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ROBIN VAN PERSIE AND TIMBER FORCIBLY SEPARATED AFTER HEATED LOCKER FIGHT

Robin van Persie and Quinten Timber had to be pulled apart in a heated locker room clash after the Sparta loss.

Robin van Persie and Timber forcibly separated after heated locker fight
Quinten Timber agrees to Marseille transfer after public "puppet show" row with Van Persie

Pressure keeps building on Feyenoord boss Robin van Persie, and now there’s word out about a heated clash with former captain Quinten Timber in the locker room after Sunday’s wild match.

Feyenoord lost 4-3 to local rivals Sparta Rotterdam. That’s their eighth loss in the last twelve games, and the whole day felt like chaos in Rotterdam.

Afterwards, Van Persie went to the media to explain why he left Timber out of the starting eleven. He said Timber hadn’t been showing enough effort in training, so he benched him.

Timber came on in the second half, but he didn’t hide his frustration about what Van Persie said. “I think it’s a shame it has to be like this,” he told ESPN. “It’s not the first time the coach hasn’t protected a player—in this case, me. There’s a limit. It’s happening again. It feels like a puppet show, and now people think I’m not putting in any work. That needs to be cleared up.”

Rumour has it Timber’s heading to Olympique Marseille soon. He wanted to tell his side, so he called for an interview on the spot—no green light from the club’s press officer or Van Persie.

The tension between Van Persie and Timber blew up in the locker room. They got into it—face to face, voices raised. Journalist Mikos Gouka broke the story after talking to Feyenoord director Dennis te Kloese, who was actually there when it all went down. Te Kloese didn’t spill much, though.

“I’m not always in the locker room, but I’ve been there more often lately,” he told Algemeen Dagblad. “I get why people are asking. For me, it’s like ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,’ even if that’s not how things usually go here.”

Gouka says everyone knows about the fight and that people had to step in to pull Van Persie and Timber apart. Te Kloese wouldn’t say more.

“I can’t pretend everything’s great. Clearly, this isn’t good. But some things need to stay inside the club. I’m not discussing this with the press,” he said.

Even after all this, Te Kloese backed Van Persie, telling Algemeen Dagblad that his job was safe for now, but he wouldn’t say when that might change.

“There are no untouchables here. The results have been bad—we’re not hiding from that. But at some point, it has to stop. If you’re asking when enough is enough, I don’t have an answer. We need to start winning. If we miss out on the Champions League again, it’s a big setback. The club’s growth has come from competing and winning at that level.”

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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