Football News: Review Of The Day 26th January 2019

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Review of the Day

Transfers

Nigerian winger Victor Moses has completed his loan move to Fenerbahce on an 18 month deal. The 28 year old has not been able to break into the first team under Maurizio Sarri.

QPR winger David Wheeler has moved back out on loan with MK Dons following his recall the day before from Portsmouth.

Derby County midfielder Timi Elsnik has joined Northampton Town on loan for the rest of the season.

US international Matt Miazga has left Chelsea on loan to sign with struggling Reading.

Jordan Hallam has joined Scunthorpe United on a free transfer from Sheffield United.

Goalkeeper Andy Firth has left the National League in England to sign for SPFL side Rangers.

Bournemouth teenager Charlie Seaman has joined Dundee United on loan for the rest of the season.

Northern Ireland forward Paul Smyth has signed for Accrington Stanley on loan from QPR for the rest of the season.

Cambridge United have taken Bradford City striker Alex Jones on loan.

New York City FC have released Norwegian forward Jo Inge Berget.

Veteran Brazilian striker Vagner Love has returned to his home country at the age of 34. Love has left Turkish Super Lig side Besiktas on a free transfer to join Corinthians.

MLS side Minnesota United have signed full-back Romain Metanire from French top flight side Stade Reims.

Vancouver Whitecaps have added Brazilian winger Lucas Venuto to their roster from Austria Vienna.

Cagliari have taken Uruguayan midfielder Christian Oliva on loan from Nacional.

Italian striker Marcello Trotta have swapped Sassuolo for Frosinone for a fee of around £4.5m.

Former Watford midfielder Mario Suarez has been released by Guizhou Hengfeng, who are currently managed by Dan Petrescu.

Bologna defender Sebastien De Maio has joined Udinese on loan.

Teenage Swedish striker Alexander Isak has been loaned out by Borussia Dortmund to Willem II of the Eredivisie in Holland.

Contracts

Preston North End left-back Josh Earl has extended his deal until 2021. Paul Gallagher has also got a new deal, his running until 2020.

St Johnstone's Scottish midfielder Liam Craig has added another year to his deal to keep him there until 2020.

Argentine forward Tomas Conechny has signed a new contract with the Portland Timbers for this MLS season. Midfielder Andres Flores has also signed on for another year with the Timbers. US goalkeeper Steve Clark has joined them in signing up for the season.

David McGoldrick has agreed an extended deal with Sheffield United, as the 31 year old originally signed for the Blades on a short term deal. The striker, who has 10 goals so far this season, is now contracted until 2021.

22 year old striker Kyle Wootton has signed a contract extension which runs until 2021.

Wague Gets 4 Game Ban

Senegal international defender Moussa Wague has been punished with a 4 game ban after he was sent off for reacting to what he claimed were "numerous and repeated racist insults". The referee did not report any racial abuse, instead he said Wague was sent off for "hitting a spectator in the face when trying to snatch a ball, when the ball was not in play." Wague could have received a punishment of up to 10 games under Spanish federation rules.

Ref Banned For Life

FIFA have banned already retired Niger referee Ibrahim Chaibou from all football-related activities for life, as well as fining him 177,000 euros. Chaibou was found guilty of having taken bribes by FIFA's ethics committee, but did not reveal which games he was being punished over.

Saint About To Join Internazionale

Southampton right-back Cedric Soares is set for a loan move to Inter Milan. Soares flew to Italy to complete the move on Friday and take his medical. It is believed the loan deal includes an option to buy in the summer.

King Makes Share Offer

Rangers chairman Dave King has finally made his mandatory offer for Rangers shares that are not already owned by either him or his 3 other main shareholders. The Takeover Panel had obliged King to make the offer after ruling that he, Douglas Park, George Letham and George Taylor had worked in concert to buy more than 30% of the Scottish club's shares. King lost a protracted legal battle to force him to make the offer.

Lukaku's Newcastle Move Falls Through

Newcastle United's move for Lazio full-back Jordan Lukaku, the brother of Manchester United's Romelu, has fallen through. The 24 year old left back had been on Tyneside to discuss terms but has now returned to Rome with Newcastle releasing a statement to confirm that "a loan deal will not be pursued."

Monaco Sack Henry

After initially, and very bizarrely, suspending head coach Thierry Henry, AS Monaco have sacked the former Arsenal and Barcelona forward and replaced him, as expected, with previous coach Leonardo Jardim. A Monaco statement from club vice-president Vadim Vasilyev read: "Leonardo should have had an opportunity to continue. We have to acknowledge that during the summer transfer window, we sold too many key players and, despite considerable investments, mistakes were made with respect to their replacements. This did not allow us to create a new, competitive team. The decision to dismiss Leonardo Jardim was also premature. Thierry Henry is a football legend but a very unfavourable mix of circumstances, including, above all, numerous injuries to our players, hampered him from quickly and effectively leading the team out of the crisis. We believe our players will gain momentum and that, together with Leonardo Jardim as the manager, Monaco will be able to overcome this crisis." Basically Vasilyev has said what most people said before they sacked Jardim.

Hibs To Manage Without Lennon

Amidst a swirl of rumours about Neil Lennon having fallen out with the board, the head coach will not be in charge of Hibernian when the play St Mirren today. Instead his assistant Garry Parker will be in the dugout, with Hibs on a run of 5 games without a win. Lennon had just recently publicly spoken about needing two more signings in the January window.

Arnautovic To Stay A Hammer - For Now

West Ham United's Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic has announced his intention to stay at the East End club despite interest from China. For now anyway. Arnautovic said on social media: "I guess it's no secret there has been an offer for me and I have to admit the offer was a very tempting one for me and my family. I have given 100% to my club duties but I have also needed some time to talk to my club, my wife and the rest of my family. I have now decided to put a stop to all the writings and speculation. It is clear that London and West Ham United feels like home for me and I hope the West Ham fans have always seen that. Let's focus on the rest of this season together and let those bubbles fly."

Balotelli Debut Marred By Protests And Fireworks

Mario Balotelli's Marseille debut saw him score a goal but his day was marred by pre-game protests, fireworks, a red card and a defeat. That almost sounds like a summation of his career but this time he was not involved in most of it. The match against Lille, which ended in a 2-1 win for Lille, started off with a 10-minute strike by Marseille supporters, who protesting at the club's owners and coach, then was held up for 31 minutes in the second half after a firework was thrown by a fan and exploded close to 2 players. Kevin Strootman and former Aston Villa full-back Jordan Amavi were not hurt but the referee took both sets of players off the pitch. The game itself resulted in 9 yellow cards and a red card for former Newcastle United midfielder Florian Thauvin for his second yellow. The game which started with large sections of the ground empty behind the goals, ended with fans invading the pitch.

Written by Tris Burke January 26 2019 06:01:32