29/05/2026

SPORTS FRIDAY | MAY 29, 2026

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JULIAN ALVAREZ is at the centre of another bat tle between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain before the Champions League final, with the French champions having so far made a more direct pitch for the Argentine star. The situation may yet see both Bournemouth’s Junior Kroupi and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers end up at Arsenal, as the club seek to build on their Premier League vic tory. Mikel Arteta is a known admirer of Alvarez, with Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone having already revealed that Arsenal were one of his suitors. The Independent has since been told that PSG have made a more direct pitch with wages, and have signalled that they are willing to pay Atletico’s asking price of €125 million (RM575m). Atletico are intent on digging in there, which may put more pressure on Alvarez to push for any move he selects. Sources close to the player say his first choice would be Barcelona, but they do not have anything close to the funds. Arsenal do but, as with last summer, want to properly consider how to maximise their budget. There has been progress as regards to a move for Rogers, with Arsenal one of many potential buyers, including Chelsea, Manchester United and – notably – PSG. Aston Villa’s preference would obviously be to keep their star, but there are naturally good relations between the club and Rogers, if he wanted to move on. The Villa Park hierarchy are also mindful of the potential strategy of cashing in on Rogers and replenishing the squad to try and bring it to another level, after a few years of difficulties with financial rules. Arsenal’s new status as the champions of England has of course given them a powerful new bargaining position, too. They are also pursuing Kroupi, who played such a key role in the eventual title win with that goal in Bournemouth’s decisive 1-1 draw against Manchester City. Arsenal want to bring three or four players in, with the same number expected to leave. Gabriel Jesus is expected to be allowed to take up one of many offers from the Brazilian league, for a nominal fee of around £5 million (RM26m). The saving of his high wages would allow consid erable room with financial regulations. – The Independent A RSENAL coach Mikel Arteta and his Champions League final adversary, Paris Saint-Germain’s Luis Enrique, share roots in Barcelona and an obses sion with excellence, as their friendship turns to rivalry. Tomorrow’s (12.01am Malaysian time) battle in Budapest sets these two former teammates, and disciples of departing Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, on a collision course. “Pep has been a reference for all of us who want to play football in a certain way,” said Luis Enrique, who followed in the Catalan tactician’s footsteps by coaching Barca. Arteta credits Guardiola with giving him the know-how to begin his own coaching career, hav ing worked under him as an assistant at City for three years. The trio crossed paths in Barcelona around the turn of the century in their playing days, before the younger Arteta departed, his path blocked. In 2001 with Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta emerging with him from La Masia, min utes were at a premium. Barca had also signed Emmanuel Petit from Arsenal to join Luis Enrique and Guardiola in a congested midfield and Arteta was told to leave the country on loan to PSG. “It was terrifying for me (and) for my family,” Arteta, who was 18 at the time, later told Arsenal’s website. The Spaniard made 53 appearances over 18 months in Paris and shared a room with Arsenal, PSG set to tussle over Alvarez Ű BY MIGUEL DELANEY

Battle in Budapest Arteta, Luis Enrique in head-to-head clash for CL glory

night” at the training ground during his first sea son in charge, so obsessed was he with shaping the team’s present and future. That drive is also present in Arteta, who has poured himself into the job over the past seven years. Appointed in December 2019 with the team 10th in the Premier League, Arteta pledged to get Arsenal back in contention for football’s “top tro phies”, and slowly proved himself right. This season Arsenal ended a 22-year wait for the title and returned to the Champions League final for the first time in two decades. The 44-year-old put faith in youth and, like Luis Enrique, cleansed the squad of stars who did not fit the culture he was building. “We came digging, digging, digging and you have to keep digging because one day the gold is going to be there,” said Arteta at the start of this season. Built on clean sheets and control, the Gunners ground their way to glory, rather than overwhelming opponents like Lucho’s PSG, although possession and positional play are important to both coaches. “You can see Mikel Arteta is a leader… who has instilled a winning mentality,” observed Luis Enrique. Arteta already dethroned three-time Champions League winner Guardiola

Luis Enrique arrived at clubs frustrated by underachievement and took them to what they craved. While PSG have dominated in France for many years, they had never been able to fulfil their Champions League ambitions until Luis Enrique arrived. Stripping away the fat, the Asturian’s hungry young team shredded Inter Milan in last year’s final to claim their first European Cup. “He’s a fantastic coach, the best coach in the world, but he is also an amazing person,” said PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. It was Luis Enrique’s second Champions League triumph, after guiding Barca to the trophy in 2015. Only four coaches have won more. Arteta hailed his compatriot’s “aura”. “The way he transmits the message, how con vinced he is about what he does, and regardless of any opinion, he (sticks) by what he believes – I think that’s a super power,” Arteta told UEFA . Former PSG midfielder David

imposing defender Gabriel Heinze, now one of his staff at Arsenal. “It was an experience that will stay with me forever, with teammates who shaped who I wanted to be as a player, and ignited something in me to become a manager,” he added. Arteta signed for Rangers in 2002 and spent most of his career after that with Everton and then Arsenal. While Luis Enrique’s playing career and coaching career to date has thus far out shone Arteta’s, that could start to change this weekend. “Mikelito Arteta… I’m very fond of him,” said Luis Enrique, whose team is more expansive and flowing than Arteta’s. “It will be very difficult but we believe a lot in our style of play and what we want to do.” Some might construe the 56-year-old’s

use of the diminutive as a mind game ahead of the final, bringing back the nickname he had for Arteta a quarter-of-a-century ago. In last season’s semifinals when they met, Lucho’s PSG edged through. As coaches, both Arteta and

domestically this season and now faces another of Barcelona’s old midfield masters, who is aiming to complete his own European hat trick. – AFP

Beckham said Nasser told him Luis Enrique slept virtually “every

Arsenal’s Noni Madueke (left) and Bukayo Saka. – REUTERSPIC

Saka and I will fight on all fronts: Madueke

Ű BY LAWRENCE OSTLERE

and it is a situation for someone like Madueke to thrive. It is a role, dovetailing with Saka, that he may have to get comfortable with. “I know I want to be here, I know he wants to be here, so it looks like that’s going to be our gig for the foreseeable.” Madueke played a central role in Arsenal’s Premier League celebrations last week, taking responsibility for being MC and “rapping the whole night”, according to an Arsenal fan who paid a small fortune to get inside the exclusive Tape nightclub in Mayfair where the players partied. Even Arteta let his hair down, showing his “fun side”, Madueke smiles. “Not that I haven’t seen it before. He can be really fun. Yes, he’s very intense, but he’s a good guy, a great guy.” Has Arteta’s coaching surprised Madueke? “No, from the first conversation I had with him I knew what type of manager he was. Someone very humble, very hard working, very intense in a positive way. So I wasn’t sur prised by him. “He just helped me to be diligent, he’s helped me to really care about little details that count a lot towards winning games and fighting for major trophies.”– The Independent

England’s best game under Tuchel, the 5-0 win over Serbia in September. “It’s been different for sure,” Madueke says. “But (Saka) is a top player. We kind of fight on all fronts – same for England, same for Arsenal. But it’s been good. We know that we’re pulling in the same direction.” Tuchel often talks about having a variety of “profiles” to choose from and in Madueke, both he and Arteta have an alternative to Saka – someone fast and direct who will drive towards the byline over and over again. “It’s amazing to have two high-level play ers, but completely different,” Madueke says. “There’s definitely parts of his game I try and implement into mine, he probably says the same. We’re so close off the pitch.” One natural consequence of modern foot ball’s characteristics – the hard running and intense pressing, the five substitutions and the increasingly elongated stoppage time – is that the game has split in to two phases. The first hour when the two first XIs battle, which has become increasingly tactical and stilted; and the last half an hour or so, when the “finishers” enter the field and half the out field players change. This game tends to be more spontaneous,

NONI MADUEKE is not quite Mikel Arteta’s super-sub. Gabriel Martinelli has made the most appearances from the bench this season (27), while Max Dowman and Gabriel Jesus have been used almost exclusively as substi tutes. But if Arsenal need a goal in the latter stages of tomorrow’s Champions League final against PSG, there’s a very good chance Arteta will send for Madueke. It has been a strange season for Madueke, whose involvement has tended to go hand in hand with Bukayo Saka’s injury status. They have occasionally played together, with Madueke on the left or Saka trialled through the centre. But typically it has been one or the other. Madueke averages 53 minutes per appear ance in a role which has been more under study than competitor, despite Saka’s occa sional struggles for form. It is a dynamic that is likely to continue beyond the Champions League final into the summer, when Saka is expected to be Thomas Tuchel’s first-choice right winger at the World Cup. This despite Madueke’s starring role in