Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed his desire to leave Paris St Germain – but the club's wealthy owners are determined to stand in his way.
The Italian met with Nasser Al Khelaifi, the club president, and Leonardo, the sporting director, to attempt to negotiate his departure from the Ligue 1 title-winners, with the likely vacancy at Real Madrid seemingly in his thoughts.
With a year left on his contract, though, he would need the club's blessing – and Al Khelaifi warned that he expects the 54 year old to honour the terms of his deal.
According to reports in France, Ancelotti said at the Ligue 1 awards evening: "I had a meeting with the president and Leonardo. I asked – because I have a contract – to leave the club.
"We have to wait for the club's response, they will decide."
That response seemed already to have been made clear, though, when Al Khelaifi told beinsport.fr: "Yes, we had discussions, he asked to depart for Real Madrid.
"I said it is not possible because he has a contract for one year more, so that is our decision.
"It is his problem, it is not our problem. We have offered him another year more on his contract as well as the one he has.
"When you have a contract, everyone is normally obliged to honour that."
Speculation continues to link Jose Mourinho, the Madrid manager, with a return to his former club Chelsea and Ancelotti continued: "Real is a possibility but I have a year left on my contract. It is the club who will decide.
"We have to decide together. My decision is to leave the club. It is not easy because I have had a very good relationship with everyone.
"It is not the time to explain the reason why I wish to leave the club, and perhaps I will never explain it."
Ancelotti has just led PSG to their first league title in 19 years, as well as a Champions League quarter-final.
Leonardo insists no plans have been made to replace him, telling L'Equipe: "The priority is still that he stays. We have not contacted any other coaches."
One name which has often been linked with the club is that of former AC Milan, Roma and England coach Fabio Capello, now in charge of the Russian national team.
But Ancelotti's compatriot told France Football: "I have never been contacted."
PSG top the table by 10 points from bitter rivals Marseille with one game remaining, and were only edged out on away goals by Barcelona in the last eight in Europe.
Ancelotti has been granted near-unlimited spending power by Al Khelaifi's Qatar Sports Investments consortium, which allowed him to build a new attacking line-up around Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore last summer.
Brazil playmaker Lucas Moura was added to the squad in January along with former England captain David Beckham, who seemingly played his last game as a professional against Brest.
Despite all that, Ancelotti may feel a move to the Bernabeu would offer him a better chance to achieve Champions League success. Real were beaten by Borussia Dortmund in this season's semi-final but came close to overturning a 4-1 first-leg deficit.
They also beat Barca to last season's Primera Division title, though the Catalan giants have been dominant on the domestic stage this term.
AC Milan qualify for Champions League
AC Milan produced a dramatic late fightback to win 2-1 at Siena and book their place in next season's Uefa Champions League at the expense of Fiorentina.
Milan fell a goal behind to Claudio Terzi (25) and it remained that way until six minutes from time when Mario Balotelli levelled from the penalty spot.
Yet with Fiorentina hammering Pescara 5-1, Milan needed another goal to finish third in Serie A and take the final Champions League berth, and they duly got the job done with three minutes remaining as Philippe Mexes fired home.
Both teams finished the match with 10 men after Milan captain Massimo Ambrosini and Siena's Christian Terlizzi were sent off for second yellows in the second half.
Napoli coach quits after defeat
Walter Mazzarri, the Napoli coach, has announced his decision to leave the Serie A runners-up after four years at the helm.
The 51 year old, whose contract expires in the summer, revealed before 2-1 loss at Roma that he would reveal his future plans once the season was over.
Barca win final game
Barcelona marked the occasion of their Primera Liga trophy presentation with a 2-1 win over Real Valladolid at the Nou Camp.
Pedro opened the scoring after Xavi intercepted Jesus Rueda's pass out of defence and former Barca trainee Marc Valiente's clumsy own goal put the champions two goals to the good at half-time.
Victor Perez's late penalty, after Martin Montoya fouled Manucho, denied Victor Valdes a clean sheet on his 500th appearance for the club but could not dampen the party atmosphere.
Captain Carles Puyol accepted the trophy but touchingly handed it to coach Tito Vilanova and defender Eric Abidal, both of whom have had treatment for cancer, to lift.
Porto clinch title
Porto won their third consecutive Liga title and completed an unbeaten season in the process after beating Pacos Ferreira 2-0.
They beat bitter rivals Benfica last weekend to leapfrog the Lisbon outfit in the standings and completed the job with a win against their near neighbours.
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
England World Cup squad
Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Predictions
Predicted winners for final round of games before play-offs:
- Friday: Delhi v Chennai - Chennai
- Saturday: Rajasthan v Bangalore - Bangalore
- Saturday: Hyderabad v Kolkata - Hyderabad
- Sunday: Delhi v Mumbai - Mumbai
- Sunday - Chennai v Punjab - Chennai
Final top-four (who will make play-offs): Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bangalore
SPEC%20SHEET
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Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Squads
India (for first three ODIs) Kohli (capt), Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Jadhav, Rahane, Dhoni, Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Umesh, Shami.
Australia Smith (capt), Warner, Agar, Cartwright, Coulter-Nile, Cummins, Faulkner, Finch, Head, Maxwell, Richardson, Stoinis, Wade, Zampa.
The%20specs
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Tabby%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%20August%202019%3B%20platform%20went%20live%20in%20February%202020%3Cbr%3EFounder%2FCEO%3A%20Hosam%20Arab%2C%20co-founder%3A%20Daniil%20Barkalov%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Payments%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%2040-50%20employees%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Series%20A%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Arbor%20Ventures%2C%20Mubadala%20Capital%2C%20Wamda%20Capital%2C%20STV%2C%20Raed%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20JIMCO%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Outliers%20VC%2C%20MSA%20Capital%2C%20HOF%20and%20AB%20Accelerator.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Race card
1.45pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m.
2.15pm: Maiden Dh75,000 1,200m.
2.45pm: Handicap Dh95,000 1,200m.
3.15pm: Handicap Dh120,000 1,400m.
3.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,400m.
4.15pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m.
4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m.
The National selections:
1.45pm: Galaxy Road – So Hi Speed
2.15pm: Majestic Thunder – Daltrey
2.45pm: Call To War – Taamol
3.15pm: Eqtiraan - Bochart
3.45pm: Kidd Malibu – Initial
4.15pm: Arroway – Arch Gold
4.35pm: Compliance - Muqaatil
Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
The bio
His favourite book - 1984 by George Orwell
His favourite quote - 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance' by Derek Bok, Former President of Harvard
Favourite place to travel to - Peloponnese, Southern Greece
Favourite movie - The Last Emperor
Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
Role Model - My father, Yiannis Davos