Real Madrid Denies it is Trying to Lure Mbappe Away from PSG

Paris Saint-Germain's French forward #07 Kylian Mbappe eyes the ball after kicking it during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Montpellier Herault SC at The Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris on November 3, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain's French forward #07 Kylian Mbappe eyes the ball after kicking it during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Montpellier Herault SC at The Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris on November 3, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
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Real Madrid Denies it is Trying to Lure Mbappe Away from PSG

Paris Saint-Germain's French forward #07 Kylian Mbappe eyes the ball after kicking it during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Montpellier Herault SC at The Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris on November 3, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)
Paris Saint-Germain's French forward #07 Kylian Mbappe eyes the ball after kicking it during the French L1 football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Montpellier Herault SC at The Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris on November 3, 2023. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

Real Madrid denied on Saturday it is negotiating to sign Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappé.
Madrid has long been keen on recruiting the 24-year-old Mbappé, who has turned down the Spanish club in the past. Even so, he has remained linked to the 14-time European champions by media reports.
Spanish media in recent months have speculated that Mbappé will join Madrid in the summer of 2024 after his current contract with PSG runs out.
But the Spanish club said in a statement: “Real Madrid wishes to express that these reports are completely false and that there have been no negotiations with a player who belongs to PSG.”
Clubs are not allowed to talk to players of other clubs until they are in the final six months of their contracts.
This summer Mbappé said that he does not plan to trigger a one-year extension to his deal with PSG, igniting speculation that he was this time bound for Madrid. He has been at the French powerhouse since 2017 after signing from Monaco.
In 2021, PSG turned down a bid of $190 million from Madrid for the World Cup-winning forward, who went on to sign his current contract.

PSG still hopes to retain Mbappé.



Israeli Soccer Team Prepares for Closed-door Match in Hungary

Clashes erupt in Amsterdam after a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS
Clashes erupt in Amsterdam after a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS
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Israeli Soccer Team Prepares for Closed-door Match in Hungary

Clashes erupt in Amsterdam after a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS
Clashes erupt in Amsterdam after a soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS

Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team returned to Europe on Wednesday for the first time since its fans were assaulted in the Netherlands earlier this month in attacks that were condemned as antisemitic by authorities in Israel and across Europe.
The team will face off Thursday against Türkiye’s Besiktas in an Europa League match that was relocated to Hungary. The contest at Nagyerdei Stadium in the city of Debrecen will be played without fans due to security concerns following the violence in Amsterdam on Nov. 7 that resulted in five people being treated in hospitals and dozens of detentions.

Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach Zarko Lazetic told a news conference on Wednesday that his team was focused on its game, regardless of what tensions may exist elsewhere, The Associated Press reported.
“It’s not a question for me what happened outside of the stadium. We saw some videos and everything, but we really try to focus on football,” he said. “We’ll see tomorrow what is the effect.”
The violence in Amsterdam came after local authorities banned pro-Palestinian demonstrators from gathering outside the stadium where Maccabi was playing Dutch team Ajax.
A large crowd of Israeli fans chanted anti-Arab slogans on their way to the match, video showed. Afterward, youths on scooters and on foot crisscrossed the city in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them, according to Amsterdam’s mayor.
The city's police commander said the incidents had “an antisemitic character."
Maccabi press officer Ofer Ronen-Abels said Wednesday the events in Amsterdam “had nothing to do with football."
Before the assaults, Besiktas had requested its home game against Maccabi, originally scheduled for Istanbul, to be moved to “neutral ground” over security concerns.
The club later said on social media that Hungary was the only country willing to host the match and that Hungarian authorities requested it be played behind closed doors.
Hungary has hosted several home games for Israel's national team for security reasons since the war in Gaza began.
Maccabi held its final practice session at the Kiryat Shalom training complex in Tel Aviv on Wednesday before departing for Hungary, the team said on its website.