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Salah Wins PFA Player of the Year Award for Unprecedented Third Time 

Liverpool's Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah poses with the Men's PFA Players' Player of the Year award backstage during the 2024-2025 Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) awards, at the Opera House in Manchester, northern England, on August 19, 2025. (AFP)
Liverpool's Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah poses with the Men's PFA Players' Player of the Year award backstage during the 2024-2025 Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) awards, at the Opera House in Manchester, northern England, on August 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Salah Wins PFA Player of the Year Award for Unprecedented Third Time 

Liverpool's Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah poses with the Men's PFA Players' Player of the Year award backstage during the 2024-2025 Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) awards, at the Opera House in Manchester, northern England, on August 19, 2025. (AFP)
Liverpool's Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah poses with the Men's PFA Players' Player of the Year award backstage during the 2024-2025 Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) awards, at the Opera House in Manchester, northern England, on August 19, 2025. (AFP)

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was named the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Player of the Year on Tuesday, with the Egyptian becoming the first player to win the award three times.

Salah, who joined Liverpool in 2017, was the Premier League's top scorer last season, with his 29 goals, along with 18 assists, playing a key role in the club winning the league title, finishing 10 points ahead of runners-up Arsenal.

The 33-year-old had already clinched the Premier League Player of the Season award, the Golden Boot for most goals scored and the Playmaker award for most assists, making him the first player to win all three awards in the same season.

Salah first won the PFA award in 2018 after his first season at Liverpool, and again in 2022, and this year came out on top of a six-man shortlist, voted for by PFA members from the 92 Premier League and Football League teams.

That shortlist included his Liverpool teammate Alexis Mac Allister, along with Newcastle United's Alexander Isak, Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, Arsenal's Declan Rice and Chelsea's Cole Palmer.

Salah signed a two-year contract extension with Liverpool in April, ending months of speculation linking him with a move to the Saudi Pro League.

Aston Villa and England midfielder Morgan Rogers was voted Young Player of the Year, after the 23-year-old scored eight league goals in his 37 starts last season and netted four goals in the Champions League including a hat-trick against Celtic.

Arsenal midfielder Mariona Caldentey was named Women's Player of the Year. The Spaniard scored nine league goals in her first season with the club along with eight goals in the Champions League where Arsenal beat her former club Barcelona to win the trophy.

Canadian 21-year-old forward Olivia Smith, Liverpool's leading scorer last season across all competitions with nine goals, picked up the Young Player of the Year award.

Smith has since joined Arsenal for a reported fee of one million pounds ($1.35 million), making her the first female player to break the seven-figure barrier.

Liverpool had four players from last season, including Salah, named in the Premier League team of the year, along with new signing from Bournemouth, Milos Kerkez.

Premier League Team of the Year:

Matz Sels (Nottingham Forest); Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth), William Saliba (Arsenal), Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal); Declan Rice (Arsenal), Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool); Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Alexander Isak (Newcastle United), Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest).

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Man City's Rodri Keeps Door Open to Real Madrid Move

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Manchester City v Exeter City - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 10, 2026 Manchester City's Rodri celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Peter Powell/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Manchester City v Exeter City - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 10, 2026 Manchester City's Rodri celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Peter Powell/File Photo
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Man City's Rodri Keeps Door Open to Real Madrid Move

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Manchester City v Exeter City - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 10, 2026 Manchester City's Rodri celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Peter Powell/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Manchester City v Exeter City - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - January 10, 2026 Manchester City's Rodri celebrates scoring their second goal REUTERS/Peter Powell/File Photo

Manchester City midfielder Rodri has kept the door open to a possible move to Real Madrid as he enters the final year of his contract with the Premier League club, saying he cannot turn down the world's top teams and that a return to LaLiga would appeal to him.

The 29-year-old Madrid native began his senior career at Villarreal before signing for Atletico Madrid in 2018. He moved to City a year later ⁠and has since ⁠enjoyed a highly successful spell in England, winning the Champions League once and four Premier League titles among a host of major honors.

"Would I like to play in Spain again, in LaLiga, in Madrid? I'd like to return, yes, obviously," Rodri told Onda Cero's Radioestadio Noche program ahead of ⁠Spain's friendly against Serbia on Friday.

"I have a year left on my contract; there will come a point when we'll have to sit down and talk."

Rodri, who is working his way back to top form after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in 2024, said having played for Atletico would not prevent him from making a move to their city rivals.

Former Atletico players to have made that switch include goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and forward Alvaro Morata.

"There are other players who have gone ⁠down that ⁠path - not straight away, but in time. You can't turn down the best clubs in the world," Rodri added, according to Reuters.

Rodri also played down any suggestion of rivalry with Vinicius Jr after Real boycotted the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony, when the City midfielder won the award ahead of the Brazilian winger.

"I think they wanted to pit Vinicius and me against each other, but not at all," Rodri said. "I have great respect for him and for everything he did that year too. In the end, it's other people - third parties - who decide who wins the Ballon d'Or."

Sports

PSG's Ligue 1 Visit to Lens Postponed to Aid Champions League Preparations

FILED - 26 November 2024, Bavaria, Munich: Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi in action during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between PSG and Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
FILED - 26 November 2024, Bavaria, Munich: Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi in action during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between PSG and Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
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PSG's Ligue 1 Visit to Lens Postponed to Aid Champions League Preparations

FILED - 26 November 2024, Bavaria, Munich: Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi in action during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between PSG and Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa
FILED - 26 November 2024, Bavaria, Munich: Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi in action during the UEFA Champions League soccer match between PSG and Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena. Photo: Tom Weller/dpa

Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain's visit to second-placed Lens, set for April 11, has been postponed to May 13 to allow them more time to prepare for their Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool, the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) said on Thursday.

Strasbourg's visit to Brest, scheduled for April 12, has also been moved to May 13 to help them prepare for ⁠their Europa Conference League ⁠last-eight clashes with Mainz, Reuters quoted the LFP as saying in a statement.

"These decisions are in line with the board of directors’ clear strategic aim of enabling France to retain its fifth place in ⁠the UEFA coefficient rankings, which secures four places in the UEFA Champions League," the LFP said.

PSG, the reigning European champions, host Liverpool three days before the Lens fixture and travel to Anfield for the second leg on April 14.

PSG and Lens are separated by one point in Ligue 1, with ⁠PSG ⁠having a game in hand. Lens had earlier pushed back against PSG's request.

"It seems to us, in fact, that a worrying sentiment is taking hold: that of a French league gradually being relegated to the status of an adjustment variable at the whim of certain parties' European imperatives," Lens said in a statement on Monday.

Sports

Asian Cup Draw Postponed

The draw for January's Asian Cup finals has been postponed (AFC)
The draw for January's Asian Cup finals has been postponed (AFC)
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Asian Cup Draw Postponed

The draw for January's Asian Cup finals has been postponed (AFC)
The draw for January's Asian Cup finals has been postponed (AFC)

The draw for January's Asian Cup finals, which was due to be held in Riyadh on April 11, has been postponed, the Asian Football Confederation announced on Thursday.

Officials have rescheduled the event to a later date "to ensure the undisrupted attendance of all stakeholders at the final draw ceremony," the governing ⁠body said in ⁠a statement.

"The AFC expressed its appreciation to the Local Organizing Committee for the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ for their full readiness to host the draw as planned, and it appreciates the understanding and continued cooperation of its Participating Member Associations, fans and stakeholders," the statement added.

Saudi Arabia is due to host the 24-team quadrennial continental championship for the first time with the last remaining round of qualifiers taking place on Tuesday.

Qatar are the defending champions and have already secured their ⁠berth ⁠at the finals alongside four-times winners Japan, plus fellow World Cup qualifiers South Korea, Iran, Jordan, Australia and Uzbekistan.

The AFC announced on Tuesday that the latter stages of the Asian Champions League Elite would go ahead as planned in Jeddah, with matches running from April 13 to 26.