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      PSG star in ‘intensive care’ with head injuries after falling off horse and being rushed to hospital in helicopter

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      PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN goalkeeper Sergio Rico is reportedly in intensive care following a severe horse riding accident in Spain.The 29-year-old was rushed to hospital in a helicopter on Saturday morning after falling from his horse in El Rocio, Huelva, and is in a serious condition.
      Rico has been hospitalised with a severe head injuryCredit: Getty
      The goalkeeper was rushed to hospital on SaturdayCredit: Getty
      Reports claim that he suffered severe head trauma which meant he had to be intubated upon his arrival at the Virgen del Rocío hospital in Seville.
      Details regarding the potential extent of the goalkeeper’s injuries are yet to be confirmed by his family or the hospital.
      PSG released a brief statement referencing the accident on Sunday afternoon.
      It read: “Paris Saint-Germain learned of the accident of their player Sergio Rico this Sunday and remain in constant contact with those close to them.
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      “The entire Rouge et Bleu community gives them their full support.”
      Rico joined PSG in a £5.2million transfer from Sevilla in 2020 after a 14-year spell with the Spanish side.
      He has made just 24 appearances for the French giants since joining and is yet to play a match this season.
      PSG claimed another Ligue 1 title on Saturday following a 1-1 draw with Strasbourg.
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      Lionel Messi’s second-half goal, which was later cancelled out by Kevin Gameiro, was enough to make the Parisians untouchable at the top of the table.
      PSG were being chased down by shock title contenders RC Lens until the penultimate game of the season, but a point was enough to seal the club’s 11th league title.
      Meanwhile, Lens fans remained in high spirits despite falling short of the title as the club secured Champions League football for the first time in 20 years. More

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      Kasper Schmeichel’s Nice future in doubt after less than 12 months with Leicester legend to be allowed to leave

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      NICE will allow Kasper Schmeichel to leave the club this summer, according to reports.Schmeichel, 36, joined the Ligue 1 side in a shock transfer from Leicester last summer after an 11-year spell at the King Power.
      Nice will reportedly allow Kasper Schmeichel to leave this summerCredit: Getty
      He has kept 11 clean sheets in 34 Ligue 1 appearances so far this season, helping the club to achieve the second-best defensive record in the division.
      But despite his efforts, Schemichel’s future at the Allianz Riviera is in doubt.
      According to French outlet L’Equipe, Nice will not stand in the way of the goalkeeper if he decides leave the club this summer.
      Several members of the squad are said to be growing annoyed by Schmeichel’s training methods.
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      His lack of leadership, along with his preference to manage himself, is causing tensions to rise.
      If Schmeichel does depart, reserve goalkeeper Marcin Bulka will likely step up to become the club’s No 1.
      Earlier this month, the Dane admitted that he would be open to a return to Leicester.
      During an appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, he said: “I don’t think my chapter with Leicester will ever end.
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      “I still say we, the club will always be a part [of me].
      “I came to Leicester as a young man needing a home and needing somewhere to be accepted for who I was and not for what everyone else thought I should be.
      “Leicester gave me that, and even after 11 years there’s still something unwritten for me there.”
      Schmeichel joined Leicester from Manchester City in 2011 and played an integral role in some of the club’s most significant moments.
      He helped the Foxes earn promotion from the Championship in 2014 before contributing to the club’s incredible Premier League title win two years later.
      The goalkeeper also won the FA Cup and the Community Shield during his spell at the King Power Stadium.
      But in his absence they are now facing relegation, with the Foxes 19th in the table with two games remaining. More

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      Footy star ‘enrages dressing room as he runs up £90k gambling debt with team-mates’ after betting fine from FA

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      FRENCH Cup winner Rasmus Nicolaisen was dropped by his club Toulouse – after reportedly running up £90,000 GAMBLING DEBTS with his team-mates.And the Danish defender has previous history with betting problems, after being fined by the FA during his Portsmouth spell two seasons ago.
      Rasmus Nicolaisen caused a rift in the Toulouse dressing room after racking up debts £90,000Credit: Getty
      The 26-year-old was dropped for one game while the issue was resolvedCredit: Getty
      Nicolaisen was ordered to pay £2,500 after being found guilty of making 53 football-related bets while on loan at Fratton Park.
      The 26-year-old joined Toulouse in 2021, and won the Ligue 2 title with them last year.
      He has made 37 appearances this season to help the south-western club comfortably settle in France’s top flight.
      And the centre-back played in Toulouse’s 5-1 Coupe de France final win over Nantes three weeks ago.
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      However, multiple reports in France and Denmark reveal Nicolaisen borrowed a total of 100,000 euros from half a dozen of his clubmates to gamble online.
      And tensions reportedly reached boiling point in the Violets dressing-room when the Dane failed to repay his debts.
      Senior players are said to have voiced their concerns to Toulouse president Damien Comolli, threatening the former Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool official with strike action.
      And club coach Philippe Montanier dropped Nicolaisen for the April 14 clash with Lyon, claiming he was injured. Toulouse lost 2-1.
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      Since the incident, he has played in three of the last four games for the French outfit.
      Club chiefs later granted the defender a salary advance so he could refund his team-mates.
      Nicolaisen and his agent Jens Orgaard did not initially reply to media enquiries.
      The revelations emerged just a day after Brentford striker Ivan Toney landed an eight-month football ban for breaking FA betting rules.
      The England international was also fined £50,000 after he admitted 232 rule breaches.
      Nicolaisen made 27 Portsmouth appearances, scoring once, while on loan from Midtjylland during 2020-21.
      The FA enquiry found he had not placed any bets on Pompey’s games, and had been unaware of the difference in gambling rules between Danish and English football. More

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      Ex-Chelsea boss Graham Potter closes in on return to management after positive talks with surprise club

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      FORMER Chelsea boss Graham Potter is reportedly closing in on his next job at Nice.Current manager Didier Digard is set to depart the club at the end of the season.
      Nice have spoken to Graham Potter about becoming managerCredit: Rex
      That means the Ligue Un side are seeking a permanent manager and Potter is under consideration.
      According to Footmercato, Nice have met with Potter on two occasions to discuss the job.
      And Potter is believed to be open to the prospect of joining the French club, who sit tenth in the league after a difficult campaign.
      Nice owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is reportedly keen to appoint an English speaker.
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      Potter ticks that box and Ratcliffe hopes to lure him to the south coast with the promise of funds to spend.
      Nice are said to be ambitious and they believe Potter matches that following his success with Brighton.
      Potter has been without a club since his sacking by Chelsea in April.
      The former Brighton boss was picked to take over at Stamford Bridge by the new Todd Boehly-led ownership in September.
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      But things quickly unravelled by April with Potter booted out after overseeing a string of poor results.
      Potter made his name by managing abroad and grew his reputation over seven years at Swedish club Ostersunds.
      He spent a year at Swansea before Brighton swooped, with Potter becoming loved by fans for turning the Seagulls into an attractive, mid-table Premier League outfit.
      But his time at Chelsea proved difficult as Potter struggled to get on top of the club’s string of big money signings More

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      Messi booed by PSG fans in first match since Saudi trip with team-mate admitting ‘it hurts’ amid Barcelona transfer talk

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      LIONEL MESSI was booed by Paris Saint-Germain fans in his first match back since his unsanctioned trip to Saudi Arabia.The Argentine legend missed training to visit the Middle East with his family.
      Lionel Messi was jeered by PSG fans versus AjaccioCredit: Rex
      Danilo Pereira has been left saddened by the supporters’ reactionCredit: AP
      Messi was then slapped with a suspension by PSG for the unauthorised trip – although they later backed down.
      In his first game back after the incident, the 35-year-old was jeered and whistled by some of the team’s supporters in their 5-0 win over Ajaccio.
      Team-mate Danilo Pereira was left saddened by the fans’ reaction, saying: “The context is hard, it hurts to see a teammate being whistled.
      “If we have to whistle, we have to whistle the whole team.”
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      Messi travelled to Saudi Arabia to fulfil commercial work as he’s an ambassador for the country’s tourism board.
      Since agreeing the £25million deal last year, he had only been to the nation once.
      Messi’s contract at PSG ends this summer and despite the club having the option to renew it for one-year, he reportedly wants to leave and club are understood to be happy for him to go.
      He has been linked with a return to Barcelona, where he spent 21 years, winning ten LaLiga titles and four Champions Leagues.
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      The Catalan giants are keen to bring him back due to the financial boost he can offer the club as they aim to balance the books amid cash difficulties.
      However, Barca must reduce their wage bill and Messi may have to take a huge pay cut to re-join his former side.
      He has also been linked with a lucrative move to a club in Saudi Arabia. More

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      PSG are in a right old Messi as he moves closer to facing Cristiano Ronaldo in a riotously expensive publicity stunt

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      PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN are truly in a Messi over the world’s greatest player.All that money paid by PSG owners and now faced with the prospect that rival oil state Saudi Arabia could grab him for a reputed £522million contract.
      Karren Brady writes exclusively for Sun SportCredit: Andrew Styczynski – The Sun
      Lionel Messi was suspended and fined by PSG for his recent Saudi tripCredit: PA
      So PSG are on the brink of Lionel’s labours lost. And they will be lost to competitive European football, to a team who play in the modest Saudi Pro-League.
      Should Messi choose desert sands rather than the delights of Paris, Milan or perhaps some other city yet to be leaked to reporters, the rematch in Riyadh of the Argentinian star and the wilful Ronaldo, paid the paltry sum by comparison of £174m a year by Al Nassr, will be on the Saudi capital’s agenda.
      No doubt it would be sold in Saudi as big as the World Cup held in Qatar last November.
      Saudi royal sheikhs were not delighted by Qatar’s successful selling of Fifa’s controversial choice of country, which was soon reported to be brutally using a human resource of workers from the Indian sub-continent.
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      But the possibility of a rerun or two of the highly publicised Ronaldo-Messi match-ups must have given irritated Saudi sheikhs a taste of retribution which seems to be, perhaps like their popular testicle soup, best eaten cold.
      Whether two 35-plus players taking part in what amounts to a riotously expensive publicity stunt rather than a thrilling football occasion owes any significant passing attraction to gushing oil wells rather than public demand.
      Old champions and repeated Ballon d’Or winners don’t die, they only fade away.
      The major losers so far are PSG, whose own pursuit of a Champions League title has been as frustrating as Frank Bruno’s was for the world heavyweight belt.
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      Initially, PSG’s Qatari owners must have believed that the acquisition of Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, arguably then the three best attacking players in the world, were a guarantee of becoming European champions.
      Too much of a good thing maybe or even that they should have been purchasing better defenders, but the guarantee wasn’t worth the paper it wasn’t written on.
      Now Neymar is on his way somewhere, maybe the Premier League. That Messi, captain of the world champions, visited Saudi recently as part of a promotional trip — upsetting PSG’s owners, who banned and fined him for his two-day jolly — suggests a transfer move rather than chats about selling the country’s tourist potential.
      Anyway, Neymar was determined to take his ball control and not-so-controlled moods elsewhere.
      And by all accounts so is Messi for probably the last move of his magnificent career.
      Mbappe might well remain in the French capital, although he tends to be difficult to predict.
      Qatari citizens are also in a long financial wrestle with Brit Sir Jim Ratcliffe to pay multi-billions to the Glazers, who intend to make a last killing at Manchester United before hightailin’ it back to the US.
      All of which makes me ­wonder how wise it is to allow the citizens of one country to buy control of two major European clubs.
      United’s potential owners, like those at Newcastle, claim that they are totally separate elements but questions remain.
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      These would be very pointed should United be paired with PSG in a future Champions League.
      My take on it all is that Fifa and Uefa should consider whether fair play and fair purchase should feature in fresh legislation. More

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      How PSG could line up under Jose Mourinho with Harry Maguire alongside former Man Utd and Chelsea flops

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      PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN could have a whole new look to them next year if Jose Mourinho takes the helm.And instead of superstar names such as Neymar and Lionel Messi, they may have a few instead that struggled in the Premier League.
      Jose Mourinho looks set to take charge of PSG this summerCredit: Getty
      Harry Maguire is one of the players linked with a switch to Parc des PrincesCredit: Getty
      We reported how Mourinho has reportedly identified his first signing at Paris Saint-Germain.
      Former Red Devils, Chelsea and Tottenham boss Mourinho is being strongly tipped for the PSG job this summer.
      Christophe Galtier is expected to be dismissed after a poor showing in the Champions League.
      There are also claims of a massive squad fracture, with Messi set to depart along with world-record signing Neymar, who SunSport understands is another target for United.
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      And Roma gaffer Mourinho could be the man hired to solve the situation with it widely-believed that the Special One has already held a meeting with PSG chiefs expressing his desire to join.
      It has been claimed Morocco’s World Cup star Sofyan Amrabat is Mourinho’s first target should he get the PSG job.
      The talented holding midfielder has been starring for Fiorentina over the past three years.
      And Mourinho is so eager for Amrabat to anchor his PSG side that he’s already spoken to the player’s agent.
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      However, he is not the only man that the Portuguese coach could bring in.
      We revealed that Harry Maguire is a shock £50m summer target for misfiring French giants PSG.
      SunSport can reveal that a deal ‘was on the table’ for Manchester United’s skipper in the January transfer window but time ran out before it could be finalised.
      But that has only mothballed a move that will offer the England centre-half an escape route from his frustrating four year spell at Old Trafford.
      PSG will have to match Maguire’s £200,000-a-week wages but with the club backed by billions of Qatari petro-dollars that is not seen as a problem.
      Meanwhile, should Neymar and Messi depart, then Mourinho will need to bring in some attacking reinforcements.
      The Daily Express claims that one of those potentially on PSG’s radar is Chelsea flop Hakim Ziyech.
      The Moroccan forward was not at Stamford Bridge during Mourinho’s second spell there but he was set to join PSG in January before the move collapsed.
      And with the same directors still at the Parc des Princes, it is allegedly a deal that PSG may look to revive over the summer. 
      The same publication also links him with a potential swoop for his current Roma striker Tammy Abraham.
      He has managed the Englishman both at the Blues and Roma and could look to reunite with the powerhouse forward in France.
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      And another name linked is Manchester United’s Scott McTominay.
      The 26-year-old, who Mourinho promoted to the first-team at Old Trafford, is believed to be one of the players that United chief Erik ten Hag wants to offload to fund new signings. More

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      Watch former West Ham star Dimitri Payet ‘SLAP rival coach’ as he faces being banned for the rest of the season

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      DIMITRI PAYET has been accused of “slapping” an opposition coach during Marseille’s fiery victory over Lens.The Ligue 1 clash took place on Saturday night and the Frenchman found himself at the centre of attention despite not even starting the game.
      Former West Ham star Dimitri Payet has been accused of slapping a rival coachCredit: Prime Video via Twitter
      Dimitri Payet went on to score the winner off the bench against LensCredit: Reuters

      The match was marred by an altercation when Lens’ Argentine full-back Facundo Medina rifled the ball towards the Marseille bench. 
      Tensions began to boil over between both sets of players following that angry encounter.
      Both sets of stars and each team’s respective coaching staff got involved in some pushing and shoving down near the touchline.
      That led to referee Clement Turpin sending off a member of the Marseille staff and Lens’ assistant manager Yannick Cahuzac.
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      However, footage from Amazon Prime Video has now appeared to show ex-West Ham ace Payet, who was still an unused substitute at the time of the incident, slapping Cahuzac.
      Lens boss Franck Haise was then allegedly heard urging the ref: “Monsieur Turpin! Monsieur Payet should receive a red card!
      “Did you not see the slap?”
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      However, Payet managed to escape any punishment.
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      And he later came off the bench to grab the second goal for Marseille and earn them a 2-1 victory, although some reports in France are claiming he could now be facing a ban if found guilty of the salp.
      Despite their setback, results elsewhere did ensure that Lens have secured second spot in the Ligue 1 table behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain. More