Chelsea and Liverpool beware: Real Madrid line up £265m transfer splurge to rebuild their front three

Real Madrid are reportedly readying some major spending in the transfer market as they eye the likes of Chelsea forward Eden Hazard and Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino.

According to Diario Gol, the Spanish giants have a number of targets in that area of the pitch, but those two are among the main names they’re looking at as they seek to spend around £265million in total on revamping their attack.

Links with Chelsea’s Hazard make sense given the Belgium international’s precarious contract situation, with his current deal due to expire at the end of next season.

This significantly weakens Chelsea’s negotiating position, as it did when they ended up selling Thibaut Courtois to Real Madrid last summer.

The 28-year-old attacker also seems an ideal replacement for Los Blancos to fill the void left by Cristiano Ronaldo after his move to Juventus.

As for Firmino, the Brazil international has been another of the Premier League’s finest players in recent times and could be a fine upgrade on the over-the-hill Karim Benzema at the Bernabeu.

he-hill Karim Benzema at the Bernabeu.

Concern for Chelsea: Eden Hazard on Real Madrid transfer talk, but hints at stay too

Chelsea star Eden Hazard has once again left the door open to a possible move to Real Madrid in the future, which will concern Blues fans.

As noted by Marca, speculation of a move to the Bernabeu refuses to go away and it seems as though the Belgian is doing little to entirely dismiss those links.

With the Spanish giants yet to fill the void left behind by Cristiano Ronaldo last summer following his switch to Juventus in terms of a marquee signing, that will arguably ensure that the Hazard links remain.

Particularly if he continues to talk about the possibility of a move to Spain as noted below without fully committing himself to Chelsea, it will remain a source of real concern for the Premier League giants.

“Why not? You know it very well. You’re asking the question, but you know what the answer will be so you don’t have to ask it,” he said when asked if he’d be happy to join Madrid, as quoted by Sky Sports via an interview with France Football.

Barcelona complete loan signing of Ghanaian footballer Kevin-Prince Boateng from Sassuolo (Photos)

Spanish giant, Barcelona have confirmed the signing of Ghanaian footballer Kevin-Prince Boateng from Italian side Sassuolo.

The club bought the 31-year-old former Tottenham, Portsmouth and AC Millan star to replace Munir El Haddadi who moved to Sevilla two weeks ago. 

A statement from Barcelona on Monday said: 'Barcelona and Sassuolo have reached an agreement for the loan of Kevin Prince-Boateng for the remainder of the 2018-19 season. The deal includes the option to buy the player for 8m euros (£7.1m).'

According to reports, Barcelona paid 2 million euros (£1.76m) for the loan and will present Boateng to supporters on Wednesday. 

See Boateng's career

 2004–2007: Hertha BSC II

2005–2007: Hertha BSC

2007–2009: Tottenham Hotspur 

2009: Borussia Dortmund (loan)

2009–2010: Portsmouth

2010–2013: Milan 

2013–2015: Schalke

2016: Milan 

2016–2017: Las Palmas

2017–2018: Eintracht Frankfurt 

2018: Sassuolo

The world's richest 26 people are richer than 3.8billion of the world's poorest people

A new Oxfam report has highlighted the growing gulf between the rich and poor as it revealed that the world's top 26 billionaires are richer than half of the world's poorest people or 3.8billion people. According to the report, Billionaires, who now number a record 2,208, have more wealth than ever before and are growing $2.8billion richer everyday. 

 

Most of these mega-wealthy are American, according to the Forbes list of billionaires used by Oxfam. The names include Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Microsoft's Bill Gates, Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who collectively are worth $357 billion, according to Forbes.

 

Oxfam recommends that nations tax wealth at fairer levels, raise rates on personal income and corporate taxes and eliminate tax avoidance by companies and the super-rich. It also advocates providing universal free health care, education and other public services — and ensuring that women and girls also benefit. And it suggests investing in public services — including water, electricity and childcare — to free up women's time and limit the number of unpaid hours they work.

Police Refuse To Release Melaye, Move To Arraign Him On Fresh Charges - Politics -

by Dyepkazah Shibayan



The police have refused to release Dino Melaye, senator representing Kogi west, despite meeting his bail conditions, TheCable understands.

On Friday, a high court in Abuja granted Melaye bail on health grounds after about two weeks in detention.

Yusuf Halilu, the judge, had granted the senator bail on health grounds.

The bails conditions included presenting three sureties who reside and have properties in Abuja. The lawmaker met the conditions on Monday.

Melaye has been in custody since he surrendered to the police on January 4 after an eight-day siege was laid to his Abuja residence.

The police alleged that supporters of Melaye shot one Danjuma Saliu, a police officer in Kogi state, in July. They said Saliu has been in hospital since that time and is not responding well to treatment.

Basket Mouth reacts as hotel dishwasher is awarded $21 million after she was fired for refusing to work on a Sunday

Nigerians, including comedian Basket Mouth, have reacted after it emerged that a woman was awarded $21 million after she was fired for refusing to work on Sundays for religious reasons.

60-year-old Marie Jean Pierre, a former dishwasher at the Conrad Miami Hotel, worked with the establishment for more than 10 years. But she was fired in March 2016 because she missed work for six Sundays to attend Bethel Baptist Church in Miami. 

Pierre, a devout Christian missionary born in Haiti, said that she had informed her employer when she was hired that she could not work on Sundays because of her religious beliefs. When she was then assigned to work on Sunday, she skipped work and went to church. After missing work for six Sundays, her employment was terminated.

During an interview on Wednesday, she told NBC 6 Miami:

'Falz you don’t go to church and I am bothered' - His mum, Funmi Falana says

During the album listening party of Falz's new album 'Moral Instruction', his parents Femi and Funmi Falana were in attendance and during the event, his mother used the opportunity to express her concern about the fact that her son hardly goes to church.

While holding the microphone to speak about his new album, she said, “Folarin, you don’t go to church and I am bothered. I hope you would start going to church this year.”    

Falz however said his mother was right because he hardly went to church and he gave his reasons saying, 'I have nothing against the church or going to church; everyone has the right to practise the religion they desire but personally, as a Christian, it has been a while that I have been to church. It does not make me less of a Christian'.