Morocco international Achraf Hakimi is unlikely to sign a new contract at Paris Saint Germain, reports said. The 26-year-old right-back, arguably the finest in the world, will become a free agent when his current deal at the French capital expires in 2026. The latest report contradicts what the like of L’Équipe had claimed earlier — that the 5ft-11 defender will extend his stay at Paris at least until 2029. 

Hakimi, who joined Real Madrid Academy as a child, arrived at PSG from Inter Milan in 2021. A mainstay for the French powerhouse ever since, Hakimi had recently vowed to help the team lift its first UEFA Champions League. However, he also hinted his thirst for winning trophies. 

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PSG is often mocked for being mere “home bullies” for their misfortunes in the European circuit. The star-studded side, funded by oil money from the Middle East, never tasted the ultimate glory of European football. 

Who will buy Achraf Hakimi? 

PSG’s lack of success in the UCL is said to be the reason behind national captain Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid. The scenario could be no different for Hakimi, a two-time African Youth Player of the Year winner, who is yet to win European silverware despite being a highly-rated footballer. 

While there was no immediate news on potential clubs that the former Borussia Dortmund star could go to, some reports, on the other hand, claimed to know PSG’s contingency plan. Luis Enrqiue’s side is likely to buy English right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold from Premier League’s Liverpool, reports said.

Trent Alexander-Arnold to leave Liverpool?

26-year-old Trent, whose current Liverpool contract runs out in the summer of 2025, is unlikely to continue at Anfield in the post-Jurgen Klopp era. TAA has been heavily linked with La Liga champions Real Madrid for sometime now, and injury blows to Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez may force the Los Blancos to make a move for him ASAP.

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Meanwhile, PSG is preparing to play spoilsport by taking Trent to Ligue 1 instead. The English defender is already in talks with PSG and it has entered into advanced stages, SportBible said in a report. If Hakimi leaves in 2026, Trent could automatically take his place. If the Moroccan decides to stay, then the versatile Englishman can be accommodated in the midfield. Under Gareth Southgate, TAA has operated as a midfielder for the England national team. 

However, Trent Alexander-Arnold has not made his intentions clear yet and has kept his cards close to his chest. It needs to be seen if he would choose the super-rich French champions over proven trophy winners from the Spanish capital. 

Step by step, or in her case, fight by fight. That’s how Veronica Hardy is approaching things now that she’s in the best moment of her  career.

Hardy rides a three-fight winning streak heading into her return to the octagon Saturday at UFC 309 from Madison Square Garden in New York. The Venezuelan women’s flyweight takes on Eduarda Moura in the opening bout of the card.

A potential four-fight winning streak is no joke in the women’s 125-pound division. Yet, Hardy (9-4-1 MMA, 4-4 UFC) doesn’t want to get too far ahead and start projecting herself into the rankings or the UFC title picture.

“I think if you look too ahead, the road just seems so long like, ‘Wow, I’m not even ranked,’” Hardy told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “So for me, I’m just taking it fight by fight and focused on improving.

“It’d be a waste to get to the title and not be ready because I needed something in my game. Imagine getting so far just to come up short. So for me, if I’m ready, then yes. Right now I just want to get tough fights, keep climbing up the rankings and keep improving as a martial artist.”

Hardy doesn’t think a win alone on Saturday will get her a spot in the official UFC rankings for her division. She thinks it can get her a future fight to compete for a spot, but given the right performance, maybe she can squeeze in the world’s best.

“I don’t think I will enter the rankings, but maybe I’ll get a fight to enter the rankings,” Hardy said. “I think the fighters in the rankings are all very skilled and have picked up big wins, so I don’t think me winning will get someone out. I also think it comes down to whether or not they like your fights because you might just need more to enter the rankings. So I think the performance itself is very important.”

Taking things back to her fight-by-fight approach, Hardy can’t wait to compete Saturday. She likes the matchup with Moura (10-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), but more importantly she’s fighting in a legendary arena.

“I’m so excited, so excited, especially because I asked for this fight so much,” Hardy said. “I asked for it last year to fight at this (MSG) event, and they said no. I was more persistent in asking for this one.

“I train here in New York, so it makes it more special. Going to training every day and seeing the arena right there, because it’s a giant monster, it’s something that’s helped me because it’s such an impactful city, and I feel right at home. I think it will help me a ton.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.

The sudden departure of Formula 1’s race director Niels Wittich has caught the entire paddock by surprise and is leaving the beleaguered governing body with more questions than answers, some more uncomfortable than others.

Was Wittich pushed or did he jump?

The FIA announced on Tuesday Wittich was “stepping down” after less than three seasons as F1’s race director, two of which by himself after initially splitting duties with FIA WEC race director Eduardo Freitas. And while thanking the 52-year-old German for his services, the phrase that Wittich left to “pursue other interests” is the oldest trick in the book to suggest someone has been dismissed rather than stepped back voluntarily. And indeed it soon emerged that the decision did not come from Wittich, who appeared to confirm to the German outlet Motorsport Magazin that he was only told hours before the FIA statement that his services were no longer required.

Funnily enough, Wittich is not even the first FIA race director to be said to “pursue other interests”, with Roger Lane-Nott’s departure in 1996 described in the same terms. After a tough single season as F1’s race director, former submarine commander Lane-Nott was replaced by FIA president Max Mosley by the much missed Charlie Whiting.

Why did Wittich go now?

The most puzzling aspect of Wittich’s replacement by F2 and F3 director Rui Marques is the timing, with three races left to run in the 2024 campaign and one week before F1 travels to Las Vegas. While there had been rumours about FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem looking at making a change, the shock timing of the announcement has appeared to taken many people in the paddock by surprise, not least people within the FIA itself.

Race control had caught flack at the Brazilian Grand Prix, with Red Bull unhappy with the timing of a red flag in qualifying that it felt cost Max Verstappen, and with questions raised over the late virtual safety car call in the sprint race for a stricken Nico Hulkenberg. But generally Wittich has been well regarded and uncontroversial, and acknowledged by many as doing a very difficult job relatively well under challenging circumstances, returning some stability to the role after Michael Masi’s fraught spell at the helm.

There has also been unease over the consistency of judging incidents and handing out penalties, but it must be pointed out that this does not fall under race control, which can only refer incidents to the stewards for them to evaluate further.

Niels Wittich, FIA

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Wittich’s replacement will now be dropped into the hotseat ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which is operationally one of the most challenging circuits to manage. It is far from an ideal scenario for someone new to the role, with controlling an F1 race a big step up from other FIA series.

The race around the famed Las Vegas Strip eventually made a successful debut last year, but not before several teething issues in practice, the most spectacular being Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz suffering a heavy crash after dislodging a water valve cover at full speed.

The iconic boulevard itself is also re-opened to the public before and after the on-track action, adding to the complexity of the event.

Who is Wittich’s replacement?

Wittich’s replacement Rui Marques is another well regarded figure within the FIA, who joined the governing body in 2014. Following a spell as the deputy race director in the FIA’s World Touring Car Cup, the Portuguese moved across to single-seaters and became the race director for F2 and F3 in 2022. Marques also has previous experience as an international steward and circuit inspector, giving him a solid all-round perspective of all the moving parts involved in FIA sanctioned racing. In F2 and F3 Marques will be replaced until the end of the year by his Singaporean deputy Jannette Tan.

What does this say about the FIA?

Whatever the ulterior motives behind Wittich’s removal, his shock exit comes off the back of a string of high-profile departures from the governing body under president Ben Sulayem, whose heavy-handed approach has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

In October the FIA parted ways with its director of communications Luke Skipper and secretary general of mobility Jacob Bangsgaard. Late last year both sporting director Steve Nielsen and single-seater technical director Tim Goss resigned, while head of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission Deborah Mayer also left. The FIA’s first CEO Natalie Robyn also quit the organisation in May after less than two years in the role.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

Following the latest departures in October, the FIA was keen to announce the appointment of Alberto Villarreal as general manager and new Senior HR Director Alessandra Malhame.

Ben Sulayem has also alienated F1’s driver corps through clampdowns on the use of jewellery and swearing, the latter netting Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc punishments in recent races. Last week the drivers union GPDA called on Ben Sulayem to treat drivers as adults and reconsider his approach.

In an interview with Motorsport.com in September, Ben Sulayem acknowledged that it was hard for the FIA to find qualified race directors, announcing a new department to train officials from grassroots level.

“We have an issue and the issue is that we don’t have [enough] race directors. You cannot order them on Amazon or Google. No, you have to train them,” he said. “If we take what we are doing today in Formula 1, you cannot rely on one. God forbid something happens to him. So, we have to be able to meet the level of demand and have a pathway that’s good.

“We have departments for many things, but we [didn’t] have a department for one thing which is like a spinal cord for us, which is the stewarding and race direction. So, now we have a proper department.”

The latest high-profile departure, in a department which Ben Sulayem has admitted is a pinch point for the organisation, will not ease calls from F1 teams clamouring for more stability. Therefore the FIA, which has been tight-lipped about it all, will have some explaining to do.

EXETER are among the clubs to have been left furious at the international break after England saw eight players withdraw from the squad.

Lee Carsley‘s final squad as interim manager was hit by chaos as he was forced to draft in eight replacements for stars who were forced to pull out of the squad.

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Many of these stars included players who had originally been called up to England youth teams.

And this has had a subsequent knock-on effect for more squads, and consequently hit clubs in the EFL where many players from the Under-21s and below star.

Clubs in the lower leagues that have at least three players called up for international duty over the break can ask for their fixtures to be postponed.

However, they must do so before 5pm on the Sunday before an international week.

And League One Exeter have fallen foul of this.

The Grecians’ clash against Lincoln is set to go ahead despite three of their stars being called up to represent their nations, including a last-minute call-up for 19-year-old Kamari Doyle to go to the Three Lions U20s after he was moved from the standby squad.

In a statement, Exeter said: “Exeter City’s match against Lincoln City will go ahead on Saturday, November 16 despite the international call-ups of three players, Josh Magennis, Ilmari Niskanen, and Kamari Doyle.

“EFL regulations state, clubs are eligible to request the postponement of a league fixture if they have three or more players called up for international duty.

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“However, to seek the postponement clubs need to request this at least five clear days before the fixture date.

“Due to the late call-up from the standby list for Kamari Doyle to the England Under-20 squad, we have been left no choice but to go ahead with Saturday’s match against Lincoln with a weakened squad.”

Manager Gary Caldwell also left no room for doubt on his feelings on the matter.

He said: “As the leading supporter-owned club in England, we are used to facing the continual financial challenge of competing against much bigger clubs in League One and decisions like this only highlight the constant challenges that smaller clubs like ours face at this level.

“We will continually meet this challenge through our determined squad, our phenomenal academy success and our amazing fans.

“It is hard enough to compete against these odds without being penalised by rules that no longer seem fit for purpose in the current financial climate of League One, and call into question the sporting integrity of the league overall.”

The ex-Scotland international has urged the EFL to consider postponing all League One fixtures during each international week or at least correlating the deadline for postponements with a deadline for call-ups.

The Sunday deadline is imposed to stop late postponements costing supporters.

However, Charlton called off their home game against Peterborough just six days prior to the clash after they saw three players called up, much to the anger of Posh fans.

Saturday afternoon matchday revenue remains key to keeping many clubs going, despite a new broadcast deal, and many feel the impact of missing out on that revenue when fixtures are postponed.

Leyton Orient are one team who have been hit acutely hard by this.

With their game against Mansfield postponed, the O’s have now missed out on three Saturday home games this season – the other two being Peterborough and Huddersfield.

The club estimates that the rearranged midweek games will see them earn £70,000 less from tickets and match-day income than they would get for a Saturday.

This means they will have lost around £210,000 due to the international call-ups, while this may even have a knock-on effect due to fans being less eager to renew season tickets with the persistent rearrangement of fixtures.

According to the Daily Mail, the East London club have spoken with the EFL in the hope that something can change with this.

The report adds that the EFL are aware of the challenge facing clubs due to the increased number of international call-ups seen in League One.