Football's biggest winners & losers of 2023: From Manchester City and Lionel Messi to Chelsea and Neymar

Like it or not, Saudi Arabia emerged as a major player in 'The Beautiful Game' in 2023, shaking up the transfer market by convincing high-profile players such as Cristiano Ronaldo to move to the Middle East, funding Newcastle United's return to the Champions League, hiring former Italy boss Roberto Mancini to coach the national team and, most significantly of all, 'winning' the right to host the 2034 World Cup.

The kingdom has already conquered golf; football could be next.

Despite stiff competition from Manchester United, the most embarrassingly run club in world football. Chelsea have spent more than £700 million ($900m) in 2023 alone, assembling a painfully limited and unbalanced squad packed with overpriced and under-performing players on long-term contracts. A team that was meant to challenge for the title this season is struggling to retain the support of its frustrated fans.

Still, Chelsea's pitiful performances are a source of enormous entertainment for neutrals all across the world and a welcome reminder that while money makes modern football go around, it cannot buy success - or class.

It may not have been pretty - or deserved - but Manchester finally won the Champions League by beating Inter 1-0 in Istanbul on June 10. The triumph in Turkey meant more to Pep Guardiola than anyone else, as it represented a first European Cup success without Lionel Messi - and an end to the incessant accusations of undermining City's hopes of victory with his alleged 'over-thinking'.

The Catalan also subsequently lifted the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup to make it five trophies in 2023 alone, and 16 in total since he arrived in Manchester in 2016.

Guardiola says that City have closed one chapter and that now it’s time to write another. Of course, both will be filled with asterisks, but Guardiola’s status as one of the game’s greatest ever managers is beyond dispute.

Whatever one thinks of Paul Pogba as a character, it's been hard to watch his demise from a purely footballing perspective. As a great man once said, the saddest thing in life is wasted talent, and the Frenchman has undoubtedly wasted his gift for the game.

He's been somewhat unlucky with injuries, but Pogba's decision-making has been relentlessly dreadful. His latest error of judgement could end his career at the highest level, with the 30-year-old facing a lengthy ban for failing an anti-doping test. Even if he does return, Pogba will never be the all-time great he should have become.

Winning the World Cup didn't solve any of Lionel Messi's problems at Paris Saint-Germain. If anything, Argentina's triumph only made things worse. Messi felt slighted by a perceived lack of recognition for his exploits in Qatar, while PSG supporters were infuriated by the stark contrast in performance and passion when the No.10 lined out for his national team.

A parting of the ways was best for everyone concerned, but particularly Messi, who is now starring in MLS. It's obviously a significantly lower level of football, but he's already won a trophy with Inter Miami and is now surrounded by an ever-increasing band of brothers from Barcelona's golden years.

Messi, who has just won yet another Ballon d'Or and GOAL50, is clearly enjoying his club football again, so don't be surprised if he continues starring for his beloved Argentina beyond the 2024 Copa America.

Let's face it, none of us are ever likely to know what it's like to receive an offer that would make us millionaires - or whether we'd have the fortitude to turn it down on moral grounds. So, it's difficult to be too critical of any footballer for accepting the ludicrous amounts of money on offer to go play in Saudi Arabia.

However, while Jordan Henderson shouldn't be made a scapegoat for the ills of the modern game, he was rightly lambasted for his decision to continue his career in a country where homosexuality is illegal, given he was previously championed as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community for taking a very strong and very public stance on homophobia in football.

An awful lot of people felt betrayed by Henderson and only he will know if turning his back on them - and his supposed beliefs - was worth it, as he struggles to make an impact at a mid-table Saudi Pro League team while often playing in front of a few hundred people.

Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira pointed out earlier this year that Real Madrid's Brazil-based scouts are no fools. They know what they're doing, as underlined by the recent purchases of Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo. And the acquisition of Endrick is already looking like another masterstroke, given the Madrid-bound 17-year-old played a starring role in Palmeiras retaining their Brasileirao crown.

After a trying spell during the summer, the striker scored six times in eight games during a crazy title run-in, and also picked up his first two caps for Brazil along the way. Another Selecao star will arrive at Santiago Bernabeu next summer.

At the turn of the year, Julian Nagelsmann was still regarded as one of the best young coaches in football. Now, though, he's got a serious job on his hands to restore his reputation.

Nagelsmann was unceremoniously sacked by Bayern Munich during the March international break - while he was on a skiing trip - and is now struggling to revive Germany, having won just one of his four matches since taking charge of the national team in September.

Euro 2024 will be key to Nagelsmann's hopes of altering the perception that the 36-year-old is not as good a tactician as he was made out to be during his spells at Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig, and the draw for the group stage has not been kind...

Football has ruined the game. It's now immensely difficult for all but a few incredibly rich - and often state-sponsored - clubs just to make it into the Champions League, let alone win trophies. It's not impossible, though. Indeed, 2023 was a good year for underdogs, with Union Berlin sensationally finishing fourth in the Bundesliga and Brighton qualifying for Europe for the first time in the club's history.

This season, meanwhile, Aston Villa are flying high under Unai Emery, Michel's Girona are quite remarkably second in La Liga, while Serie A surprise package Bologna are dreaming of the Champions League thanks to Thiago Motta.

Will all three be in next season's Champions League? Probably not, but they are at least proving it's still possible to compete with the big boys.

Luis Suarez says Neymar made "a mistake" by leaving Messi's side to go play at PSG in 2017 - and it's impossible to disagree. Despite flashes of genius, the Brazilian's time at Parc des Princes was a disaster. He went there to win the Champions League and the Ballon d'Or, but got his hands on neither and his summer exit was greeted with glee by supporters.

The hope was that he might accept a significant salary cut to resurrect his career elsewhere in Europe, but he instead decided to wind it down in Saudi Arabia. An almost inevitable injury means he's unlikely to play again this season.

The man who would have been king at Camp Nou is destined to be remembered as one of the game's great unfulfilled talents.

What a story! When Sarina Wiegman took over as England manager in September 2021, Mary Earps had been in the international wilderness for two years. Now, she's a bona fide British icon, having just become only the seventh footballer to win the BBC's prestigious Sports Personality of the Year award.

The goalkeeper was outstanding as the Lionesses finished as runners-up at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, winning the Golden Glove after conceding just four times. And as for the haters and misogynists such as Joey Barton, let us simply quote Earps after saving a penalty in the World Cup final: "F*ck off!"

Steven Gerrard was never going to restore his reputation as a manager in Saudi Arabia, but he really could have done with making a decent fist of his time at Al-Ettifaq. As it stands, his side is toiling in mid-table, with the Liverpool legend coming under increasing pressure.

When one considers that Unai Emery presently has virtually the same set of players at Aston Villa challenging for a top-four place in the Premier League, it's difficult to see a man once touted as a possible Jurgen Klopp successor at Anfield getting another job in the Premier League if he flops in the SPL.

Birmingham City came in for a lot of stick when they retired Jude Bellingham's jersey after just 44 appearances for the club. Turns out the Blues knew something that the rest of the world has only begun to realise over the past year: the 20-year-old Englishman is a generational talent.

Indeed, while Bellingham was left heartbroken by Borussia Dortmund's final-day collapse in last season's Bundesliga title race, right now, he's on top of the world. Even though he doesn't play up front, Bellingham has been breaking goalscoring records belonging to Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid, making his €103m (£89m/$114m) transfer fee look like a bargain. It's thrilling to think what he might achieve in 2024.

When Aurelio De Laurentiis took to the stage at the Stadio Diego Maradona in April to hail Napoli's first Scudetto since 1990, he insisted it was just the start. As everyone else feared, though, it was actually the end. By that stage, the president's relationship with coach Luciano Spalletti had already collapsed, while it was common knowledge that sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli wanted to join Juventus.

The hope was that De Laurentiis might hire a worthy Spalletti successor for one of the most exciting sides in Europe last season. Instead, he brought in Rudi Garcia, fresh from being sacked by Cristiano Ronaldo at Al-Nassr, and then, when that (inevitably) didn't work out, he made the even more puzzling decision to bring back Walter Mazzarri.

The net result is a dramatic dip in form, with Napoli now facing a fight to finish in the top four less than six months after winning the title. Consequently, it only feels like a matter of time before the likes of Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia quit the club.

De Laurentiis deserves credit for the part he played in Napoli's joyous Scudetto success, which captured the imagination of the entire football world, but he must also accept full responsibility for wasting a glorious opportunity to construct something truly special in one of the best cities on the planet.

Manchester City proved themselves the best in the world, on and off the field in 2023. The treble was a historic achievement, but finishing top of the most recent Football Money League was an even more unbelievable achievement. City's accounting, marketing and commercial teams are just as talented as Kevin De Bruyne & Co!

A special mention must also go to the club's army of lawyers, who have managed to push back the legal proceedings related to the 115 charges brought against City by the Premier League until 2024 at the earliest, meaning it could be 2025 by the time we get a final ruling.

All things considered, then, an outstanding year's work for City, an unstoppable winning machine.

Does Rasmus Hojlund's winner in a dramatic comeback against Aston Villa signal the start of a new era of sporting success at Old Trafford under the guidance of Sir Jim Ratcliffe? Only time will tell. All we know for sure is that Manchester United are a mess right now, an expensively-assembled team in arguably worse condition than their stadium.

Despite an encouraging 2022-23 campaign under Erik ten Hag, who lifted the Carabao Cup and secured a return to the Champions League, the Dutchman is struggling horribly to get the best out of the players at his disposal amid constant rumours of dressing-room rest.

United are already out of Europe and unless they sort out their maddeningly frustrating form, there's no chance of them turning things around between now and the end of the season - no matter who's calling the shots at boardroom level.

The best striker of his generation. A controversial take perhaps, on a very controversial player, but Luis Suarez has just underlined his greatness once again with a sensational season at Gremio that yielded 17 goals and 11 assists and ended with him being named the Brasileirao's Player of the Year. And all of this in spite of a debilitating knee injury.

Suarez's reward is a move to Miami, which means he gets to realise a dream by finishing his career alongside his great friend Messi.

What else is there left to say about VAR other than it's just not working? It was meant to make life easier for officials - but it's made it much, much worse. It's complicated an already difficult job, with grievances over the use of VAR aired after nearly every game now - sometimes by both managers.

The problem, of course, is not the technology, but the increasingly confusing laws of the game which lead to wildly contrasting interpretations of handball appeals and incidents of alleged serious foul play that make painfully long delays of play inevitable.

Enough is enough. It's time to ditch VAR until the rule-makers prove themselves capable of figuring out how to use it best.

Despite the pull of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), it seems that Carlo Ancelotti will now not be leaving Real Madrid at the end of the season. If he had done, though, we know who will be at the front of the queue to replace him.

Former Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso is doing a truly astounding job at Bayer Leverkusen, who are top of the Bundesliga, through to the last 16 of the Europa League with a perfect record and have scored more goals in all competitions (81) than any other club in Europe's 'Big Five' leagues so far this season.

If the Spaniard finally banishes the cruel 'Neverkusen' nickname, they'll build a statue of him at the BayArena, and welcome him with open arms if he eventually chooses to return to the Bernabeu.

Paolo Maldini called AC Milan's surprise title triumph in 2022 a "masterpiece" - but what followed has been a disaster-class in club management.

Less than a year after constructing a title-winning squad for Stefano Pioli on a Championship-level budget, Maldini was ruthlessly sacked by the Rossoneri's new American owners, Redbird Capital Partners, whose founder, Gerry Cardinale, felt that the club legend was no longer compatible with his preferred 'Moneyball' approach.

The consequences of that ludicrous decision are now being felt, with Milan having dropped out of the Champions League and into the Europa League despite spending a relatively huge amount of money during the summer constructing a squad that is actually inferior to Maldini's title-winners.

It's not in the least bit surprising, then, that there are already rumours that Cardinale is now considering selling Milan to investors from the Middle East!

Italy has an issue providing players for the national team - the Azzurri's failure to qualify for the past two World Cups is evidence of that fact. However, when it comes to the production of top-class coaches, the country remains a goldmine.

Last season, for the first time ever, five teams in the last 16 of the Champions League were managed by Italians: Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid), Antonio Conte (Tottenham), Stefano Pioli (AC Milan), Simone Inzaghi (Inter) and Luciano Spalletti (Napoli).

The latter, who has since taken charge of the Azzurri after winning his first Scudetto at the age of 64, will also be one of five Italian head coaches at Euro 2024, along with Domenico Tedesco (Belgium), Marco Rossi (Hungary), Francesco Calzona (Slovakia) and Vincenzo Montella (Turkey).

When one considers that Roberto Di Zerbi is presently earning rave reviews from the likes of Pep Guardiola in the Premier League, it's clear that when it comes to teaching tactics, Italians are in a class of their own.

There's a saying in Brazilian football circles that 'some things only happen to Botafogo' - and this year showed precisely why. Seriously, if you don't know what unfolded at the Nilton Santos and are fascinated by capitulations, just take a little time out to read about it here. There are title collapses and then there's the Botafogo bottle job of 2023!

Harry Kane spent the first five months of his time at Bayern Munich living in a hotel - and yet still managed to break one Bundesliga record after another in racking up 21 goals in just 16 games. Imagine what he's going to do once he settles into his new home.

There is, of course, the very real risk that Kane's infamous trophy drought might extend into another season, given Bayer Leverkusen are top of the Bundesliga and the competition for the Champions League is intense as ever, while Tottenham's revival under Ange Postecoglou has led some to question the striker's decision to leave north London.

But Kane made the correct call. While Spurs face a fight to finish in the top four of the Premier League, Bayern are battling for the game's major honours, while their new No.9 has already proved himself the most complete striker in the game today with 33 goal involvements in just 22 games.

Have Everton been harshly treated by the Premier League? Maybe so. It certainly seems strange that they've been subjected to the kind of 'swift justice' that some of their peers have rather conspicuously and suspiciously managed to avoid for breaching financial regulations. Still, there's no getting away from the fact that Everton have long been a model of mismanagement that squandered millions in the transfer market between 2016 and the summer of 2023.

The Merseysiders are fortunate in the sense that there are some seriously weak teams in the league this season (Sheffield United and Burnley already look doomed to demotion), but Luton's recent revival has underlined that Everton run the risk of relegation because of the 10-point penalty imposed upon them thanks to the recklessness of Farhad Moshiri's regime. Indeed, at the time of writing, there's no guarantee that they won't be hit with another deduction before the season is out...

Luis Rubiales during and after the 2023 World Cup final was indefensible. He deserved to lose his job as the head of the Spanish Football Federation. But he could, at least, have left with a shred of respect in the eyes of a horrified public if he'd done the decent thing and resigned right away.

Rubiales instead decided to double down, going all 'Wolf of Wall Street' as he refused to resign in a stunning show of delusion, entitlement and toxic masculinity. After robbing Spain's female footballers of the moment of glory, he made himself the story of the summer by dragging the whole sordid affair on for months.

Jenni Hermoso and her colleagues deserved so much better, and it is a genuine sporting tragedy that their finest hour will forever be associated with such a reprehensible character - who still believes that he's the victim in all of this.

Even during a stunning, unbeaten start to the season that propelled Tottenham to the top of the Premier League table, it was obvious that Ange Postecoglou's side were never going to win this season's title. Their squad was too shallow, their defence too weak and their tactics too risky.

However, even though those deficiencies have been exposed by a spate of injuries, Spurs' long-suffering supporters are experiencing emotions not felt for a while: excitement and optimism.

In Postecoglou, Daniel Levy has found a coach that personifies the club's ethos that the game is about glory. Will Spurs win anything under the affable Australian? Nobody can know for sure. But it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun finding out.

Jose Mourinho is no longer an elite-level coach - his most notable results now come in the Europa League and Conference League - but he remains a master of motivation and manipulation. He has done a sensational job at the Stadio Olimpico, which is now regularly packed to the rafters with loyal supporters of 'The Special One'.

He is a messianic figure among the Roma faithful, who hang on his every word. So, it was not in the least bit surprising to see supporters verbally abusing Anthony Taylor in front of his family as he tried to board a flight out of Hungary - less than 24 hours after Mourinho had waited in the car park underneath the Budapest Arena to berate the Englishman and the officials after their (excellent) handling of the Europa League final.

People can talk about mind games, pithy put-downs and entertainment value all they want, but the fact of the matter is that Mourinho is an enemy of football, the personification of the game's growing rage towards referees - or, to put it in his own words, "a f*cking disgrace".

Aston Villa had a rough Christmas, dropping points at home to Sheffield United before suffering a dramatic second-half collapse at Old Trafford.

However, the mere fact that they were in a position to go top of the table - technically, going into both games - is testament to the incredible work done by Unai Emery, who took over a side in total disarray after Steven Gerrard's disastrous tenure, and turned them into legitimate top-four contenders in just one year.

Consequently, Emery is our manager of 2023.

Argentina's status as the best team in the world would be bad enough for Brazilians. But what's really killing them right now is the awful state of the Selecao. Remember, just over a year ago, Brazil were many people's tip to win the World Cup. However, Tite's talented team suffered a shock quarter-final exit against Croatia.

A spell of introspection followed by decisive action was clearly required - but the CBF's succession plan is already in tatters. It was claimed that Carlo Ancelotti had agreed to take over in 2024, but in a hugely embarrassing turn of events for the CBF, the Italian ended up extending his stay at Santiago Bernabeu.

It's now unclear what happens to Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz, who had agreed to take over the national team on an interim basis until Ancelotti's supposedly imminent arrival. Plenty of people would like to see Diniz remain at the helm, but others are not so sure, given Brazil have made a disastrous start to their World Cup qualification campaign, taking just seven points from six games, and losing their last three.

They'll still qualify, of course, thanks to FIFA's farcically large 2026 tournament - but the Selecao are presently in a mess all of the CBF's making.

The controversy surrounding Jorge Vilda and Rubiales may have made for most unwelcome distractions that dominated the mainstream news headlines, but there is simply no overshadowing the success story that was Spanish women's football in 2023.

If anything, those embarrassing affairs only led to greater respect for the achievements of the national team in Australia and New Zealand, where La Roja won the World Cup in spite of obvious dissatisfaction with their coach (Vilda) and federation president (Rubiales).

It's also worth remembering that before the tournament began, Barcelona came from two goals down to beat Wolfsburg in a thrilling Champions League final.

One cannot help but wonder, then, what Spain's ridiculously resilient and tremendously talented women might achieve within a healthy working environment.

That Romelu Lukaku is scoring freely at Roma is wholly unsurprising. When the Belgian striker is fully fit and feels loved, he is a force of nature. However, the fact that he's now playing for a Serie A team targeting the top four rather than the title hammers home just what a mess Lukaku has made of his career.

Lukaku has made one disastrous decision after another, meaning he is now reviled by the supporters of the past three clubs he has played for on a permanent basis. He had every right to be upset by Simone Inzaghi's decision to start Edin Dzeko ahead of him in the Champions League final in June, but Lukaku proved himself as untrustworthy off the field as he is on it by discussing a move to Juventus while Inter were finalising a transfer fee for the forward with Chelsea.

The serial badge-kisser could well have a big 2024, with both Belgium and Roma, but Big Rom's reputation is already beyond repair.

Luis Diaz went through hell after his parents were kidnapped by guerillas in his native Colombia at the end of October. Although the winger's mother was released unharmed within a matter of hours, his father was helped captive for a further 13 days.

During that time, Diaz somehow found the strength to make himself available for selection for Liverpool's Premier League clash with Luton on November 5 and, in one of the most moving moments of the year, came off the bench to score an injury-time equaliser before lifting up his shirt to reveal a message pleading for "Freedom for Papa".

After the pair were finally reunited, Diaz scored twice as Colombia beat Brazil 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier on November 16, with his tearful father watching on from the stands. It was a truly joyous and unforgettable sight.

There is something very wrong with a sport that accepts millions and millions of pounds from betting companies and then bans players for succumbing to the insidious threat posed by the world of gambling.

Plenty of people have very little sympathy for the likes of Ivan Toney and Sando Tonali, who were hit with lengthy suspensions in 2023 - and that's understandable. These young men are blessed with a level of fame and fortune that is beyond our wildest dreams.

However, anyone who has read the testimony of Luca Fagioli, the protagonist in the biggest betting scandal to hit Italian football in decades, can at least begin to understand how a hobby can become an addiction.

"At night, I had stopped sleeping," the Juventus midfielder told investigators. "The more time passed, the more debts haunted me. They kept increasing and I was gambling just to try to make the money back. I had so much debt that even if I had won, I would get nothing out of it."

A true Hollywood story! Thanks to co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Wrexham have not only returned to the Football League for the first time in 15 years, but also become a smash hit around the world thanks to the immensely successful 'Welcome to Wrexham' documentary.

Consequently, massive movie stars can now be found mingling among bumper crowds at The Racecourse Ground and it's become abundantly obvious that there's no limit to what the Welsh club might achieve, with Wrexham currently perfectly placed for a second consecutive promotion.

Celebrity interest in football is often treated with suspicion - and understandably so - but it's worth remembering that Elton John propelled Watford from the third tier of English football to the top-flight. With their potent and intoxicating mix of humour and obvious business acumen, Reynolds and McElhenney look more than capable of emulating that achievement.

Just over three years ago, Lyon progressed to the semi-finals of the Champions League with a win over Manchester City. Now, one of France's most successful clubs is fighting relegation and beset by financial problems.

How did they find themselves in such a predicament? Gross mismanagement, to put it succinctly. Lyon have made a mess of the transfer market, continuously selling their best players and replacing them poorly, while constantly hiring and firing coaches with radically different footballing philosophies, resulting in zero continuity or cohesion.

Owner John Textor and predecessor Jean-Michel Aulas, who remains the club's second-biggest shareholder, have repeatedly blamed one another for the mess, which has only added to the sense of chaos at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais.

However, there are some glimmers of hope. Textor and Aulas have taken positive steps towards repairing their relationship while interim coach Pierre Sage has overseen three consecutive wins that have moved Lyon two points clear of the Ligue 1 drop zone. The club's furious fans are, thus, praying that 2024 brings some stability after the turmoil of 2023.

Erling Haaland has experienced his share of frustration this season: from losing his mind at controversial calls to failing to fire Norway to Euro 2024. The striker also went AWOL during the closing stages of Manchester City's treble-winning campaign, which is why he didn't win the Ballon d'Or.

However, Haaland still scored 44 goals in all club competitions in 2023 - more than anyone else across Europe's 'Big Five' leagues. He also broke the single-season record for the Premier League, with 36 goals in just 35 games, and finished as top scorer in the 2022-23 Champions League.

Haaland isn't Ronaldo or Marco van Basten. He doesn't excite in anything like the same way as the greatest No.9s in history. But it's already clear that, at 23 years of age, if he stays fit, he will break every record in the book. He is a relentless goalscoring machine.

Everyone has their own view on whether Erik ten Hag was right to exile Jadon Sancho, who effectively called his manager a liar after his omission from the squad to face Arsenal on September 3. The one thing we can all agree on, though, is that Sancho needs to leave Old Trafford in January if he is to have any chance of kickstarting a once-promising career.

It would be an awful shame to see such an exciting prospect amount to nothing.

Look, we know this has been a long read. And a pretty heavy one at times, too. It's hard not to be immensely frustrated - or even angry - with the state of the game today. However, do not lose heart. There are still some good people in football, and it retains a very special capacity to make dreams come true.

So, no matter who you support, or what you think of Jurgen Klopp or Liverpool, please, if you're feeling down or disillusioned right now, do yourself a favour and check out the story of Daire - an inspirational and timely reminder that the game can still be beautiful.