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THOMAS TUCHEL HANDS BIG ENGLAND ROLE TO DECLAN RICE

Arsenal's Declan Rice is set to captain England against Wales in a friendly, with Harry Kane injured. The midfielder continues to be a pivotal leader for both club and country.

Thomas Tuchel hands big England role to Declan Rice
(Image credit: Getty Images)

England is expected to honour Declan Rice of Arsenal for his steady, excellent performances for his team. Over the previous few years, the 26-year-old has been an important member of his team and nation, and he is currently improving his goal total.

Rice has made 12 appearances this season, scoring two goals and dishing out four assists—a remarkable accomplishment given that he was left out of three of Mikel Arteta's starting lineups. Despite worries over a back injury during last weekend's triumph over West Ham United, he has been able to maintain high performance levels thanks to enough recuperation.

Rice had to be replaced late in the game because of a back injury, although he had scored the first goal against his old team. When Arsenal revealed that Martin Odegaard had left the Norway squad without mentioning Rice, all concerns regarding his availability for England were dispelled.

Rice has undoubtedly been England's most reliable midfield player in recent years, but despite his goal against Andorra and two assists in the team's loping 5-0 triumph against Serbia, Elliot Anderson made headlines during the most recent international break.

The fact that Rice will captain the Three Lions in tonight's friendly against Wales, with Harry Kane sidelined due to injury, indicates that head coach Thomas Tuchel clearly sees Rice's potential, according to BBC Sport.

When England lost to Brazil 1-0 last year, Rice wore the captain's armband for the first time. After being named West Ham's captain in 2022, the midfield player moved to Arsenal the following year and has remained a crucial leader ever since.

Although Arteta and the team have remained faithful to Martin Odegaard, many supporters and analysts, including former defender Tony Adams, believe he is the Gunners' most suitable captain.

The Spaniard admitted, "My perspective is obvious, and it is the same as all the staff and the players," in response to the suggestion that Rice would be a better captain than Odegaard.

"They all picked Martin Odegaard, the captain, by a wide margin when I asked them to vote for him yesterday. Which is the best indication of how the team believes we can get better?

Both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhaes have taken over for Rice despite the Norway international missing a significant amount of the previous 12 months due to injury.

This decision may be the result of Arteta's reluctance to assign Rice further duties in light of what he already expects from him in both penalty areas.

CRISTIANO RONALDO PROTESTS AL-HILAL'S BENZEMA DEAL BY SKIPPING AL-NASSR LEAGUE MATCH

Cristiano Ronaldo is fuming. Discover why the Al-Nassr star skipped his last match and is now threatening to leave Saudi Arabia.

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Ronaldo "considering leaving Saudi Arabia" despite signing 2027 contract extension

Cristiano Ronaldo has been the main attraction in the Saudi Pro League ever since he landed in the Middle East three years ago. Now, for the first time, it looks like he’s actually thinking about leaving. He’s frustrated. He feels the playing field isn’t level, and it’s starting to get to him.

Here’s the deal: Four clubs in the league—Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ahli—get their backing straight from the state. But Ronaldo sat out Al-Nassr’s match against Al-Riyadh on Monday night. Why? He was protesting. He found out Al-Hilal was about to sign Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad, and that was the last straw. From Ronaldo’s perspective, Al-Hilal keeps getting more freedom to splash cash than everyone else. They’re the current champions, and Ronaldo still hasn’t managed to win his first Saudi title.

Saudi officials tried to calm him down. According to Diario AS, they reached out and argued that most of Al-Hilal’s extra spending comes from Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, not the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Al-Hilal just brought in Kader Meite for €30 million, Saimon Bouabre for €23 million, and now Benzema. Al-Nassr, on the other hand, only managed two free transfers this winter. Sure, they spent a lot more in the summer, but that didn’t seem to matter to Ronaldo.

Reports from Portugal, cited by AS, say Ronaldo’s not ruling anything out—not even leaving Saudi Arabia this summer. That’s despite just signing an extension with Al-Nassr until 2027.

And honestly, he has a point. Since he arrived, Al-Hilal have spent €647 million, while Al-Nassr have shelled out €410 million and Al-Ittihad €365 million. These numbers probably don’t include salaries—and let’s face it, nobody’s making more than Ronaldo. He’s supposed to return on Friday when Al-Nassr face Al-Ittihad, but right now, no one really knows if he’ll play or if he’s planning his next move.

N’GOLO KANTE SKIPS TRAINING AS AL-ITTIHAD BLOCK HIS MOVE TO FENERBAHCE OFFICIALLY

N’Golo Kante has gone on strike at Al-Ittihad after a paperwork error blocked his move to Fenerbahce. Can he still sign by Friday?

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Paperwork error halts N’Golo Kante’s transfer to Turkey at final hour

N’Golo Kanté didn’t show up for Al-Ittihad training on Tuesday, and it’s not hard to see why. He was all set to head to Fenerbahçe, but the deal fell apart at the last minute—apparently because Al-Ittihad messed up some paperwork. Kante was supposed to fly to Istanbul and sign, but thanks to this administrative slip, he’s stuck in limbo. There’s still a shot at reviving the transfer sinceKanté Turkey’s transfer window stays open until Friday, February 6.

Kante was one of the first big European names to jump to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al-Ittihad in 2023 after seven years with Chelsea. He’s been a key player in Jeddah, helping Al-Ittihad win the 2024-25 league title and the King’s Cup.

Then, in the middle of the January window, word got out that Fenerbahce wanted him. The Turkish club were eager to add a World Cup winner to their squad. The plan was to swap Kante for Youssef En-Nesyri, who’d head to Saudi Arabia. Everything seemed set until deadline day, when news broke that an error by Al-Ittihad in the Transfer Matching System stopped the transfer cold.

Fenerbahce didn’t hold back. They blamed Al-Ittihad directly, saying they’d done everything right: agreements with the players, medicals, paperwork, all wrapped up on time. But Al-Ittihad entered something wrong in the system, and that was that. Fenerbahçe even asked for an extension and reached out to FIFA, but nothing moved. In the end, the deal died, and Fenerbahçe put out a statement saying they understood the frustration and would keep working to strengthen the squad.

Meanwhile, Kante’s making his feelings clear. According to Ben Jacobs, he skipped training on Tuesday, still hoping the move to Fenerbahce can happen. Santi Aouna says talks between the clubs aren’t dead yet. L’Equipe is reporting that Kanté doesn’t want to play for Al-Ittihad while he waits for FIFA’s decision. With the Turkish window open until Friday, there’s still a glimmer of hope for Kante, though En-Nesyri’s move is off the table for now.

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