Football News: Review Of The Day 5th April 2019

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic gets a Juventus contract extension. The 32 year old is now tied down until 2021.

Veteran centre-forward Charles has been given one more year by Eibar. The 35 year old Brazilian was due to be out of contract in the summer but has been given a year's extension to take him to 2020.

Norwich City back up keeper Michael McGovern has signed a new contract with the Canaries despite not making a single league appearance this season. The 34 year old agreed a 2 year deal anyway.

Transfers

Dundee United have agreed to make the loan move of defender Mark Reynolds permanent at the end of the season on a 3 year contract. The 31 year old has been on loan from Aberdeen for the season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have broken their club record transfer fee to seal the permanent signing of Mexican international striker Raul Jimenez for £30m. The previous record was set in August when the club paid £18m for Adama Traore. Jimenez has been on loan with Wolves from Benfica for the season and managed 15 goals in 37 games for the Premier League's 7th placed team.

Bolton Games Get Go Ahead

Bolton Wanderers under-threat home games have been given the go-ahead to be played now. The area's Safety Advisory Group had issued a ban on fans entering the stadium for the next two matches but have now lifted the ban. The players have also returned to training after a 48-hour strike in support of non-playing staff who had not been paid in March, but have now finally received their salaries for March. The players themselves have asked the Professional Footballers' Association and English Football League to step in as they have still not been paid for March.

Rangers Pair Banned

The recent league defeat to Celtic has been extremely costly to Rangers as on-loan Liverpool winger Ryan Kent has joined Alfredo Morelos and Andy Halliday in receiving bans after he was handed a 2 match ban by the SPFL after throwing a clenched fist into Celtic captain Scott Brown's face towards the end of the game, unnoticed by the officials at the time. Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has been given a one-match touchline ban as well.

Odemwingie Retires From Car Park Duty

There will be no more sitting around in car parks outside of club grounds for Peter Odemwingie on deadline day after the Nigerian forward announced he is hanging up his boots at the age of 37 after nearly 2 years without a professional club. The former West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, Bristol City and Rotherham United player is now intending to focus on acquiring his coaching badges.

Sterling Takes 550 Kids To Semi-Final

Despite the constant rumours that filled the tabloids when Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling was a youngster at Liverpool, the England forward is not the father of the 550 kids from his old school in London that he has arranged tickets for. The students from Ark Elvin Academy all got the chance to meet Sterling at Man City's training complex on Thursday and will also be attending the Wembley semi-final against Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday. Sterling said: "It is great to be able to give these students the chance to watch a game at Wembley.I grew up right next door to the stadium and would dream of one day playing in a cup final or even representing my country there. This is a great opportunity to give back to the community that helped me get to where I am." This will do nothing to quell rumours that City are unable to sell their full allocation of tickets, with this being City's 4th trip to Wembley this season.

Cherries Set To Start Work On New Training Complex

Bournemouth are finally set to begin work on their new training complex, which had been put on hold back in October, as they look to improve on the current facilities. The new centre will include 10 full-size pitches as well as medical and rehabilitation facilities and will house youth teams as well as the first team. Manager Eddie Howe said: "It has been vitally important that we improve our infrastructure, and this will provide a legacy from the club being in the Premier League. It will enable us to get the best out of every single player on our books, help attract new players and, crucially, improve our academy status to develop more young players."

England Reach 4th

Belgium remain top of the FIFA rankings, ahead of World Cup winners France, while England climb back up to 4th to match their highest ever ranking, following victory over the might of Montenegro (joint 51st) and the Czech Republic (48th in the rankings).
FIFA Rankings:
1. Belgium
2. France
3. Brazil
4. England
5. Croatia
6. Uruguay
7. Portugal
8. Switzerland
9. Spain
10. Denmark
11. Argentina
12. Colombia
13. Germany
14. Sweden
15. Chile
16. Netherlands
17. Italy
18. Mexico
19. Wales
20. Poland
29. Republic Of Ireland
33. Northern Ireland
44. Scotland

Spurs Post Record Profits

Tottenham Hotspur have posted record profits for last season of £113m beating the £106m posted by Liverpool in the same period, though the cost of the new stadium, which opened at the weekend, was not included as most of that has been met through loans which have still to be paid back. The club's income was boosted by the increase from matchday revenue due to playing at Wembley during the period, which added £42.6m to the coffers, as opposed to £19m in the final season at the old White Hart Lane ground.

Premier League Wastes £260m On Leeches

Ooops sorry I mean agents were paid £260m between 1 February 2018 and 31 January 2019 by Premier League clubs. Liverpool were the biggest spenders paying £43m, nearly double the amount that second-highest spenders Chelsea spent (£26m), while 3rd highest spenders Manchester City spunked £24m. The amount was an increase of £49m over the previous year, which is almost as much as the £50m Championship clubs spent in total over the same period. 50% of the £5.5m spent in League One was due to Sunderland. League Two clubs kept their entire expenditure on agents below £1m, though Salford of the National League spent more on agents than 21 of the League Two clubs, despite calls by one of their directors, Gary Neville, for a cap on agent fees.

Written by Tris Burke April 05 2019 06:39:59