Football News: Review Of The Day 31st July 2022

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Review of the Day

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Contracts

Aaron Collins has signed a 2-year extension with Bristol Rovers, taking him up until 2025 with the Pirates.

Oxford United's former Liverpool youngster Cameron Brannagan has signed a 3-year deal.

MLS side Minnesota United have given Robin Lod a new contract which will expire at the end of 2025 but has an option for a further year.

Transfers

Marc Cucurella has handed in a formal transfer request at Brighton & Hove Albion after they rejected an offer for him from Manchester City. The former Barcelona full-back is keen to make the move.

Middlesbrough head coach Chris Wilder has confirmed that his club have accepted a bid from a Premier League side for midfielder Marcus Tavernier, the younger brother of Rangers captain James. Wilder said: "The club did everything to try and keep Marcus. When you get down to the nitty-gritty of the move and him wanting to move, I think it just became a case of negotiating the transfer fee, which is above me. But as I say the club tried everything they could to keep Tav, and now we have to look forward."

Porto have loaned midfielder Mamadou Loum to Reading for the season.

Dundee United have paid an undisclosed fee to Rangers for young winger Glenn Middleton.

Derby County's former Arsenal youngster Krystian Bielik is to spend the season on loan with Birmingham City.

Watford have signed Mario Gaspar on a free transfer from Villareal. Watford youngster Kwadwo Baah has moved to Fortuna Dusseldorf on loan for the season.

Everton have loaned young striker Ellis Simms to Sunderland for the season.

Scott High has joined Rotherham United on a season-long loan deal from Huddersfield Town.

Oxford United have signed Jodi Jones on a free transfer from Coventry City.

Derby County have revealed that Werder Bremen have agreed to pay them "full training compensation" for signing Lee Buchanan from them.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Dutch defender Nigel Lonwijk has signed for Plymouth Argyle on loan for the season.

Former Arsenal youngster Fejiri Okenabirhie has signed for Cambridge United on a free transfer from Doncaster Rovers.

Arsenal goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo has signed for Crewe Alexandra on a season-long loan deal.

AFC Wimbledon have signed Nathan Young-Coombes on loan from Brentford for the season.

Gillingham have signed veteran goalkeeper Glenn Morris on a free transfer from Crawley Town and free agent forward Lewis Walker, who was previously playing in the lower leagues in Italy.

Manchester City have loaned Cieran Slicker to Rochdale for the season.

Jamie Devitt has re-signed for Carlisle United.

Crawley Town have signed Teddy Jenks on loan for the season from Brighton & Hove Albion.

James Brown has joined Stockport County for the season on loan from Blackburn Rovers.

Lecce have paid £1.8m to Slavia Prague for teenage midfielder Daniel Samek.

Arsenal have agreed to loan Portugese full-back Nuno Tavares to Olympique Marseille.

Feyenoord have taken Jacob Rasmussen on loan from Fiorentina.

Braga have signed Diego Lainez on loan from Real Betis with an option to buy.

Argentine centre-back Nehuen Perezhas joined Udinese from Atletico Madrid.

KRC Genk have sold Japanese winger Junya Ito to Stade Reims for £9m.

Marseille's Brazilian defender Luan Peres has signed for Fenerbahce for a fee of £4.7m.

Troyes have released South Korean striker Hyun-jun Suk.

A fee of £2.52m has taken Erick Pulgar to Flamengo from Fiorentina.

Brazilian midfielder Leo Sena has been released by Spezia.

Paolo Maldini's son Daniel has joined Spezia on loan from AC Milan.

CD Alaves have loaned their former Newcastle United defender Florian Lejeune to Rayo Vallecano.

Stade Brestois have signed Achraf Dari from Wydad Casablanca for a fee of £2.43m.

Levante have signed veteran midfielder Vicente Iborra from Villareal on loan.

Major League Soccer side Austin FC have paid £3.28m for Emiliano Rigoni from Sao Paulo.

RCD Mallorca have signed Rodrigo Battaglia on a free transfer from Sporting Clube de Portugal.

Saul Garcia has signed for Racing Santander on a free transfer from Alaves.

Moroccan winger Nassim Chadli has joined Lommel SK on loan from Troyes.

Udinese have paid £3.6m for Enzo Ebose from Angers SCO.

Former Sunderland striker Jozy Altidore has joined Puebla from MLS franchise New England Revolution on loan.

Stade Rennais have spent £17.1m for Arthur Theate from Bologna.

Mikael has joined Internacional on loan from Salernitana.

Former Tottenham Hotspur winger Clinton N'jie has signed for Sivasspor on a free transfer from Dynamo Moscow.

Leicester City have rejected a bid of £40m from Newcastle United for England midfielder James Maddison.

Crawley Town have signed Brentford goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe on a season-long loan deal.

Carlisle United have paid an undisclosed fee for another goalkeeper, Bray Wanderers stopped Michael Kelly.

Former Manchester United full-back Guillermo Varela has joined Flamengo on loan from Dynamo Moscow.

Barcelona have begun the fire sale needed to allow them to register their new signings with young defender Oscar Mingueza, who has joined Celta de Vigo for £2.7m. A drop in the ocean?

Mirandes have signed Jose Salinas on loan from Elche.

Inter Milan youngster Lorenzo Pirola has signed for Salernitana on loan. Another Inter youngster in the shape of Giovanni Fabbian, has signed for Reggina on loan.

Zulte Waregem's former Leeds United left-back Laurens De Bock has joined Atromitos Athen on a free transfer.

Hertha Berlin have signed Wilfried Kanga from BSC Young Boys.

New York Red Bulls goalkeeper David Jensen has moved to Istanbulspor on a free transfer.

New Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has denied there is any truth in the rumours he was forced out of Bayern Munich due to the Bavarians interest in signing Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund, ahead of the youngster's move to Manchester City. Lewandowski told ESPN: "No, that was nothing to do with Erling. I am the guy who even if something's not good for me - truth is more important. I don't want to speak about what happened exactly. But if the question is if the decision to move was because of him, no, I didn't see the problem if he joined Bayern Munich. But some kind of people doesn't say to me the truth, say something different. And for me it was always important to be clear, to stay true, and maybe for a few people that was the problem. And in the end I know that something doesn't work well with my person as well and I knew that, OK I see and I feel that maybe it's a good time to move out of Bayern Munich and join Barcelona. I had a very good relationship with my teammates, with the staff, with the coach, and these are all things I'm going to miss because I spent a beautiful time there. And we were not only friends from the pitch but also something more. But in the end this chapter is over and I open a new chapter in my life and a new chapter in my career. So I feel that I'm in the right position, right place. So everything that's happened in the last maybe few weeks before I left Bayern Munich, that was also of course a lot of politics. The club tried to find an argument why they can sell me to another club because before it was difficult to explain maybe to the fans. And I had to accept that even though it was a lot of bullshit, a lot of shit said about me. Not true, but in the end I knew that the fans, even in this period, still support me a lot."

Injury Round Up

Manchester City expect to be without left-sided centre-back Aymeric Laporte until September after he had knee surgery at the end of last season.

Liverpool's former Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has suffered a "serious" hamstring injury which will rule him out for a lengthy period. Back-up goalkeeper Caoimhen Kelleher is also out for 2 or 3 weeks.

Borussia Dortmund's former West Ham United striker Sebastien Haller is looking unlikely to play again this season as the 28-year-old Ivory Coast international is now undergoing chemotherapy. Haller has had successful surgery for a testicular tumour but will now need "several months of chemo" after "a malignant testicular tumour" was found. Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl said that "the chances of recovery are very good".

Burton Albion's former Chelsea defender Michael Mancienne has suffered a knee injury which will rule him out for 3 months.

Bradford City midfielder Emmanuel Osadebe is facing a "significant time" on the sidelines after suffering a double leg break in their season opening 0-0 draw with Doncaster Rovers. The 25-year-old was just 7 minutes into his debut for the Bantams when he went down injured and play was paused for 8 minutes while he was treated and stretchered off.

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Graham Potter has denied that he left Marc Cucurella out of a friendly against Espanyol. Instead the Seagulls head coach said that Cucurella has a calf issue which might keep him out of the season opener too.



Job Changes

Motherwell manager Graham Alexander has been sacked following his sides poor form and performances in 2022, culminating in a humiliation at the hands of Sligo Rovers in the Europa Conference League. His assistant Chris Lucketti has gone with him. Academy director Steven Hammell has taken interim charge. Club captain Liam Kelly has pointed the finger of blame towards "toxicity" from fans as partly responsible for Alexander leaving. Perhaps Kelly should look in the mirror to see where the blame should be going, along with the rest of the squad, as the reason he went is because performances and results have been abysmal for months! Just 3 league wins in 2022 and an embarrassing capitulation to Sligo Rovers in the Europa Conference League is why he is gone.

Celtic chairman Ian Bankier is to retire on 1st January after over 10 years at the helm. The Scottish champions have yet to name his successor.

Leeds United have appointed Croatian Rene Maric as their new assistant head coach to Jesse Marsch. The 29-year-old has replaced Frankie Schiemer, who joined Leeds along with Marsch but will now be used "as a coaching consultant from afar", whatever that actually means. Maric got his break in coaching while being one of the main writers for tactical analysis website Spielverlagerung. He rose to prominence while working at Red Bull Salzburg, where he rose from a youth coach to the same role as he now enjoys at Leeds. Marco Rose took him to Borussia Moenchengladbach with him and then on to Borussia Dortmund, but the pair were sacked at the end of the season, despite Dortmund finishing second. Marsch said: "I've known René for a number of years and we've stayed in contact for a long time now. While we haven't worked together before, we do know each other well and I believe he is the perfect fit for an Assistant Head Coach. Our footballing philosophies are very similar and he will be a really welcome addition to the team, working alongside Mark Jackson, Ewan Sharp and Cameron Toshack."

Former South African international striker Benni McCarthy is joining Manchester United as a first-team coach to work with the strikers. McCarthy, who is the only South African to win the Champions League, holds a UEFA Pro License and speaks four languages. The 44-year-old has been working as a manager in his home country's top flight with Cape Town City and Amazulu and was the 2020/21 South African Premier League Coach of the Year.

Disciplinary Charges

The FA have charged Port Vale with failing to control their fans at the end of their League Two play-off semi-final win at home against Swindon Town on 19th May. Not sure why it took 2 months for them to decide to charge Vale though.

After some of their fans were pictured on the Goodison Park pitch after the friendly with Dynamo Kyiv, Everton have warned their supporters that the club will be taking "a zero-tolerance approach to pitch encroachment" in the new season. Everton stated: "Stadium bans - and even criminal prosecution - can and will be enforced to punish anyone that enters the playing area. The club is legally compelled to work with the authorities to identify any individuals who take part in such activity. The club will be forced to issue lengthy stadium bans to the parents or guardians of any young people who encroach on to the playing area before, during or after the match. If the club fails to comply with the ground safety regulations, the club will face punishment which could include a partial or full closure of the stadium to supporters." Last season some Everton fans ended up in an altercation with Crystal Palace's head coach Patrick Vieira after they invaded the pitch.

There is almost certain to be an investigation by the EFL after a Crewe Alexandra fan required "urgent medical attention" for breathing difficulties after a flare was let off by Crewe fans in the away end as their team won 2-1 at Rochdale. English football has just announced a crackdown on pitch invasions and the letting off of flares, which will no doubt gain fresh impetus due to medical difficulties suffered. Rochdale stated: "These acts are dangerous, and illegal and, as shown today, can have severe consequences."

Manchester United captain Harry Maguire's appeal against the decision to find him guilty of assaulting a police officer and attempted bribery, along with his brother Joe, will be held on 7th June 2023. The England international was given a suspended sentence of 21 months and 10 days, but maintains he is innocent.

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Written by Tris Burke July 31 2022 07:47:52