Football News: Review Of The Day 29th January 2019

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Review of the Day

Transfers

Harry Chapman returns to Blackburn Rovers for an undisclosed fee from Middlesbrough. Chapman spent last season on loan with Rovers where the young forward scored just once in 16 appearances.

Fleetwood Town striker Conor McAleny has joined Kilmarnock on loan for the rest of the season. The Cod Army have also sent defender Gethin Jones out on loan to Mansfield Town. Both players graduated from the Everton youth academy.

Tranmere Rovers have taken Walsall winger Kieron Morris on loan.

Macclesfield Town have added a pair of defenders on short term deals. Zak Jules, who was released by Shrewsbury Town earlier in the month is a Scotland U-21 international, while Stelios Demetriou was released by Ross County, also this month.

Left-back Alex Iacovitti has joined Oldham Athletic on loan from Nottingham Forest on loan.

Blackpool have allowed forward Mark Cullen to join Carlisle United on loan.

Omar Bogle has had his loan spell with Birmingham City cut short to allow him to join Portsmouth for the rest of the season. The 25 year old is contracted to Cardiff City.

Alvaro Morata has joined Atletico Madrid on loan from Chelsea.

Serie A leaders Juventus have sold central defender Mehdi Benatia to Qatari side Al Duhail for around £7.5m.

Levante have sent Sanjin Prcic on loan to Racing Strasbourg.

Portugese midfielder Joao Pedro has joined Tondela on loan from LA Galaxy.

Fenerbahce's Mexican defender Diego Reyes has joined CD Leganes on loan.

Stoke City have released always injured Ibrahim Afellay.

New York City FC have released defender Cedric Hountondji.

Fiorentina have spent just over £3m to sign Polish midfielder Szymon Zurkowski from Gornik Zabrze and sent him straight back there on loan.

Argentine right back Ezequiel Schelotto has left Brighton & Hove Albion on loan to join Chievo Verona.

Espanyol have signed Chinese winger Lei Wu from Shanghai SIPG.

Goalkeeper David Ousted has swapped DC United for Chicago Fire.

Minnesota United have spent under £1m to sign Ike Opara from Sporting Kansas City.

Africa Cup Of Nations Delayed

The 2019 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations has been put back a few days to allow Muslim players to rest after Ramadan, following requests by Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Afcon was set to start on 15th June and finish on 13th July but will instead run from 21st June until 19th July.

Inzaghi Sacked

Struggling Serie A side Bologna have sacked Filippo Inzaghi and brought back former head coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, a club he managed during the 2008/9 season. Inzaghi, who took charge in June, won just 2 games in the league and are sat in 18th, with a 3 point gap to safety. This is the second time Mihajlovic has replaced Inzaghi, having also replaced him at AC Milan in 2015.

Leeds Winger Ruled Out Again

Leeds United's Stuart Dallas, who has been out since 1st December with a foot injury, has been ruled out for a further 6 weeks with an ankle injury. The Northern Ireland internation has played on the wing and at full-back this season, before injuries hit.

Killie Appeal Boyd Card

Kilmarnock have appealed against the red card that Kris Boyd received in the 0-0 draw with Aberdeen on Saturday. The veteran striker faces a one match ban for his sending off unless the appeal is successful. The SFA are set to hold a hearing during the week, to allow the player the possibility of playing on Friday, when Killie face Hearts at home.

Pep Confirms Schalke Interest In Youngster

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed that another youngster is likely to leave the club for a big fee, without ever establishing himself in the first team (or given a chance to do so) as Schalke enquire about winger Rabbi Matondo. Guardiola described Matondo as: "an incredibly fast winger, and a young talent. It shows this club is working well."

Silva Confirms Gueye Bid Rejected

Manager Marco Silva has confirmed that Everton have rejected a bizarre bid from Paris Saint-Germain for not-quite-good-enough midfielder Idrissa Gueye, who is 29 years old, so has no potential to improve. Silva said, of the midfielder who struggles to pass water: "My opinion is the same as the club's, and we rejected the offer. He is one player we do not think to lose in this market. Of course, after some moments it can become a matter of money. From my point of view he is a really important player for us."

Former Invincible Takes New Role

Former member of Arsenal's 'Invincibles', Jens Lehmann has been appointed as assistant coach to FC Augsburg in the Bundesliga. Lehmann said: "FC Augsburg have developed incredibly in recent years. This is a brilliant opportunity for me to work as an assistant coach in the Bundesliga and to help the players reach their potential on the pitch."

Shved Takes Bhoys Medical

Despite Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers revealing he knew nothing of the player, and that he already had lots of wingers to pick from, Ukrainian winger Maryan Shved is undertaking a medical with the Scottish champions. Rodgers said: "There's a medical that's going on so hopefully over the next few days that can be organised. Then he'll come back to here and we'll have a look and talk through what his development plan would be."

Hardy Announces Sale Of Notts County

Notts County chairman Alan Hardy kept his clothes on for his latest announcement, as the owner of the club revealed he has put the club up for sale. Hardy has struggled badly with mistake after mistake during his reign, including slagging off neighbours Nottingham Forest, while having a couple of their players on loan. Hardy also constantly goaded another local rival, Mansfield Town on social media. Unsurprisingly they went elsewhere on loan after that. His nude tweet at the weekend is probably the least of his mistakes but the embarrassment has finally seen County given the chance to free themselves of his influence, though it is probably too late to save them from relegation out of the EFL.

Emery Hoping For 2 New Signings

Arsenal's head coach Unai Emery has told reporters that he is hopeful of 2 new signings joining the club before the January window closed, though neither will be a defender. Emery said: "This transfer window is not easy. The message is the club is working on different players and the possibility if it can be good for us. We are looking at two different players and the possibility they can come. If they aren't coming to help us like we want, I prefer they don't come. We have enough players, centre-backs, in the squad. Only we're having a lot of injuries and a lot in this position. If we can bring another player and when all the players want to play, we can have a lot of trouble in the future."

Cherries All In Denim

Russian businessman Maxim Denim has taken full ownership of Bournemouth after acquiring the final 25% that he had not previously owned. Denim initially stepped in to take a 50% stake in the club back in 2011.

Keane Takes Forest Role

Roy Keane, who was known for his wild excesses on nights out while playing for Nottingham Forest, has now rejoined the club in an assistant's role to new manager Martin O'Neill, as the pair rekindle their woefully inept partnership from Republic of Ireland. Forest fans will be hoping for better than the pair served up with their country, as Keane spent his time insulting and falling out with injured players, in particular, and did little to help squad harmony.

Marseille To Play Behind Closed Doors

With crowd trouble badly affecting their recent match with Lille, Marseille have offered to play behind closed doors until they can solve the problem. The French Professional League (LFP) have decided to accept the offer "as a safety measure". An LFP statement read: "Because of the nature and gravity of the facts, the committee has decided to investigate the case and during this process, as a safety measure, to play all games at the Orange Velodrome behind closed doors."

Ole Targets Trophies

Caretaker Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said that he will target trophies, rather than just aiming for a top 4 finish. Solskjaer said: "We're Man United, you should always aim to win the league. We can't do that this year but we've just got to look forward to it again. We've got the Champions League, we've got the FA Cup, we can't just say top four and that's it. We've got to look at 'can we win something this year?' and I go into every single game as a Man United manager thinking we can win this game. If you win trophies, that's a fantastic day for everyone in the club. It's just the best time of your life that day when you win because you never know when the next one is going to come, the manager always said enjoy this whatever trophy you win."

Written by Tris Burke January 29 2019 06:41:40