Money

Grant Wahl’s annual MLS Ambition Rankings have been revealed on SI.com, and there really aren’t any surprises at the top (Atlanta United and LAFC) or the bottom (Colorado Rapids and New England Revolution). And while there have been some feel-good moves (the Columbus Crew greatly rise thanks to new ownership), the list also captures some worrying trends around the league, most notably the malaise surrounding the Montreal Impact.  

Real Madrid’s youth movement continued apace Tuesday with news that 21-year-old Serbian striker Luka Jović had completed his transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt on a six-year deal worth $67.5 million. 

Despite president Gianni Infantino’s last-ditch visit to Kuwait in an attempt to coerce the nation into co-hosting the 2022 World Cup with Qatar in order to expand the field from 32 to 48 teams, FIFA has now admitted failure in its expansion plan. 

The next World Cup will remain a 32-team affair taking place between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18 solely in Qatar.

Despite a 3-1 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor today, Arsenal finished outside the Premier League top four for the third consecutive campaign. A damning run of late-season form saw the Gunners ultimately stumble to fifth.

Following a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United back on match week 31, Arsenal sat third in the table, but over the final seven matches of the season, the Gunners won only two, drew one and lost four to finish one point behind fourth-place Tottenham.

Major League Soccer has fined Zlatan Ibrahimovic an undisclosed amount for diving in Wednesday’s 3-1 defeat to the Columbus Crew.

Ibrahimovic was found guilty of simulation in the 23rd minute when going for a loose ball in the box. The hulking Swede threw his body over Crew keeper Zack Steffen, who didn’t make any real contact with the Galaxy striker. 

The referee waved play on with no foul called nor was Zlatan booked for the offense. 

For the second time ever, the Champions League final will pit two English clubs against one another in what is sure to be an instant classic. Even if the final has a fraction of the drama supplied in the semifinals, we’re in for a treat. But you may want to watch from home, because Champions League final tickets cost are astronomical.

There’s a new most valuable Premier League club, and it’s not Manchester United. 

Manchester City was rated the most valuable Premier League club for the 2017-18 season in a recent study conducted by University of Liverpool’s Centre for Sports Business Group, as reported by BBC.

The Citizens were valued at $3.11 billion (£2.364 billion) compared to United, which dropped nearly half a billion dollars to $2.75 billion because of “higher wages and lower profit,” according to the study. 

DeAndre Yedlin made a big move after the 2014 World Cup, leaving his hometown club Seattle Sounders for Tottenham Hotspur in August of that year. Five years later, his youth club Crossfire Premier has been denied solidarity payments on the transfer (which cost the English Premier League club about $3.71 million), ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle reported.