Messi, who played his final game for PSG over the weekend, was also linked with a return to Barcelona, but the Spanish club have had their hands tied due to LaLiga's financial fair play rules. Messi, who led Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar in December and has earned a record seven Ballon d'Or awards, won the Ligue 1 title in his two seasons with PSG as well as the French Super Cup in 2022.
* A resurgent Alexander Zverev shrugged off a mid-match wobble to battle his way into a third consecutive French Open semi-final with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Wednesday. The German exited Roland Garros in agony last year after tearing ankle ligaments in his semi-final against Rafa Nadal, but will hope for a better outcome when he plays sixth seed Holger Rune or 2022 runner-up Casper Ruud on Friday.
* Each player at the Women's World Cup will be guaranteed at least $30,000 after a ground-breaking move by FIFA to disburse some of the prize money to individuals rather than national federations. All 23 members of the winning team will take home $270,000, part of a $110 million total prize pool that is roughly 300 per cent higher than what FIFA offered for the 2019 tournament.
* Norway's fourth seed Casper Ruud battled past 20-year-old Holger Rune of Denmark 6-1 6-2 3-6 6-3 on Wednesday for the second consecutive year to reach the French Open semi-finals. The pair had met at the same stage in a bad-tempered match in 2022 with Ruud emerging victorious in four sets before falling in the final to 14-time champion Rafael Nadal.
* Lionel Messi's announcement that he plans to take his talents to South Beach sent prices for Inter Miami tickets on the secondary market into the stratosphere on Wednesday as fans clamoured for a chance to see the Argentine great play on US soil. Ticket prices surged following reports early on Wednesday that he planned to join the Major League Soccer side, which he later confirmed.
* Top seed Iga Swiatek will look to book her third French Open final spot in four years when she takes on Brazilian outsider Beatriz Haddad Maia in their semi-final on Thursday. With the men having a rest day before their own semi-finals on Friday, all eyes will be on the 22-year-old Pole who won the title in 2020 and 2022 and is odds-on favourite to win it again.
* Ludogorets won the Bulgarian league for an unprecedented 12th season in a row on Wednesday, clinching the title with a 1-0 win at Cherno More Varna on the final day of the Balkan country's championship. The Razgrad-based side, who will enter next season’s Champions League qualifying rounds, finished on 85 points, one point ahead of CSKA, who beat Levski Sofia 2-0 but remain without a title since 2008.
* AC Milan have parted ways with sporting director Frederic Massara, a day after the announcement of the dismissal of technical director Paolo Maldini. Massara, who moved to Milan in 2019, was under contract until 2024. He was considered Maldini's right-hand man when the Italian side won the Italian league title in 2022.
* AS Roma's Tammy Abraham has undergone reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, the Serie A side said on Wednesday. The England international striker suffered the injury on Sunday in the final minutes of Roma's win over Spezia during their last Serie A game of the season.
* Borussia Dortmund have agreed to sell England midfielder Jude Bellingham to Spanish giants Real Madrid for an initial fee of €103 million (US$110.4 million), the Bundesliga club said in a statement on Wednesday. The 19-year-old, who had been linked with several major European clubs, joined Dortmund from Birmingham City in 2020 for £25 million (US$31.17 million), becoming the most expensive 17-year-old in football history.
