Sports
How the man who signed Henry, Bale and Suarez is reshaping Toulouse
The city of Toulouse is better known for rugby than football but with the man who brought Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie, Luis Suarez and Luka Modric to England now at the helm, that tide could be turning.
Since Damien Comolli became president in 2020, Toulouse have returned to Ligue 1 and won a first ever Coupe de France in 2023.
They have also developed one of the best youth academies in France – 19 players are currently representing the national team between under-15s and under-21s level.
“We want to bring the academy players into the top professional side fast, so we play and train with all the players in the same way,” Comolli tells BBC Sport, from his glitzy office overlooking the beautiful Garonne river.
“We are always looking at what we call our succession planning. Right now we are looking at boys born in 2008 in our academy to see how we can get them in our first team, rather than find talent outside.”
Traditionally, however, Toulouse have struggled to hold on to their best talents.
“We lose our players early to other clubs,” explains Comolli, who has managed to take a positive from the situation. “This unwanted rotation of players helps us to get players in the first team fast.”
One current prospect exciting Comolli is 19-year-old goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, who joined Toulouse’s academy aged six and established himself as the club’s number one last season.
“Our goalkeeper has the highest transfer market value in the world for an under-19 goalkeeper,” says Comolli. “Our 18-year-olds get exposure to first-team football very quickly. This year, seven players from the academy are playing for the first team.”
Sports
Havertz online abuse has terrible consequences – Arteta
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the online abuse of striker Kai Havertz and his wife has “terrible consequences” and needs to be “eradicated from the game”.
Havertz was criticised for his performance in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by Manchester United, after he missed a glorious chance to win the game in normal time and then had his penalty saved in the shootout as United won 5-3 on penalties following the 1-1 draw.
The German’s wife Sophia shared screenshots of the “shocking” abuse she received on social media amid the game, including threats to the couple’s unborn child.
Arsenal have reported the abuse to the police and are working with a specialist data firm to identify the culprits, but Arteta says more must be done as he spoke before Wednesday’s north London derby against Tottenham.
“It’s incredible, honestly,” he said. “We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences.
“It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action.
“There is no other industry like this. When we played Ipswich on December 27, we won 1-0 and Kai Havertz scored. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ (his chant). That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective?
“We are all responsible. That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.
“We can accept it and say ‘that’s our job’, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football.
“What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.”
Meta, who own Instagram, removed the content for violating its policies.
Sports
I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team – Klopp
Jurgen Klopp says he has made a “clear commitment” that he will not become manager at one of the Red Bull clubs after starting his role as the organisation’s head of global soccer.
The former Liverpool manager was named in the role last year before officially starting at the beginning of 2025.
He has not had a managerial role since leaving Anfield last summer following a highly-successful nine year spell.
Klopp’s new role sees him take more of an oversight role across a number of clubs including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.
But when asked at a media conference on Tuesday whether he might be tempted back into day-to-day management if a role at one of the clubs becomes available, Klopp said emphatically said “no”.
“I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team,” he said. “That is a clear commitment. As much as you can give a guarantee, I will not be a coach at all.
“I am probably the only person in this room who will be asked where are you in five years, I don’t have a clue.
“But I will not be a replacement of one of the Red Bull coaches.
Sports
Rising star Fonseca knocks out ninth seed Rublev
Joao Fonseca had a Grand Slam debut to remember as he knocked out ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open.
The 18-year-old Brazilian thrilled the crowd as he caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory against Rublev.
Fonseca was playing in his first main-draw match at a major, having come through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set in Melbourne last week.
The victory extends his winning streak to 14 matches – but who is tennis’ latest rising star?
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