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Arsenal and manager Mikel Arteta have made a "very strange" signing in Chelsea forward Kai Havertz, says talkSPORT pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Who have Arsenal signed this summer?

The Gunners have many plates spinning in north London with some reports even suggesting they could spend in and around £200 million in total on new additions.

West Ham star Declan Rice, who is reliably believed to be of interest, has already been at the centre of two rejected bids from Arsenal with one of them being a club record.

Meanwhile, it is believed that Ajax defender Jurrien Timber and Southampton's Romeo Lavia are on the list, with talks being held over both players (Football Insider).

Before all of them, though, Arsenal and sporting director Edu have sealed the signing of Chelsea's Havertz in a £65 million move from Chelsea – with the German set to undergo medical tests ahead of a formal announcement (The Evening Standard).

Fabrizio Romano also backs that Arsenal have signed the forward, though former Aston Villa striker Agbonlahor thinks the Gunners are making a mistake.

Indeed, the talkSPORT regular seems to believe that Havertz actually doesn't suit Arteta's system, and they should be looking for an out-and-out goalscorer instead.

"I don't understand that transfer its very strange,” Agbonlahor told Football Insider.

“It would be a wrong deal for the Gunners, and I am sure that their fans would agree.”

How has Kai Havertz played?

Scoring just seven goals and grabbing one assist last season, you wouldn't describe Havertz as a serious goal-getter, but his versatility will be a big draw for Arteta.

He can play anywhere across the forward line, out wide and in central attacking midfield, with the 24-year-old also averaging more attempts at goal per 90 than any Chelsea player last season bar Joao Felix (WhoScored).

Havertz, for £65 million, could be viewed as a promising transfer and it will be interesting to see how Arteta utilises him.

As the Big Bash League wallows in praise after another successful year, the financial challenge facing English professional cricket remains as stark as ever as it seeks to increase the capacities of its stadia with an eye to the crowd potential of Twenty2

David Hopps28-Jan-2017As the Big Bash League wallows in praise after another successful year, the financial challenge facing English professional cricket remains as stark as ever as it seeks to increase the capacities of its stadia with an eye to the crowd potential of Twenty20 cricket.That challenge is illustrated by Warwickshire’s financial results for 2015-16, which have just been announced.Edgbaston has become the accepted home of Twenty20 Finals Day and a once unimpressive ground has been transformed into an appealing 24,000-capacity stadium but it has not been without financial pain.Warwickshire have reported turnover of £14.3m and an operating profit of £785,761 for 2015-16. That county cricket has the potential to prosper – admittedly thanks to a hefty central contribution from international revenue – is therefore apparent.But once the paying off of debts, interest, tax and depreciation is taken into account – most of them arising from the £32 million redevelopment of Edgbaston, which was completed in 2011 – the situation is more challenging.Factor in a payment of £1.1 million to Birmingham City Council to service a loan and the situation worsens. Add depreciation charges of £1.4 million, tax and other costs and the bottom line loss is £2.26m. Quite a difference.Warwickshire’s story is far from unique. Durham needed an ECB bail-out. Yorkshire are desperate to fund the replacement of a dilapidated main stand at Headingley and already have debts of £23m.The 18 English counties are indebted to a total of £150m-plus and the ECB is sitting on offshore reserves which rose as high as £73m before falling last summer because Test series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan did not attract particularly lucrative TV deals.Those reserves are jealously guarded. The former ECB chief executive, David Collier, justified the stockpiling as a contingency should the death of the Queen, and a resulting 12 days of mourning, cause heavy financial losses.Even more disturbing for English cricket would be a shift of the balance between international and club cricket. Should that occur, the English counties would have to become more self-sufficient and only a lucrative T20 tournament can deliver that.Warwickshire had a relatively successful year in 2016 season. They won the Royal London Cup and attracted more than 80,000 spectators across five days of England’s Test victory over Pakistan.The club also achieved ticket and hospitality sell-outs for its one-day international – England versus Sri Lanka – and NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day.Off the field, Edgbaston increased its share of the West Midlands’ conference and events market by developing year-on-year sales from £2.2 million to a record £2.5 million. Revenue from commercial advertising also increased.Twenty20 cricket, however, has yet to set Birmingham alight – attendances at Birmingham Bears’ home matches in the NatWest Blast are growing but not spectacularly.That makes it no surprise that the club is strongly in favour of a move to a more marketable new T20 competition based upon the biggest grounds in the country. A 25,000-seater stadium needs to be filled not just for international cricket but for T20, too.Craig Flindall, Warwickshire’s chief operating officer, said: “The 2015-16 financial year was always forecast to be the most challenging in our 2016-2019 financial cycle, and the results are in line with our budgets set at the start of the year.”The quality and volume of our major match days remains the primary driver of revenue and profit and a significant fall in both was expected in 2016 because of the comparative demand for the Investec Test match against Pakistan.”However, the transformation in the business since 2010, when England last hosted Pakistan in a Test at Edgbaston, is reflected in the comparison in the results, with turnover and EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] in 2016 being £6.5m and £2.4m higher than 2010 respectively.”English cricket is pinning hopes over the next few years on a major financial inflow from the Champions Trophy in 2017 and from the 2019 World Cup. If 50-over cricket is conceding ground to T20, the process is slower at international level where T20 international fixtures are deliberately underplayed. The ECB are desperate that this trend persists for a few years yet.Flindall captured that mood. “We expect to see EBITDA and bottom line revenues grow significantly over the next three years as Edgbaston hosts up to 28 days of major match cricket,” he said. “We have an 11-day programme in 2017, which includes five matches in the ICC Champions Trophy, England’s first day/night Investec Test match and NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day.”Beyond the coming season, Edgbaston’s major match allocation includes a Test against India, a T20I and T20 Blast Finals Day in 2018, and an Ashes Test match and five matches in the World Cup in 2019.Financial pressures at Sky TV, however, where Premier League football viewing figures have dropped markedly, will leave the ECB nervous as they conduct negotiations for the next TV rights deal.Measured against the value of those rights is the recognition that cricket’s popularity has waned in the UK as it has disappeared from State schools and free-to-air TV and there has been a shrinking of the amateur game.Filling Edgbaston for a domestic NatWest Blast fixture will remain a challenge unless there is a major jolt to the system.At a time of flux in the broadcasting market, there are new markets to be explored, but until that flux settles, and a new TV rights deal is delivered that can sustain the future of English cricket, disquiet will remain.Warwickshire are an example of that. Most of the 18 first-class counties know the feeling.

Tottenham Hotspur are expected to be involved in important stages of a potential swoop for James Maddison "very soon", according to Fabrizio Romano.

How old is James Maddison?

The England midfielder's time at Leicester City is now seemingly entering its final stages following their hugely underwhelming 2022/23 campaign.

Relegation to the Championship will have shocked many at the King Power Stadium, however, it does not seem some of their star players are willing to hang about and help them return to the top flight.

But this comes amid reports the Foxes could bring in significant money for the likes of the 26-year-old Maddison.

Indeed, it has been suggested the relegated side could look to bring in around £60m for their prized asset this summer.

In addition to Tottenham's reported interest in Maddison, it has also been claimed recently that they would be keen to potentially sign Harvey Barnes this summer too.

But reports of a £50m combined bid for the Leicester duo have been shut down after emerging on Thursday afternoon.

Speaking on his Here We Go podcast, Romano has, however, claimed the Lilywhites could see themselves involved in significant negotiations very shortly:

"So the situation is 100% ready and ready to be discussed in the next days. And I think we will enter into important stages very, very soon, but Tottenham are there."

How much does James Maddison earn?

The north London side struggled over the 2022/23 campaign for creativity coming from the midfield with their highest provider of assists Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

He was only able to provide seven assists over his 44 appearances across all competitions which highlights their struggles.

These struggles are shown when you consider Maddison was able to provide a hugely underwhelming Leicester side with nine assists in the league alone (via Transfermarkt).

On top of this, the England midfielder was able to provide 10 goals on top of his impressive return of assists.

However, it is not only Spurs who are showing an interest in the £110k-per-week midfielder this summer with the likes of Newcastle United also said to be monitoring the 26-year-old's future.

And it seems as if some of the Toon's players are trying to play their part in potentially influencing Maddison's decision.

Indeed, Callum Wilson has been posting some teasing Instagram stories from the England camp where he has hinted towards a potential move to the north east for the midfielder.

But it is believed Spurs may hold the upper hand this summer as some claim they are the club more likely to be willing to match Leicester's valuation.

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur has said the speed with which his team “adapt to conditions” could determine the direction of the Test series against Australia

Brydon Coverdale12-Dec-20162:26

‘Pakistan more settled than Australia’ – Arthur

Mickey Arthur knows all about difficult foreign conditions, for as Australia’s coach in 2013 he was at the helm for a 4-0 series loss in India. Under Darren Lehmann, Australia’s record in Asia has stretched to nine consecutive defeats. But neither is it easy for Asian teams to handle the pace and bounce of Australian pitches, and Arthur’s task over the next month is to help Pakistan turn around their recent form in Australia, where they have lost nine Tests in a row.Pakistan has not won a Test in Australia since 1995, when legspinner Mushtaq Ahmed was key to them claiming victory at the SCG, although it was a dead rubber after Australia had already secured the series. They have come close, though: when they last visited in 2009-10, Pakistan seemed to have the Sydney Test in their grasp with a 206-run first-innings lead, but let Australia off with a choke of epic proportions.”For us the key is adapting to conditions, and if we can adapt to conditions quick enough we’ll be fine,” Arthur said. “I constantly remind the players if we can be getting 270, 280, 300, we’re in the game because we’ve got the ability to take 20 wickets. If we can use the new ball particularly well against Australia, we’ll be good. And seven left-handers in their 11 makes our left-armers even more potent.”That this series begins at the Gabba will only add to the challenge for Pakistan, as Australia has not lost a Test at the venue since 1988. However, both sides enter this game with a sense of the unknown, for it is the Gabba’s first day-night Test. Pakistan’s bowlers destroyed a Cricket Australia XI in a pink-ball warm-up in Cairns last week, but the Pakistan batsmen also found it hard going on a green pitch.”I thought we played quite well actually,” Arthur said of the Cairns game. “Batting was a little bit of a struggle and there’s no secret we need to get some runs and adapting outside our own conditions is difficult. It’s like Australia playing in the sub-continent.”So we’re working extremely hard on that. But I was so impressed by the way we bowled. I thought we bowled fantastically well. We fielded very, very well, caught well behind the stumps. So we ticked a lot of boxes which was great.”It will be interesting the amount of grass on the wicket. After dark it certainly did a bit more in Cairns. [Gabba curator] Kevin Mitchell was up in Cairns and he said the amount of grass left on the wicket was going to be pretty similar to the grass he’ll leave on here. The pink ball does certainly get softer. It swung early conventionally but then it didn’t go reverse that much. It certainly did a little bit more in the last hour which has been the trend and the norm for every day-night Test.”Pakistan are hopeful that legspinner Yasir Shah will be fit for the Brisbane Test after a back injury kept him out of the Cairns game. Yasir would be encouraged not only by his own pink-ball form – he picked up seven wickets in the day-night Test against West Indies in Dubai – but also the record of spinners at the Gabba, which was Shane Warne’s most productive ground.’Seven left-handers in their 11 makes our left-armers even more potent’ – Mickey Arthur•AFP”Yasir Shah is coming on nicely. He’s come along really well,” Arthur said. “He bowled six overs the last day in Cairns [in the nets] which was pleasing. It will be good to see him go in the nets today, I saw him in the hotel and he seemed fine … He’s obviously integral to our plans.”The presence of Yasir should also help with Pakistan’s recent trouble with poor over rates. In their recent Test in Christchurch, the fast bowlers did the bulk of the work and captain Misbah-ul-Haq copped a one-Test suspension due to sloppy over-rates. In the next Test in Hamilton, Pakistan played four quick bowlers, which led to stand-in captain Azhar Ali also being penalised for the team’s slow over-rates.”Over-rates is an absolute priority for us,” Arthur said. “Our players are giving away all their cash and we’ve had a captain suspended because of it. We’ve just got to be better than that, we have to get through our overs and there’s a constant reminder all the time that we have to get through our overs.”Pakistan, like Australia, enter this Test having recently been ranked No.1 in the Test rankings, but having slipped out of the top two following some disappointing away results. Pakistan’s series loss in New Zealand and Australia’s thrashing in Sri Lanka and then their loss at home to South Africa means both teams are entering this series searching for form.”The one thing we are is fairly settled,” Arthur said. “We’re a fairly settled unit. Everybody knows who’s going to play and where they’re going to play and how they’re going to fit in. The only issue is around our quick bowlers and that will be a horses for courses decision. The top seven know exactly where they’re going to bat, and they’ve known that for almost the last year … Whereas Australia probably aren’t as stable as what we are.”Sometimes that’s dangerous to get a team at that stage because the expectation is so low. But they’re all fine cricketers. Other guys then step up. I think Davey Warner’s in great touch, Usman Khawaja’s in great touch, Hazlewood and Starc are world class. So we’re under no illusions how difficult it’s going to be for us. It’s exactly like Australia going to India. It’s tough, the conditions are totally opposite. But we’re up for it and we’re here to give it our best shot.”

Rangana Herath’s seventh ten-for in Tests put a depleted Sri Lanka side within touching distance of a 2-0 Test series sweep in Zimbabwe

The Report by Shashank Kishore09-Nov-2016
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRangana Herath became the first bowler to take 50 wickets in 2016•Associated PressThree days between Tests is hardly enough for teams to work on their weaknesses. But this was Zimbabwe’s opportunity to prove they had learnt from their mistakes in the first Test, or at least from their first innings in this Test. Going by the evidence of the 45 overs they batted on the fourth day, they haven’t.Rangana Herath, Sri Lanka’s stand-in captain, who on the previous day had become just the third bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan and Dale Steyn to complete five-wicket hauls against all Test oppositions, picked up five wickets to leave Zimbabwe in a spin. Along the way, he became the first bowler to take 50 wickets in 2016. Chasing an improbable 491, after Sri Lanka’s declaration on 258 for 9 midway through the second session, Zimbabwe slumped to 180 for 7, with first-innings half-centurion Craig Ervine and Donald Tiripano at the crease.The first three wickets fell in identical fashion – batsmen pressing forward and playing either outside the line or inside the line without any conviction, almost like they were searching for the ball without quite reading the trajectory. The deliveries that got Brian Chari and Hamilton Masakadza were arm balls, while another flighted delivery spun away from the rough to take Tino Mawoyo’s edge off a tentative push to Dhananjaya de Silva at slip.Sean Williams decided the best way to score runs was to step out to the spinners. He was lucky that a couple of mis-hits landed safe. But the visible difference in his approach was that there were no half-measures – a slog sweep off Dilruwan Perera from outside off over deep midwicket underscored that point. Having weathered the early storm against spin, he paid the price for relaxing against the pacers. His ugly waft away from the body resulted in a thick edge to first slip off Lahiru Kumara.Then Dhananjaya, handed the ball perhaps just to shake things up, had a wicket in his second over when Malcolm Waller looked to drive, much like he did in the first innings, to a ball that drifted away to take the edge through to the wicketkeeper.Not even the loss of five wickets in the session curbed the instincts of Zimbabwe’s batsmen. Peter Moor kept going after the bowlers and struck them well for as long as he was around, before jabbing with hard hands to be caught at silly point. Then came perhaps the ball of the innings when Herath got one to drift in and spin away to square up Graeme Cremer and hit the stumps. It was fitting that the special delivery brought his seventh ten-wicket haul in Tests.Meanwhile, Ervine, it appeared, was batting on a completely different plane, playing deliveries on merit while taking toll of the half-trackers. Zimbabwe will need him and Tiripano, who in the past has proved to be a handy batsman, to carry on for as possible to at least reduce the margin of defeat.The first session had been attritional, with Sri Lanka happy to take their time to grind Zimbabwe down. Resuming on 102 for 4, they added 75 in the first session to leave Dimuth Karunaratne facing the prospect of bringing up his fifth Test ton. Asela Gunaratne, the other overnight batsman, made a sparkling 39, driving from the rough and playing with a degree of authority, before falling lbw to Tiripano on 39.Sri Lanka’s intent to up the scoring in the second session was evident from the outset. Given a license to attack, in line with his natural game, Kusal Perera swept, swiped and reverse-swept his way to a half-century off just 61 balls to swell Sri Lanka’s second-innings total.Suranga Lakmal too helped himself like he would in a buffet, picking away leg stump half-volleys and half-trackers to the boundary in an entertaining 47-run ninth-wicket stand. Herath declared when Kusal holed out to long-on for 62, thereby giving his team a day and a half to dismiss Zimbabwe and sweep to 2-0 in his first series as captain.

An update has emerged on Celtic as they speed up their plans to replace manager Ange Postecoglou this summer…

What's the latest on David Moyes to Celtic?

According to Football Insider, the Hoops have made West Ham United head coach David Moyes their number one target to take over at Parkhead next season.

The report claims that the club are preparing a swoop to snap the Scotsman up after their last boss moved down south to join Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.

Majority shareholder Dermot Desmond is now looking for the Australian's heir and has identified the Hammers chief as an option, as the Scottish giants want someone who can make an impact in Europe after Brendan Rodgers and Postecoglou both struggled in continental competitions.

What is David Moyes' record in Europe?

The 60-year-old has an impressive record in European matches in recent seasons and secured his name in his history books by winning the Europa Conference League with West Ham last week.

Moyes, who reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League with Manchester United in 2013/14, made it to the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2021/22 with the Hammers before going all the way to win a trophy this term.

He has won an impressive 18 of his 25 European games in charge of the London-based club, losing four in that time, suggesting that the tactician, who won eight of his 14 UEFA Cup outings with Everton, knows how to get results outside of domestic action.

The Scottish tinkerer, who was once dubbed a "fantastic" coach by ex-United forward Robin van Persie, has proven that he can excel in European competitions and take teams into the latter stages, which is something that has eluded the Hoops for some time.

Celtic have not reached the quarter-finals of any tournament outside of Scotland since they reached the last eight of the UEFA Cup in the 2003/04 campaign.

Postecoglou won three of his 12 Europa League and Champions League group-stage matches combined and did not win a single knockout match during his two years at the club.

Rodgers won one of his 12 games in the Champions League with the Hoops and these statistics suggest that Moyes has the potential to come in and achieve a level of success in Europe for the Scottish giants that their most recent managers have failed to get anywhere near.

Therefore, Desmond could get Celtic firing again on the continent by pulling off this ambitious swoop for the Premier League head coach to replace Postecoglou.

Hampshire have signed George Bailey, the Australian batsman, on a two-year deal to play in all formats of the game

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2016Hampshire have signed George Bailey, the Australian batsman, on a two-year deal to play in all formats of the game.Bailey, at 34, remains an integral part of Australia’s one-day squad so unless his international career takes a nosedive, or he has retirement plans on his mind, he could miss a month of Hampshire’s season in June because of the Champions Trophy.Hampshire’s director of cricket, Giles White, said: “George has an excellent record across all formats of the game, has captained his country and is highly regarded as a person. He made a lasting impression during his previous stint with us and we are delighted to have him at Hampshire for the next couple of years.”Bailey, who spent a period at Hampshire in 2013, has also had county spells at Middlesex and Sussex.Hampshire were relegated from Division One of the Championship last season, only to be reprieved when Durham were sent down in their place as punishment for a financial bail-out. Their long run of success in T20 cricket also came to an end when they failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the NatWest Blast.

Edu Gaspar is eyeing up an Arsenal move for Brazilian left-back Ayrton Lucas this summer as he plans to give Mikel Arteta the tools required to build upon their positive 2022/2023 season.

What’s the latest on Ayrton Lucas to Arsenal?

According to Italian outlet Calciomercato, Arsenal are keen on signing Flamengo defender Lucas this summer in order to strengthen their first team squad, although they could face stiff competition from Juventus.

With full-back Kieran Tierney heavily linked with a move to Newcastle United, Arteta will require someone to replace him as an alternative to Oleksandr Zinchenko and Lucas fits the bill.

The Brazilian isn’t likely to break the bank either as the report states he has a release cause of only €30m (£26m) and this is an attractive option for the Spaniard ahead of next term.

Could Ayrton Lucas replace Kieran Tierney at Arsenal?

Almost all left backs to emerge from Brazil get compared to the legendary figure that is Roberto Carlos, the former Real Madrid defender with thighs like tree trunks, although Lucas, according to journalist Andrew Sousa, has “embodied” Carlos and might Arteta have a reincarnation of the 127-cap hero?

This season in the Brazilian top flight for Flamengo, he averages 1.7 dribbles per game and 1.1 shots per game, suggesting he enjoys getting forward as much as possible, similar to Carlos – who bagged 97 club career goals and 125 assists – during his prime years, while he has even netted three goals.

The 25-year-old may not just replace Tierney in the squad, but he could well be an upgrade on the Scot ahead of a season which will see Arsenal take part in the Champions League group stages for the first time since 2016/2017.

Indeed, Lucas has registered more shots per 90 (1.23 to 0.79), shot-creating actions per 90 (2.09 to 1.36), successful take ons (15 to three), carries into the final third (19 to 12) and touches in the attacking penalty area (18 to 15) across roughly the same number of starts throughout 2022/2023 (8.8 to 8.1 90s).

This certainly suggests that the Brazilian could be a better-attacking option than Tierney, judging by his ability to push into the final third and create plenty of shooting opportunities, increasing his chances of scoring.

For the aforementioned fee of only £26m, Arteta would be signing a proven defender who has won the biggest tournament in South America (Copa Libertadores) while even claiming silverware from his spell at Spartak Moscow, winning the Russian Cup just last year, and he could well be another piece of the jigsaw for Arsenal heading into next term.

Joins another uncapped player, Mohammad Rizwan, in the Pakistan squad for the series beginning from November 17

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Oct-20160:59

Two new faces for Pakistan

Sharjeel Khan, the opening batsman, has earned a maiden call-up to the Pakistan Test squad for the tour of New Zealand.Sharjeel, 27, has been a regular presence for Pakistan at the top of the order in limited-overs cricket in 2016, having scored a bruising 152 off 86 balls against Ireland in August.Sharjeel has 4853 first-class runs at an average of 37.91 with 11 hundreds and 21 fifties. He came into contention for Test cricket after scoring 96 and 82 not out in successive innings in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.Pakistan’s 16-man Test squad

Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Sharjeel Khan, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan, Imran Khan
In: Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Rizwan
Out: Zulfiqar Babar

Another uncapped player was among the 16 that were chosen, middle-order batsman Mohammad Rizwan, who was with the team in England in July 2016, but was left out for the subsequent Tests against West Indies in the UAE.Zulfiqar Babar was dropped. With neither Christchurch nor Hamilton – the venues for the two Tests against New Zealand – known for producing turning pitches, Pakistan were content to partner Yasir Shah with left-arm spinning allrounder Mohammad Nawaz, who made his debut in Pakistan’s first day-night Test earlier this month; his first-class credentials include three centuries and 49 wickets from 31 matches. Zulfiqar, though the better bowler stats-wise, only averages 16 with the bat in first-class cricket.Pakistan have tried six opening combinations since the start of 2015, including playing the final Test of the England tour and the entire West Indies series with only one specialist – Sami Aslam, who has been retained. Azhar Ali was promoted up the order and scored his maiden triple-century from that position in October. But with Sharjeel – who has opened the batting in all but two of his 76 first-class matches – coming into the squad, Azhar could return to his usual No. 3 position.Younis Khan, captain Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq – touted as one of Pakistan’s most technically proficient batsmen – and wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed make for a strong middle order. There is also Babar Azam, who made his Test debut in October following three successive ODI centuries.On the fast bowling front, Pakistan have three left-arm quicks in Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir and Rahat Ali, to go with right-arm seamers Sohail Khan and Imran Khan.

Sergio Aguero’s son, Benjamin, has trolled Paris Saint-Germain after the French side announced that Lionel Messi would be leaving.

Why was Messi booed at PSG?

Over the weekend, PSG officially confirmed that the World Cup winner would be leaving France this summer after two seasons with the club.

In a statement, Chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi said: “I would like to thank Leo Messi for his two seasons in Paris. To see a seven-time Ballon d’Or winner in the Rouge & Bleu and at Parc des Princes, winning back-to-back Ligue 1 titles and inspiring our younger players has been a pleasure.

“His contribution to Paris Saint-Germain and Ligue 1 cannot be understated and we wish Leo and his family all the best for the future.”

In response, Messi said: “I would like to thank the club, the city of Paris and its people for these two years. I wish you all the best for the future.”

The 35-year-old departs having scored 32 goals and provided 35 assists in 75 games, but wasn’t ever truly adored by the PSG support.

For instance, he was even booed during his final appearance, with fans unhappy that he couldn’t help bring the Champions League to Paris, as well as his recent unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia.

Well, it seems his godson, is still more than happy to defend Messi against any criticism. Indeed, after PSG posted a farewell message on Instagram, Benjamin Aguero replied to the message, simply writing: “He was too big for you.”

A screenshot was then circulated on social media by Barca Universal and fans quickly flocked to the post to offer their own thoughts on the matter.

Indeed, it seems many supporters were in agreement with Ageuro Junior’s brutal assessment of PSG. Here are some of the best reactions on Twitter.

People seemed pretty delighted to see Aguero’s son showing loyalty to the former Barcelona star.

While some suggested Kun Aguero was actually behind the post.