
      MELANIA & MANOLO GABBIADINI
      Now-retired Melania, 39, played 114 times for Italy, brother Manolo, 31, had a spell at SouthamptonCredit: Twitter
      MELANIA may not have merited the huge transfer fees commanded by her younger brother Manolo – but she has enjoyed more success on the sports field.
      Read More on The Sun
      During her career the now-retired Melania, 39, played 114 times for Italy and scored 45 goals.
      Manolo, 31, has 13 caps, but proved under- whelming during a spell at Southampton after signing for £14million in 2017. More

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      Inside ex-England ace Ashley Cole’s incredible reinvention from serial cheat to family man – and the secret behind it

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      HE was the bad boy of football whose cheating and wild partying destroyed his high-profile marriage to Cheryl Tweedy.But fast forward nearly two decades and Ashley Cole appears to be a changed man, tamed by Italian model Sharon Canu, 30, who he married at the weekend.
      Bride and groom, Sharon Canu and Ashley Cole say ‘I do’ as they tie the knotCredit: Instagram
      The happy couple celebrate their wedding near the bride’s native Rome
      In contrast to his first marriage, the ex-Chelsea and England full-back, 42, has kept this near decade-long romance out the spotlight, rarely posting snaps of his new love or their two children, Jaxon, seven, and Grace, five.
      But last night the loved-up couple released another picture from their fairytale wedding showing them under a huge floral arch as smoke cannons created a rainbow overhead.
      The romantic nuptials, near the bride’s native Rome, were intimate, with just a few of their close family and friends — including Ashley’s former England team-mates John Terry and Frank Lampard — as guests.
      They exchanged vows at the Hotel La Vecchia Posta in Ladispoli, on a clifftop overlooking the Med, with the children as bridesmaid and page boy. The newlyweds then took the floor for their first dance to The Greatest Showman’s Never Enough.
      READ MORE ON ASHLEY COLE
       Spectacular fireworks lit up the al fresco reception before the guests partied late into the night.
      Their big day comes 16 months after Ashley popped the question.
      When he met Sharon in Italy in 2014 he was at his lowest ebb, with his divorce from Girls Aloud singer Cheryl and brushes with the law in his wake, as well as the accidental shooting of a work experience student with an air gun at Chelsea’s Surrey training ground.
      But his romance with Sharon and the birth of their two children has turned him into a devoted family man.
      Most read in Football
      ‘Amazing on and off pitch’
      In a rare 2019 interview with The Telegraph, he said he had “grown up”, adding: “I was a young, angry kid at the time and now I’ve grown up and understand the things I did is life, it happens. I’ve learnt from it, it’s made me a better person. It’s made me a great dad.
      “These are the things I focus on now, my kids and my girlfriend. It’s a different me, I’m more of a family man now. You won’t see me in nightclubs any more, you’ll see me at a park pushing my kids.”
      His latest wedding was much more low-key than the ceremony with Cheryl, at Wrotham Park, Herts, in 2006.
      With her band Girls Aloud riding high and Ashley at the height of his footballing prowess, it was the showbusiness wedding of the decade and cost a reported £500,000.
      The bridesmaids were Cheryl’s bandmates Nadine Coyle, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh and Sarah Harding.
       And the guest list was said to include Sugababes stars Amelle Berrabah, Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range, Blue’s Simon Webbe and singer Jamelia, plus footballers Joe Cole, John Terry, Jermaine Jenas, Jermain Defoe and Sol Campbell.
      Cheryl, then 23, celebrated the union with a Mrs C tattoo on her neck.
      But at 25, Ashley was clearly not ready to settle down and a string of cheating allegations plagued the marriage. In 2008, hairdresser Aimee Walton told of an alleged hook-up with Ashley, claiming he was so drunk he threw up on her carpet twice during sex.
      On the moment she learned about his cheating, Cheryl wrote in her explosive memoir: ‘“I hope you enjoyed it!’, I screamed. ‘I hope she was worth it! It’s the end of your marriage. You don’t understand what you’ve done. It’s f***ed!’.
      “After hours of me ranting, screaming and crying uncontrollably, I was exhausted.”
       Cheryl eventually took him back, but called it quits after 2010 claims that he cheated on her with four more women and that he allegedly paid one £10,000 to keep quiet. As well as cheating accusations, Ashley’s wild partying and reckless antics led to two minor brushes with the law.
      In March 2009 he was hit with an £80 fine after an altercation outside a nightclub, where he refused to stop swearing in front of a cop.
      The following January he was slapped with a four-month driving ban and a £1,000 penalty for speeding at 104mph in a 50mph zone.
      Cheryl filed for divorce in May 2010 and the split was finalised that September. But the pair remain close, and Ashley was among the first to text her when she split from second husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini in 2016.
      She has also messaged congratulations on the birth of both his kids, as well as wishing him well before last weekend’s wedding. The press-shy footballer also hit the headlines in February 2011 when he accidentally shot a student, 21, at Chelsea.
      Ashley was “larking about” with a .22 air rifle when he fired the gun at Tom Cowan, who was hit in the side and received a minor injury.
      He was fined two weeks’ wages — around £220,000 — but dodged a police rap as no charges were filed.
      Manager Carlo Ancelotti defended the player, insisting: “There was never any chance of Ashley being sacked. He has always behaved very well. He made a mistake. It was an accident.”
      Following his split from Cheryl, Ashley dated reality star Anna Kelle and Towie’s Pascal Craymer.
      But his 2014 transfer to Italian club AS Roma led him to Sharon. The couple kept their blossoming relationship under wraps in the early years, posting no pictures of each other on social media. But Sharon revealed a huge bunch of red roses on her page on Valentine’s day 2016, with the caption, “Miss you”.
      The couple became more public after their first child, Jaxon, arrived in February that year, with Sharon posting snaps of all three of them.
      On his son’s first birthday, Ashley told how fatherhood had changed him after an underprivileged background, and fame and fortune, saw him forget what was important.
      “I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have most things I wanted in life, cars, houses, watches, clothes,” he wrote. “Coming from East London with not a lot growing up and a mum looking after two boys alone, life wasn’t always easy. So of course it’s easy to lose your way in life sometimes, to forget about the things that are most important. But this morning I woke up to something that exceeds anything I’ve ever had before: A smile that never goes away.
      “Every day I wake up to the most beautiful thing I could ever dream of, a son that makes my heart melt, a son that never stops smiling, a son that can make me laugh no matter what kind of mood I’m in.
      “A son that I’m proud of, a son I watch fall asleep because I never want to leave him, a son that reminded me what’s important in life.”
      The couple’s daughter Grace was born in February 2018 and Sharon’s social media is now full of photos of her family and tributes to her “handsome man” and “better half”.
      Hugely supportive, the model’s messages reveal her admiration for her man. In 2019, after Ashley announced his retirement at 39, she wrote: “I love listening whilst you talk about your memories, when you started, when you understood it would have been your job and when you realised you could have made it. You did, you realised your dream, the dream of a kid. It’s been hard and sacrificing but it’s been worth it. You are an amazing man, on the pitch and off. A wonderful father and my biggest love. You make me proud every day.”
      On Ashley’s 40th birthday in December 2020, Sharon wrote: “I love you so much! Happy 40th birthday to the man of my dreams, the love of my life, the kindest heart I’ve ever met. You are the sweetest feeling I know.”
      Ashley was once the bad boy of football whose cheating and wild partying destroyed his high-profile marriage to Cheryl TweedyCredit: Rex Features
      Ex-Chelsea and England full-back, Ashley, has kept this near decade-long romance out the spotlightCredit: PA:Press Association
      Sharon followed Ashley from Rome to Derby for his final playing stint before he went on to coach the team. After joining Frank Lampard at Chelsea, Ashley and Sharon moved to a Surrey mansion where, in 2020, they suffered a horrifying ordeal at the hands of armed raiders who tied Ashley up, threatening to cut off his fingers with pliers.
      Sharon and the children were at home at the time and Ashley had been holding his baby girl just before the attack. The thugs made off with watches, phones, cash, a Gucci bag and a BMW smart key.
      Ashley finally popped the question to Sharon in March 2022, getting down on one knee after filling the room with flowers. She revealed she was celebrating the “easiest yes she’d ever said”. A source said at the time: “Ashley loves Sharon to bits. He’s really happy. He loves his kids. For him, it was the right time. His life is his kids and family now.”
      In June, Sharon posted snaps of her Ibiza hen do with ex-Towie star Sam Faiers, who has become a close pal, plus Ashley’s sister-in-law Lisa and six other mates.
      She wrote: “We laughed a lot, sang a lot, danced a lot, drunk a lot, ate a lot. Barely slept, barely looked nice, barely took pictures. Wouldn’t change one second of it.”
      Ahead of the wedding, a source told The Sun: “Ashley and Sharon are madly in love and have spent months planning their special day.
      Read More on The Sun
      “Loads of her family live there and it’s very romantic. As a couple they have been very private, so they don’t feel the need for a flashy, public wedding.”
      And the quiet, classy nuptials send the ultimate message that the former hellraiser has settled down.
      Ashley and Sharon with their two children on a family break More

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      I live next to crumbling football stadium ‘stuck in time’ – pitch view is amazing but awful noise at 5am is unbearable

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      EVERY time Southend United play at home, father-of-two Tyrone Buckingham has a near-perfect view of the game from his bedroom window.But rather than enjoying the action unfold at Essex’s biggest football stadium, most match days he can be found watching his beloved Arsenal play on television instead.
      Tyrone Buckingham’s home backs on to Southend United’s stadiumCredit: JOHN McLELLAN
      The decaying Roots Hall needs a revampCredit: Google Earth
      Tyrone is such a dedicated Gunners fan that he has painted the walls of his flat red and white.
      He moved into a flat overlooking decaying Roots Halls stadium by coincidence seven years ago and says he has become increasingly enraged by his lower league neighbours.
      As part of our Life’s a Pitch summer series, we visited the seaside city to see what locals made of life living next to the troubled team, which faces existential problems on and off the pitch.
      Tyrone, 35, told The Sun: “They are an absolute nightmare. They keep leaving their alarms on and they go off at all hours.
      Read More Life’s A Pitch
      “The alarms are regularly keeping me and my children up at night and I am a lorry driver so I have to be up at 4.30am.
      “The alarms have been an ongoing problem for years. We complained and it stopped for a while but now it has started again.
      “They went off at 2am the other night and kept going for hours. They are totally taking the Mickey.”
      To prove his point, Tyrone played us a recording he made of the alarm ringing outside his bedroom window.
      Most read in Football
      The high-pitched sound filled the speaker of his mobile phone as he showed our reporter the video, which he says was taken at 5.30am on a recent morning.
      He added: “My kids are aged three and six and we all need our sleep. The club also test their speakers at 10pm some nights and they had their floodlights on at about the same time last night.
      “I guess this would be a great flat for a Southend fan but I’m Arsenal – my bedroom is red and white – so I’ve got no interest in following their team.
      “I never, ever watch the games from my window and if the club decides to move to a new stadium that will be absolutely fine with me.”
      Floodlights and noise wake residents up at nightCredit: JOHN McLELLAN
      Local Paul Burton says the ground is ‘stuck in time’Credit: JOHN McLELLAN
      Tryone’s wish isn’t as fanciful at it might seem.
      In recent months, Southend United has been dragged back and forth from the courts over its financial difficulties, with fan group The Shrimpers Trust saying it remained under “existential threat” until owner Ron Martin sells up.
      This week, the National League granted the team a licence to start the season after it paid its staff for the first time in three months.
      A spokesman told The Sun: “Staff are fully up to date with their salaries.”
      The 117-year-old club lost its Football League status in 2021 following back-to-back relegations and Southend West MP Anna Firth recently raised its plight in Parliament.
      Martin has been trying to find a buyer for the club since March and earlier this month said he has done “everything in my power to close the deal quickly”.
      ‘Stuck in time’
      While all this goes on the stadium Roots Hall, which has been the Shrimpers’ home since 1955, is falling into a state of disrepair and fans have been gathering outside to protest.
      Policeman Paul Burton also lives next to the ground, although his upper-level flat does not boast a view of the pitch.
      Paul, 39, said: “The stadium is stuck in time. It’s like living next to a relic – nothing has changed over there for years.
      “The owner is not the most popular person in the world, but it’s a historic club and it will be a shame if they go under.
      “Last season they had the highest average attendance in the league. They can get 8,000 or 9,000 fans turning up if they are playing one of the big London teams in the cup.
      “It doesn’t bother me having them here at all. They only play once every two weeks and if I close my windows I can’t hear the crowd. Also, this is a nice area so I enjoy living here.”
      Flats overlook the stadium and can even see on to the pitchCredit: Getty
      Hazel Newbold says litter is a nightmare on match daysCredit: JOHN McLELLAN
      Supermarket worker Hazel Newbold is less keen on the Shrimpers remaining next door to her home, however.
      Southend’s chairman bought the club in 1998 with the intention of relocating them to a new stadium at Fossetts Farm, north of the city.
      But numerous delays – one caused by the discovery of a Bronze Age burial site – have caused the proposed move to become a painful saga, dragging on for years.
      Hazel, 54, said: “We get a lot of litter on match days – that’s my main gripe. The fans put beer bottles on our wall and they fall off and smash, which is dangerous for the children.
      “The club doesn’t clear up our street, only the path that leads to the stand next to our house.
      “The floodlights are an issue as they fill our bedrooms with light and you get a lot of glare.
      “We’ve heard the alarms too but we don’t know where they came from.”
      Hazel’s son Brad Newbold, 28, lives next door to her with his partner Nikki Crockett, 36, but they are now planning to move.
      Lorry driver Brad said: “I used to go and watch games at Roots Hall when I was younger and it was a decent stadium back then, but they’ve totally let it go.
      “The parking situation is a nightmare and will only get worse if the new homes get built as there will be so many more people living here then.”
      Receptionist Nikki added: “We’re moving into town where they have parking permits because we’ve had enough. We have both agreed that wherever we go, it’s not going to be near a football stadium.”
      ‘They’re a great team’
      One person that has been happy living next to the 12,000-plus capacity stadium is police officer Mel, 35, who remembers going to watch Southend with her grandfather as a little girl.
      Almost three years ago, when they first opened, she didn’t hesitate snapping up a one bedroom flat in the new apartment complex on neighbouring Fairfax Drive.
      Mel has asked us not to use her real name because of the sensitive line of work she is involved in.
      She said: “I’ve always loved football and you can see almost the entire pitch from the terrace next to my flat.
      “I didn’t buy it for that reason. It was just that I could get a mortgage here as a first-time buyer.
      “But I’ve loved living here and the only reason I am moving is that I need a bigger place.
      “The view is definitely a selling point and I’ve had a few people come round to view it and say, ‘Wow, you can see the football stadium!’
      Read More on The Sun
      “I’m going to be sad to leave and I really hope the club has a future as they’re a great team and all the players and staff are fantastic.”
      The Sun contacted Southend United for comment, who only confirmed that salaries have been paid. More

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      How Kylian Mbappe went from growing up in poverty-stricken estate to £604m fortune as he’s offered ‘£11.6m a WEEK’ deal

      by

      HE’S one of the greatest footballers of our time and strikes fear into the hearts of defenders thanks to his ability to sprint like Usain Bolt. Now Kylian Mbappé, 24, could become the highest-paid sports star of all time as part of a record-breaking £259million transfer deal.
      Kylian Mbappé could become the world’s highest-paid footballerCredit: Getty
      If the French striker accepts the Saudi offer, it’s reported he could earn up to £11.6million a week (pictured as a teen)Credit: Offside Sports
      The French striker may move from Paris Saint-German to Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal after an offer was accepted by the club.
      It would see him make an eye-watering £11.6m per week as part of a £604m deal for just one year at the club, according to CBS Sport’s James Benge. 
      The staggering sum is worlds away from his childhood in the Paris suburb of Bondy, renowned for “violence and drugs”, where a giant mural of the star now stands with the slogan “ville des possibles” – “the town where anything is possible”. 
      Prior to the Saudi offer, Mbappé was already worth a whopping £144million and doesn’t shy away from enjoying living the high life.
      READ MORE ON TRANSFER NEWS
      From owning an £8.5million luxury pad with views of the Eiffel Tower to amassing a £1.2million car collection, we look at his glam life and the difficult start he left behind.
      Born to immigrant parents – his mum Fayza Lamari is of Algerian descent and his dad Wilfried Mbappé descends from Cameroon – Mbappé grew up in a town notorious for its riots.
      In 2005, when Mbappé was five, violent protests against police harassment saw angry youths torch cars, attack cops and vandalise buildings. 
      When Bleacher Report visited in 2017, it reported the working-class area still has high crime rates and the unemployment rate is double the national average, but locals say things are improving.
      Most read in Football
      A mural in Bondy pays tribute to its footballing legendCredit: Getty
      One optimistic resident Elfilali Ahmed said: “When I used to tell people I was from Bondy, they would ask about the violence and drug use. Now, they all ask me about Kylian Mbappé and if I know him.”
      Another resident who lives in a block of flats yards from the one Mbappé grew up in told the Mirror: “What he has achieved is a great inspiration for children around here.
      “Life in Bondy is sometimes hard and he is showing them there is a way out of what can be a dark place.”
      Mbappé has put his success down to practice and determination.
      “In football, everything is possible through hard work and I think that has been important,” he told beIN Sports last year.
      “I’ve always believed in myself and I knew I was capable of doing great things. It isn’t just about desire and wanting to succeed, you must work hard.”
      £8.5m luxury pad
      Inside Mbappé’s luxury Paris apartment, which boasts a basketball courtCredit: Instagram
      These days Mbappé lives in a luxurious £8.5million multi-floor apartment in Neuilly-sur-Seine, an exclusive Paris neighbourhood loved by celebrities which boasts views of the Eiffel Tower.
      Mbappé has remained tight-lipped about what his home is like, but it’s believed to have 12 bedrooms, a basketball court, library, gym and Turkish bath.
      It’s also believed to have an outdoor jacuzzi perfect for relaxing and gazing at the Eiffel Tower.
      £1.2m cars
      Mbappé owns many high-end vehicles but cannot driveCredit: Instagram
      The sports star’s most expensive vehicle is a Ferrari 488 Pista, worth £450,000Credit: Getty
      Over the years Mbappé has owned an enviable array of beautiful cars – despite being unable to drive. 
      He rationed that having “drivers at my disposal” meant it had “never been a priority” to get his driving licence. 
      His jaw-dropping vehicles include a Ferrari Hybrid SF90 Stradale, which he bought for £400,000 – one week’s salary.
      The striker also boasts a Ferrari 488 Pista that goes from 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds and costs an estimated £450,000.
      Among Mbappé’s collection are several more practical vehicles including a seven-seater Mercedes Benz V-Class, which cost around £115,000.
      He also has a £103,000 Volswagen Touareg, a £65,000 Wolkswagen Multivan and a Volkswagen Tiguan worth £49,000. 
      Goal.com also claims he owns a BMW, an Audi and a Range Rover – but no details regarding what models have been released. 
      Designer clobber
      Mbappé fell in love with trainers after getting his first pair of Nike Air Max 1sCredit: Instagram / @k.mbappe
      He has a range of expensive pairs including high-tops from a Dior-Nike collaborationCredit: Getty
      Mbappé is a self-confessed “sneakerhead” – someone with a love for trainers – and admitted having a “small collection” in a 2018 interview with Hype Beast.
      The footballer said the shoes brought him “real pleasure” and described himself as “like a kid with a new toy” whenever he gets a new pair. 
      He added: “I’ve always been a sneaker lover, so it’s a pleasure to buy new pairs and mix them with my clothes to flex a little.”
      In a 2019 Complex video, Mbappé forked out £935 for two pairs of trainers – Air Max 90 Ice in ‘Gym Red’ and Jordan XI ‘Parton’ in blue.
      He revealed he fell in love with the footwear after his mum saved up to buy him a pair of Nike Air Max 1s.
      Describing them as the “apple of my eye” he said he “cleaned them every day”.
      The footballer’s other favourite trainers include neon yellow Air Jordan 1 Gatorade due to their “flashy colour”. He also professed love for Air Jordan 5 PSGs and high-top Air Jordan 1s.
      Jetset holidays
      While Mbappé is relatively private, he enjoys sharing snaps from his lush holidaysCredit: Instagram
      The footballer is snapped flying on a private jetCredit: Instagram / @k.mbappe
      When Mbappé’s not enjoying the views from his beautiful Paris home, he’s known to love holidaying abroad. 
      Just last month he was spotted playing paddle tennis with friends on Miami’s South Beach in Florida.
      Mbappé was also snapped playing a game of Jenga with two bikini-clad women.
      It’s not the only holiday he’s taken this year, with the star being pictured during a trip to Marrakech, Morocco.
      Spanish newspaper Mundo Reportivo reported Mbappé was joined by France teammate Eduardo Camavinga and other Real Madrid stars during multiple trips.
      Mbappé regularly shares photos of himself on private jets and at envy-inducing locations including a remote temple, beside a beautiful cove and in high-end hotels.
      Just a few of the other spots he has visited have included Disney Land Paris, Cameroon and New York.
      Celebrity pals
      The French strikes is also close pals with Basketball star LeBron JamesCredit: Instagram / @k.mbappe
      Mbappé appears to be good friends with ex-England ace David BeckhamCredit: Instagram / @k.mbappe
      The sports star isn’t just popular on the pitch, but off it too, boasting a number of A-list pals including basketball legend LeBron James, who he collaborated with for the Nike footwear range ‘Chosen 2’.
      For the collaboration, Mbappé co-designed football boots for the clothing giant, which cost £250 a pair, were named Mercurial Superfly and were black with an iridescent finish.
      It seemed he and James hit it off as they have been pictured together multiple times since including once while exchanging shirt.
      Mbappé also has a wealth of admirers from the footballing world including David Beckham, Theirry Henry and the late great Pele.
      £150k watch stash
      Mbappé holding a £48,900 Hublot Integrated King Gold watchCredit: Instagram / @k.mbappe
      It’s not just trainers that Mbappé appears to have an eye for – he has a thing for extremely expensive watches boasting a collection worth nearly £150,000.
      During the FIFA World Cup last year he was seen posing with a £48,900 Hublot Big Bang King Gold.
      Mbappé has also sported a number of other timepieces from the brand including Big Bang Steel Diamonds, which cost £16,100, and the Unico Titanium Rainbow, which cost £59,900.
      The most expensive he’s been pictured wearing in public to date was a Big Bang Unico, which costs up to £65,161.
      Generous star
      While he lives a privileged lifestyle, Mbappé hasn’t forgotten his roots and is known for generously giving away large sums of his vast wealth.
      The Sun reported he donated his 2018 World Cup match fees and bonuses – roughly £400,000 – to a children’s charity.
      The following year Mbappé donated £25,000 to help fund a private search for the footballer Emiliano Sala after his plane vanished while travelling from Nantes to Cardiff. 
      Sadly, the striker’s body and the aircraft wreckage were discovered in the English Channel one month after he disappeared in February 2019.
      Mbappé was also reported to have made a “very large” donation to homelessness charity Abbe Pierre Foundation.
      Read More on The Sun
      In a 2021 statement the organisation thanked him for his generosity that would help with “first aid actions, access to water and hygiene”.
      Mbappé even launched his own charity, Inspired by KM, in 2020 and supports 98 disadvantaged children in Paris “until their working lives begin”.  More