La Liga

Kylian Mbappé's much-anticipated move to Real Madrid is official.

The club announced on Monday that Mbappé has signed his contract. He also confirmed the signing, writing on X he is "excited" to "join the club of my dream" Real Madrid.

Per ESPN's Julien Laurens and Alex Kirkland, Mbappé's deal is for five years at $16.2 million annually after taxes.

Laurens and Kirkland noted Mbappé appeared to tell France President Emmanuel Macron that the deal would be announced on Monday.

Mbappé's move to Real Madrid has been nearly one year in the making when it was revealed in June 2023 he wouldn't renew his contract, which had one year remaining at the time, with Paris Saint-Germain.

Laurens and Rodrigo Faez reported for ESPN in July 2023 that Mbappé was "beginning to assume" he might have to leave PSG last summer, with Real Madrid cited as his "preferred option."

Mbappé wound up playing out his deal and confirmed on May 10 he was leaving PSG:

"I will not extend and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks. I will play my last game at the Parc des Princes on Sunday.

"It's a lot of emotions, many years where I had the chance and the great honour to be a member of the biggest French club, one of the best in the world which allowed me to arrive here, to have my first experience in a club with a lot of pressure, to grow as a player of course, by being alongside some of the best in history, some of the greatest champions, to meet a lot of people, to grow as a man as well with all the glory and the mistakes I've made."

Mbappé's final game with PSG was a 2-1 win over Lyon in the French Cup final on May 25. Laurens and Kirland noted he recently purchased Gareth Bale's old home in Madrid.

Real Madrid has been trying to sign Mbappé dating back to 2017 after his deal with Monaco expired. He wound up going to PSG on a deal that at the time made him the second-most expensive player in the world behind Neymar.

PSG won the 2023-24 Ligue 1 title for the third straight season. Mbappé finished the season with 27 goals and seven assists in 29 Ligue 1 matches.

Real Madrid just won the Champions League title for a record 15th time with a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund. PSG lost to Dortmund in the semifinals.

Real Madrid veteran midfielder Luka Modrić will return to Los Blancos for the 2024-25 season, according to multiple reports.

According to Mario Cortegana of The Athletic, "The 38-year-old has accepted a lower salary as part of his new deal after taking on more of a secondary role at the club this season."

Modrić was called upon as a substitute during Real Madrid's 2-0 triumph over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday in the Champions League final, winning his sixth UCL title in the process.

Teammates Toni Kroos, Dani Carvajal and Nacho have been along for every one of those rides with Modrić and Los Blancos, with the trio now tied with former Real Madrid great Paco Gento for the most in history. Modrić, per Cortegana, is keen to surpass that mark.

Kroos is not, as he announced on Saturday that he will retire after the Euros this summer. Nacho's future at the club is currently unknown, while Cortegana reported that fullback Lucas Vázquez is set to sign a new deal and return to the club.

And then, of course, is the biggest piece of summer news for Real Madrid—the imminent signing of superstar forward Kylian Mbappé:

As for Modrić, his return keeps a veteran leader and experienced piece of midfield depth in place for Los Blancos, as they look to build upon a fantastic 2023-24 season that saw them win La Liga and Champions League. The UCL title has been claimed by Real Madrid more times than not since the 2013-14 season, with six triumphs in 11 years, an astonishing streak.

Modrić, 38, made 43 appearances between the two competitions this past season (21 starts), registering two goals and six assists. The future of Real Madrid's midfield is centered on superstar Jude Bellingham and players like Federico Valverde, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga, but having Modrić available for at least one more year is a boon for Los Blancos.

Barcelona have found their new manager.

The La Liga club announced Wednesday that it has hired former Bayern Munich and Germany coach Hansi Flick on a two-year contract to fill the vacated spot after firing Xavi Hernández.

Xavi exited with a victory in his final game, a 2-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday.

"It is a big honour and a dream to sign the contract with this amazing club," Flick said, per Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens of ESPN. "The hours I have been here in Barcelona have been amazing. Everyone here loves this club and gives their best to have success.

"The philosophy is similar to mine: ball possession and really attacking football, which are things I love. Barcelona also have one of the best academies in the world and a good mix between experience and young talent. It's our job now to work together and to improve them. For me, the team work is really important.

"I won titles with Bayern. My hunger for titles is really big and I would like to stay on this path with Barcelona. We can achieve a lot together."

Barcelona's announcement highlighted Flick's preference for a "high pressing, intense and daring style of play," and he has a long track record of success across various levels.

He started coaching as a player-coach for FC Victoria Bammental in 1996 and also counts stops with Hoffenheim and RB Salzburg on his resume. Yet he is best known at the club level for his time at Bayern Munich, which started when he was an assistant in the summer of 2019.

However, Bayern moved on from head coach Nico Kovac shortly after that, and Flick took over in an interim role before being given the full-time job. He established himself by winning 22 of his first 25 contests and then carved out his place in club history by winning a treble of titles in the Bundesliga, the German Cup and the Champions League.

Bayern Munich also won the German Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.

Following his success with the club, Flick took over as the head coach of the German national team. He did not find as much success there and ended up losing in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup.

Next up is Barcelona, which he will be taking over after some turmoil near the end of Xavi's tenure. The head coach first announced he would step down in January but then decided he would remain in the position until his contract ended in 2025.

However, club president Joan Laporta eventually decided to fire him. Marsden and Llorens reported "remarks made by Xavi about the club's difficult financial position did not go down well with Laporta."

They also reported the club president has been interested in Flick for some time, and he was able to land the coach.

Barcelona will be looking to bounce back from a trophy-less season when they finished second in the league and then lost in the Champions League and Copa del Rey in the quarterfinals.

Xavi Hernández will return for another year as manager of FC Barcelona, per Fabrizio Romano.

The decision came after a Wednesday night meeting at the home of FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta, Romano reported.

Hernández originally announced in January that he would leave after June 30, despite his contract running through summer 2024. He has served as coach since November 2021.

The extension Hernández, 44, signed with the club in 2023 included an optional year that could potentially bring his tenure through June 2026.

Hernández inked the deal after leading Barça to the 2022-23 La Liga title and a Supercopa de España victory.

By the time Hernández announced his upcoming departure from the team following a home loss to Villarreal in January, the Catalan club had already lost out on the Supercopa repeat and looked prime to drop their La Liga title defense as well.

The coach's then announcement spurred Barça into a 13-game unbeaten streak.

Although that stretch proved not to be enough to propel Barcelona through the Champions League or back into the La Liga title race, ESPN's Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens reported neither result impacted Barcelona's campaign to retain their coach.

Barcelona leadership partially hoped to keep Hernández for another season because of the team's finances, according to Marsden and Llorens. The two ESPN reporters wrote Wednesday that the club's debt is threatening to impact its ability to extend and sign players this summer.

Those financial limitations would likely also limit club's options as they searched as a replacement for Hernández, as noted by Dermot Corrigan of The Athletic.

With Hernández now slated to return, Barcelona can return focus to recovering from the club's financial woes.

As a player, Hernández spent 24 years with Barcelona. Only Lionel Messi has played more games than his 767 appearances with the club.

Former Barcelona star Dani Alves posted a €1 million ($1.1 million) bail and was released from custody pending an appeal of his sexual assault conviction, according to ESPN's Sam Marsden.

As part of the terms for his bail, Alves will have to surrender his Spanish and Brazilian passports and make weekly check-ins with the court.

In February, the retired footballer was found guilty of sexual assault by a court in Barcelona and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.

Alves was originally arrested in January 2023 after a woman alleged he had assaulted her at a nightclub in Barcelona the previous month.

The woman told prosecutors she entered one of the nightclub's bathrooms with Alves but was prevented by him from leaving. She alleged he slapped her and forcibly had sex with her.

Marsden wrote Alves "always maintained his innocence, but changed his story five times, eventually saying he did have sex with the victim but that he lied to hide his infidelity to his wife."

Ester García, who represents the victim in the case, told Spanish outlet RAC1 (via Marsden) she was "really dissatisfied with this decision" regarding Alves' bail.

"Justice is being done for the rich," she said. "It is scandalous that they free someone because they can get €1 million in no time."

Alves was signed to Mexican club Pumas UNAM at the time of his arrest. Pumas terminated his contract in the wake of his arrest.

Taylor Swift became a primary storyline during the 2023 NFL season after she began dating Travis Kelce. Now, she's impacting the other football too.

According to The Athletic's Guillermo Rai, La Liga side Real Madrid have asked to move a Sunday, May 24 match against Real Betis—the club's final game of its domestic campaign—to give themselves more time to prepare for Swift's The Eras Tour, which will be held at the Bernabeu on Thursday, May 30.

Real Madrid isn't seeking a dramatic change to the schedule, reportedly asking to play the match on Saturday, May 23 instead. But if both clubs find themselves in the running for places on the league table—Real Madrid currently resides in first place, while Real Betis could be fighting for a European berth next season—the matter becomes more complicated, as all league matches are traditionally held at the same date and time on the final week of the season to ensure competitive fairness.

According to that report, the club is also seeking a second date at the Bernabeu for Swift's tour after high demand for the initial date. The imminent signing of Kylian Mbappé is probably the most anticipated arrival of 2024 for Real Madrid supporters, but it would appear that Swift is a very close second.

Barcelona will be looking for a new head coach ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Xavi Hernández announced Saturday that he will leave his position as head coach of the Spanish club following the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign.

"I have decided I will not continue beyond June 30," Xavi said, according to The Athletic's Colin Miller and Pol Ballús. "It is a common sense decision for the good of the club."

Xavi's announcement comes on the heels of a 5-3 loss to Villarreal at Camp Nou that leaves Barcelona 10 points behind fellow La Liga giant Real Madrid and eight points behind second-place Girona.

It has been a particularly difficult month for Xavi and Barcelona, which fell 4-1 to Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercopa final on Jan. 14 and 4-2 to Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Jan. 24.

Barcelona named Xavi the permanent successor to Ronald Koeman in November 2021 and he helped lead the club to a league title for the first time since 2019 and the Spanish Supercopa title in his first full season at the helm in 2022-23.

However, Barça was eliminated from the 2022-23 UEFA Champions League in the group stage for the second straight season and also struggled in a Round of 32 exit from the Europa League.

Barcelona is through to the round of 16 in the Champions League this year and will face Napoli in the first leg next month. However, the club barely reached the knockout stages after struggling in the group stage, posting losses to Antwerp and Shakhtar Donetsk.

With a talented roster that includes Jules Kounde, Gavi, Pedri, Ilkay Gündogan, Ferran Torres, Robert Lewandowski and João Felix, Barcelona's performance this season has been roundly panned by supporters.

It's unclear who might succeed Xavi, who spent his entire playing career with the Catalan club from 1997-2015.

Real Madrid may have come up short in LaLiga and the Champions League in 2022-23, but they can at least claim a Deloitte Football Money League title.

The company released its annual analysis Thursday, with Madrid sitting atop the list thanks to €831 million in revenue. That was a significant increase from the €713.8 million it generated for the 2021-22 season.

Here's how the top 10 looked:

Deloitte Football Money League

1. Real Madrid (€831.4M) 
2. Manchester City (€825.9M) 
3. Paris Saint-Germain (€801.8M) 
4. Barcelona (€800.1M) 
5. Manchester United (€745.8M) 
6. Bayern Munich (€744M) 
7. Liverpool (€682.9M) 
8. Tottenham Hotspur (€631.5M) 
9. Chelsea (€589.4M) 
10. Arsenal (€532.6M)

A surge in commercial revenue helped Real Madrid overtake Manchester City for the No. 1 spot despite City winning a historic treble. Los Blancos earned €403 million from sources away from the pitch, well up from €319 million last year.

It was a similar story for Real Madrid's biggest rival.

Perhaps the bill will come due for Barcelona eventually after club president Joan Laporta pulled all of the economic "levers" at his disposal. The short-term boost those measures provided is evident in the fact Barça's overall revenue went from €638 million to €800 million, the majority of which was considered commercial (€412 million).

That Barcelona's player wages still accounted for 81 percent of its total revenue still raises questions as to the sustainability of the club's finances.

Deloitte's findings certainly provide an obvious counterargument should Real Madrid and Barcelona officials renew their pleas that a European Super League is required.