April 2017 - Soccer Wiretap

Atleti Reports Barcelona To FIFA Over Antoine Griezmann Approach
Antoine Griezmann signed a new contract with Atleti through 2021 last summer amidst interest from Manchester United.

Ed Aarons/The Guardian

Luka Modric Hopes To Retire With Real Madrid
Luka Modric signed an extension through 2020 in October of 2016.

EFE

Real Madrid Preparing To Pay Kepa Arrizabalaga's $23.7M Release Clause
Real Madrid are expected to offer Kepa a six-year contract.

Sergio Santos Chozas/As.com

Barcelona Admits Contact With Antoine Griezmann
Antoine Griezmann has a release clause of €100 million.

As.com

Laurent Blanc Not Interested In USMNT Job
The United States likely won't hire a manager until after the federation's presidential election.

Jonathan Johnson/ESPN

City Want Pep Guardiola To Remain As Manager For At Least 10 Years
Pep Guardiola's three-year deal ends in the summer of 2019 and he's previously indicated that would be the maximum length of his stay with the club.

Jamie Jackson/The Guardian

Police Believe Raheem Sterling May Have Been Hate Crime Victim
Raheem Sterling was allegedly kicked and racially abused as he arrived to Manchester City's match on Saturday against Tottenham Hotspur.

The Guardian

Kaka Announces Retirement At Age 35
Kaka is the last player other than Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi to win the Ballon d'Or.

Reuters

Cristiano Ronaldo Would Like Contract Extension With Real Madrid
Requests from Cristiano Ronaldo's camp on a new deal have so far been rebuffed by Florentino Perez.

Dermot Corrigan/ESPN

City Has 12-2 Aggregate Score Against England's Other UCL Clubs
Manchester City are 14 points clear in the Premier League and have won 16 league games in a row.

Daniel Taylor/The Guardian

City Plan On Signing Center Back During January Window
Jonny Evans, Inigo Martinez and Virgil van Dijk would all be eligible to play in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Jonathan Smith/ESPN

Mauricio Pochettino Realizes Some Spurs' Stars May Want To Leave
Mauricio Pochettino continues to take a long-term outlook on his project.

Dan Kilpatrick/ESPN

Arsene Wenger: City Can Match Invincibles With Help Of Petrol Dollars
Arsene Wenger said Manchester City can match his "Invincibles" team by going through the entire Premier League season unbeaten.

Mattias Karen/ESPN

Atleti Will Let Antoine Griezmann Leave If Right Offer Is Made
Antoine Griezmann nearly left Atleti for Manchester United in the summer.

Press Association

Angel Di Maria Not As Happy This Season With PSG
Angel Di Maria is in his third season with PSG after one difficult season with Manchester United.

Jonathan Johnson/ESPN

Jack Wilshere, Arsenal Yet To Make Progress On New Deal
Arsene Wenger said at the beginning of November that he wanted to resolve Jack Wilshere's contract situation before the end of December.

David Hytner/The Guardian

Christian Pulisic Named 2017 U.S. Soccer Male Player Of The Year
Christian Pulisic is now the youngest winner in the history of the award, beating out 21-year-old Landon Donovan in 2003.

Jeff Carlisle/ESPN

Lionel Messi Pleased With Personal Life, Football Life At 30 Years Old
Lionel Messi feels fortunate to have another opportunity in the World Cup.

Adriana Garcia/ESPN

FOX Allegedly Paid Bribes For TV Soccer Rights
The documents form part of the sprawling US investigation into corruption in world football.

Oliver Laughland, Jon Swaine/The Guardian

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: Pep Guardiola Most Immature Manager I've Had
Zlatan Ibrahimovic briefly played for Guardiola at Barcelona.

Sam Marsden/ESPN

Clint Dempsey Signs One-Year Deal With Sounders
Clint Dempsey's new contract will give the Sounders additional salary flexibility.

ESPN

Timbers Hire Giovanni Savarese As Manager
Giovanni Savarese replaces Caleb Porter as manager.

Jeff Carlisle/ESPN

Video: Top-5 Ballon d'Or Finishers In The Cristiano/Messi Era
The Ballon d'Or has been won by Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi every year since 2008 with the other always finishing second.

RealGM Staff Report

Agent Trying To Get Gianluigi Donnarumma Out Of Deal With AC Milan
Paris Saint-Germain is reportedly ahead of Real Madrid in pursuing Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Mario de la Riva/As.com

Six Of World's Nine Best Clubs Play Each Other In UCL Round Of 16
SPI ranks Barcelona as the best team in the world while Chelsea ranks ninth.

Michael Caley/FiveThirtyEight

Pep Guardiola Defends Way City Celebrated Win Over United
Pep Guardiola said the celebrations were "definitely not" over the top.

Jonathan Smith/ESPN

Paulo Dybala Asked By Juventus To Get Personal Life In Order
Paulo Dybala has scored just one goal in eight matches.

Ben Gladwell/ESPN

Paul Pogba: Heart Chose United Over Real Madrid
Paul Pogba left United for Juventus in 2012 due to a lack of opportunities under Alex Ferguson.

ESPN

Louis Van Gaal Critical Of United's Defensive Style
Louis Van Gaal said he doesn't have any issues with Jose Mourinho the way he does with Ed Woodward.

ESPN

Portland Close To Trading Darlington Nagbe To Atlanta
The deal would be the largest between MLS teams in the league's history.

Taylor Twellman/ESPN