Football News: Review Of The Day 15th September 2020

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Queens Park Rangers have given defender Dominic Ball a new 2 year contract.

Fulham duo Joe Bryan and Josh Onomah have signed new contracts running until 2023.

Slovenian midfielder Zan Majer has a new deal with Lecce which ends in 2023.

Veteran goalkeeper Daniele Padelli has signed a new 1 year contract with Inter Milan.

Transfers

Kaiyne Woolery left Swindon Town in the summer after rejecting a new contract and has joined League Two's Tranmere Rovers instead.

Hull City have signed free agent forward Thomas Mayer. Mayer was playing in Austria for SC Austria Lustenau last season.

Michale Jacobs has signed a 2 year contract with Portsmouth. The 28 year old midfielder was released by Wigan Athletic at the end of last season.

Nottingham Forest have signed free agent Senegalese international goalkeeper Abdoulaye Diallo. Diallo won the French Cup with Rennes under Forest's head coach Sabri Lamouchi in 2019 before moving to Genclerbirligi, who he left in the summer.

Bologna have sent Cesar Falletti on loan to Ternana.

Spezia have paid £2.25m for Ardian Ismajli from Hajduk Split.

Sporting Clube de Portugal have solve Argentine full-back Marcos Acuna to Sevilla for £9m.

Faycal Fajr has left Getafe to sign for Sivasspor.

Lazio have sent Italian midfielder Fabio Maistro to Pescara on loan.

Former Sunderland midfielder Yann M'Vila has joined Olympiacos from Saint-Etienne.

Czech forward Zdenek Ondrasek has left Major League Soccer's FC Dallas to return home and sign for Viktoria Plzen.

Veteran Argentine Lucas Biglia has been given a free transfer by AC Milan to join Karagumruk.

Julio Tavares has left Ligue 1 side Dijon to join Saudi Professional League team Faisaly. Also joining them is former Watford midfielder Alexander Merkel on a free from Heracles Almelo.

AS Monaco have signed former Arsenal and Reading keeper Vito Mannone on a free transfer.

Injury Round-Up

Some good news as Danish legend Brian Laudrup, the brother of Michael, has been given the all clear of cancer after ten years battling the disease. The 51 year old former Rangers and Chelsea star said on his social media: "Today, after 10 years of treatment and check ups, I finally got the all clear for my Follicular Lymphoma Cancer diagnosis! A huge thank you to this amazing and wonderful medical staff at Rigshospitalet."

Managerial Changes

Disciplinary Charges

Paris Saint-Germain are to "strongly support" Neymar over his claims of being racially abused by Marseille defender Alvaro Gonzalez. The Brazilian was sent off after punching Gonzalez in the back of the head and later accused the Marseille man of racism on his social media, as well as saying he only regretted not punching Gonzalez in the face. Neymar did inform the fourth official after being sent off as well as writing on social media: "Insulting and bringing racism into our lives no, I don't agree. I don't respect you, you have no character." Gonzalez has denied racism and accused Neymar of being a bad loser, saying on his social media: "There is no place for racism. Sometimes you have to learn how to lose and accept it on the field.." Neymar has since admitted he acted the fool saying: "The guy was a fool. I also acted like a fool for letting me get involved in that... I still have the privilege of keeping my head up today, but we all need to reflect that not all black and white people are in the same condition. The damage from the confrontation can be disastrous to both sides. Whether you are black or white, I don't want to and we shouldn't mix subjects. Skin colour we don't choose. Before God, we are all equal." Marseille have since claimed that the damage from the confrontation went as far as to see Gonzalez and his family's private phone numbers posted on Brazilian media and social media overnight, leading to death threats to the player and his kin.

The trial of Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Jerome Valcke, the former secretary general of FIFA, started on Monday with the pair accused of corruption over TV rights for the World Cup. Al-Khelaifi is also chairman of beIN Media group, and it is in that capacity that he is accused of "inciting Valcke to commit aggravated criminal mismanagement". Valcke is facing two separate cases of television rights corruption. The case has hit problems due to 3 secret meetings between the current FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Switzerland's former Attorney General Michael Lauber which have led to accusations of collusion. The pair are under investigation for "obstructing criminal proceedings".

R.I.P. Villars

Former Welsh international winger Tony Villars has passed away at the age of 68. Villars played for Newport County and Cardiff City during his playing career after beginning as an apprentice with County. A statement from his family read: "Returning to Newport County to end his career with Jimmy Scoular was a fitting end to his career. He was signed as an apprentice by the club when he was 15 years of age by Les Graham, whose family Tony remained in touch with. As a family, we're very proud of his international appearances because people dream about representing their country and few do. He was a quiet and humble person and always knew how fortunate he was."

Sandgaard Wants Addicks

Danish businessman Thomas Sandgaard is hopeful that he will be allowed to takeover Charlton Athletic after submitting proof of funds to the English Football League. The club's ownership status is currently being subjected to a legal challenge from another prospective owner, Paul Elliott (a businessman not the former Chelsea player). Elliott has applied for an injunction blocking the sale of the club to anyone else after his takeover was stopped by the EFL when he failed their owners' and directors' test. His initial injunction was overruled but then overturned on appeal and there will now be a hearing on Thursday to decide who will actually own the club through its parent company East Street Investments. Former owner Roland Duchatelet still owns The Valley stadium and Charlton's training ground.

Forbes Money List

Forbes list for highest-earning footballers for 2020 has been released and there is little surprise who tops the lot:
1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina) $126m (£97.2m)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal) $117m (£90.3m)
3. Neymar (Paris St-Germain and Brazil) $96m (£74.1m)
4. Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain and France) $42m (£32.4m)
5. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt) $37m (£28.5m)
6. Paul Pogba (Manchester United and France) $34m (£26.2m)
7. Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona and France) $33m (£25.5m)
8. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid and Wales) $29m (£22.4m)
9. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich and Poland) $28m (£21.6m)
10. David de Gea (Manchester United and Spain) £27m (£20.8m)

List Of The Day

Today's list from Transfermarkt is the most expensive English players:
1. Harry Maguire Leicester City to Manchester United 2019/20 £78.3m
2. Raheem Sterling Liverpool to Manchester City 2015/16 £57.33m
3. John Stones Everton to Manchester City 2016/17 £50.04m
4. Aaron Wan-Bissaka Crystal Palace to Manchester United 2019/20 £49.5m
5. Kyle Walker Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester City 2017/18 £47.43m
6. Ben Chilwell Leicester City to Chelsea 2020/21 £45.18m
7. Rio Ferdinand Leeds United to Manchester United 2002/03 £41.4m
8. Andy Carroll Newcastle United to Liverpool 2010/11 £36.9m
9. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Arsenal to Liverpool 2017/18 £34.2m
10. Danny Drinkwater Leicester City to Chelsea 2017/18 £34.11m
11. Luke Shaw Southampton to Manchester City 2014/15 £33.75m
12. David Beckham Manchester United to Real Madrid 2003/04 £33.75m
13. Wayne Rooney Everton to Manchester United 2004/05 £33.3m
14. Shaun Wright-Phillips Manchester City to Chelsea 2005/06 £28.35m
15. Adam Lallana Southampton to Liverpool 2014/15 £27.9m
16. Ollie Watkins Brentford to Aston Villa 2020/21 £27.72m
17. Michael Keane Burnley to Everton 2017/18 £25.65m
18. Jordan Pickford Sunderland to Everton 2017/18 £25.65m
19. Joleon Lescott Everton to Manchester City 2009/10 £24.75m
20. Michael Carrick Tottenham Hotspur to Manchester United 2006/07 £24.48m
21. Ryan Sessegnon Fulham to Tottenham Hotspur 2019/20 £24.3m
22. Jude Bellingham Birmingham City to Borussia Dortmund 2020/21 £23.85m
23. Rio Ferdinand West Ham United to Leeds United 2000/01 £23.4m
24. James Maddison Norwich City to Leicester City 2018/19 £22.5m
25. Owen Hargreaves Bayern Munich to Manchester United 2007/08 £22.5m

800 For Cesc

Former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas has played his 800th professional match in a 2-1 win over Nantes that was also memorable for being AS Monaco's 1000th win in the French top flight. Only Olympique de Marseille, Girondins Bordeaux and Saint-Etienne had previously reached that milestone.

Written by Tris Burke September 14 2020 21:58:48