Tonight’s Best Fifa Football Awards winners
Lionel Messi won the top male player’s gong as SIX Manchester City stars were named in the best XI.
City chief Pep Guardiola was named best manager, with Barcelona’s Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmati winning the women’s player award.
WINNERS
Men’s Player: Lionel Messi
Men’s coach: Pep Guardiola
Goalkeeper: Ederson
Men’s XI: Thibaut Courtois; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Ruben Dias; Bernardo Silva, Jude Bellingham, Kevin de Bruyne; Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylina Mbappe, Vinicius Jr
Women’s player: Aitana Bonmati
Women’s coach: Sarina Wiegman
Women’s goalkeeper: Mary Earps
Women’s XI: Mary Earps; Lucy Bronze, Olga Carmona, Alex Greenwood; Keira Walsh, Alessia Russo, Lauren James, Ella Toone; Aitana Bonmati; Alex Morgan, Sam Kerr
‘Utd and Chelsea bid for Evan’
Manchester United and Chelsea have reportedly bid for Evan Ferguson – the Brighton striker also admired by Arsenal.
Football Transfers claim United and the Blues hoped to pounce for the 19-year-old on loan as he’s often been on the bench this season after his explosive form last term.
But it’s also said that the Seagulls quickly rejected the advances.
Ferguson is on a long-term contract and Brighton rate him at around £100million.
Ratcliffe must ‘hit the ground running’
Paul Merson insists Manchester United need a mixture of “stability” and change under Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
The Arsenal legend says “the new investors have to hit the ground running” but must stamp their authority with long-term plans.
Merson told Sky Sports: “They need change and they started that with the departure of Jadon Sancho on loan to Borussia Dortmund.
“With that deal, you have to believe the manager is staying long-term and in fairness, if you get rid of Ten Hag, how many managers are out there who you could get in as a replacement? Could you tempt a Carlo Ancelotti for a season or so? It’s debatable.
“What United do need is stability. They’ve done the changing manager thing a number of times since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club. It hasn’t worked.
“We’ve seen Mikel Arteta at Arsenal backed. When many were calling for change, the Gunners gave him a chance to stamp his authority at the club and look where they are now.”
In ‘awe’ of Utd duo
Chris Sutton admits he was in “awe” of Manchester United – when they had the two men he considers the Prem’s best ever midfielders.
Sutton placed Paul Scholes and Roy Keane ahead of Kevin de Bruyne in his top five, with Frank Lampard fourth, a spot in front of Patrick Vieira.
Sutton said: “At number two, Keane. I just would have loved to have been in that Manchester United team in that dressing room.
“I was in awe of him [and of] that whole United team. He was the leader, he was the catalyst, he was the go-to man, the driving force, so he would be in it too.
‘My number one would be Paul Scholes. I mean, what couldn’t he do? I think Scholes was every bit as good as De Bruyne in terms of passing range, ability and awareness.
‘He was maybe stronger in the tackle than Kevin De Bruyne. But I mean, it’s so difficult to choose. But if you look at Paul Scholes’ numbers, I think 11 Premier Leagues, he won.”
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‘Scholes and Keane better than De Bruyne’
Paul Scholes and Roy Keane have been rated the Prem’s best ever midfielders – with Kevin de Bruyne third.
Pundit Chris Sutton calmed the hype over Manchester City’s fit-again playmaker KDB – by placing him behind the two United legends.
The ex-England striker left out Steven Gerrard from his top five, instead placing Arsenal icon Patrick Vieira fifth and Chelsea great Frank Lampard fourth.
How table would look if Everton & Forest penalised
THE bottom half of the Prem would look quite different if Everton and Nottingham Forest are hit with a points deduction.
Both clubs are facing the prospect of six point deductions after being accused of breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability (PSR) rules.
Prem rules allow clubs who spend three consecutive season’s in the top flight can make “permitted losses” of up to £105million over a three-season rolling cycle.
All 20 top-flight clubs had until December 31 to hand over their final accounts for the 2022-23 season. Regulations introduced last summer meant today was the deadline for charges to be brought.
And after weeks of speculation league chiefs hit Everton and Forest with charges. If these are upheld they face a minimum deduction of six points, which would drastically alter the look of the top flight.
Everton, who are already appealing the ten-point deduction they were hit by in November for breaches in 2021-22, would plunge into the relegation zone with a further six-point penalty.
Sean Dyche‘s side currently sit 17th on 17 points. Chalking off another six points from the Toffees total would leave them second from bottom on 11 points, and crucially three points adrift of safety once Forest’s own prospective penalty is applied.
In Forest’s case, Nuno Espirito Santo‘s team would drop to 17th and just two points above the relegation zone after seeing their points total drop from 20 to 14 points.