Mbappe and Neymar to be the next great rivals
It has been a few years in the making and still appears a few years off arriving, but football fans regularly contemplate what life will be like when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo either fall from their ridiculous standards or retire gracefully. Aged 31 and 33 respectively, they are at the time of the career when most normal footballers exhibit some signs of decline. Yet the reason they have had such longevity at the top of the game is their work ethic combined with ludicrous ability. Perhaps it could be the arrival of two new bona fide superstars that will encourage Messi and Ronaldo to hang up their boots.
If Messi or Ronaldo had been able to carry their national side to a World Cup title, they could have looked around the sport and decided that there were truly no more worlds to conquer. Instead, Ronaldo was his usual prolific self but received little help, while Messi never really looked comfortable in Argentina’s system under Jorge Sampaoli. Two men who have enjoyed far more successful World Cups are Kylian Mbappe and Neymar. The latter is, of course, Messi’s former Barcelona team-mate, while both are players who have been linked with moves to Real Madrid at various times to either supplement or usurp Ronaldo. Mbappe even grew up idolising Ronaldo, which, if nothing else, should serve to make many of us suddenly feel very old. (more…)
The former Barcelona goalkeeper announced just two days before the first ball in Russia was kicked that he was going to take charge of Real Madrid for the start of next season. The only problem was that it was the first the Spanish FA had heard of it. 
Speaking to MUTV, Mourinho was pleased with the performance of Young over the course of the season and feels the Englishman has answered plenty of questions which were pointed out towards his fitness, age and ability to play at the highest level. He said: “When I arrived, he was playing a few matches per season. For the last couple of seasons, lots of injuries, lots of doubts, lots of question marks about his future at the highest level. 
Speaking to the club’s official website, Pereira stressed that he is very happy at Old Trafford despite playing deputy to De Gea and Romero, he said: “I’m very happy. As the number three, I have two top goalkeepers in front of me, and they help me a lot too. They have lots of experience and they can help me with that. Obviously, I have a manager who has helped me so much and has always been by my side. I’m learning a lot so I am happy where I am. Obviously, it’s very nice to hear good stuff coming from the manager. Now is my time to show people that he’s right about me and everything he says is actually the truth. I’m just learning and getting some experience. We’ll see what happens next.”
In an interview with SFR Sport, Mkhitaryan defended his stint with the Red Devils, and believes he had relatively good success with the club, having netted the crucial second goal during the Europa League final win over Ajax last season, he said: “I think I left an impression in Manchester, although I had difficulties. We won three titles in a year and a half — not every club does that. We won the Europa League, and I scored a goal in the final. If people say that I did not have enough success it is their opinion but I believe that I had a lot of success at the club.”
The well-travelled England cap – who has represented his country at every level from U16 to the senior squad – is currently plying his trade at Dean Court in the colours of Premier League club Bournemouth but his CV shows stints at West Ham, Tottenham and even Portsmouth (when they used to be half-decent). 
