Football News: Review Of The Day 12th January 2023

Review of the Day

Contracts

Al Nassr have denied that Cristiano Ronaldo's contract with them includes a commitment to back a bid by Saudi Arabia to host the 2030 World Cup.

Former Liverpool, Newcastle United and West Ham United striker Andy Carroll has signed a new deal with Reading which takes him up until 2024.

Rochdale have extended Danny Lloyd's deal to run for the rest of the season. Lloyd signed on a one-month deal initially last month.

Liverpool youngster Tyler Morton, currently on loan at Blackburn Rovers, has signed a new long-term contract.

New York City have given Justin Haak a 3-year deal with a 1-year club option.

Jon Magunazelaia has extended until 2026 with Real Sociedad.

Brighton & Hove Albion's back up keeper Jason Steele has extended his contract until 2025.

Transfers

Chelsea have paid a fee of nearly £10m to sign Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid for the rest of the season. The Blues' attempt to sign Enzo Fernandez from Benfica is not "closed" according to Benfica head coach Roger Schmidt.

Aston Villa have completed the signing of Spanish left-back Alex Moreno for £13m from Real Betis.

Bournemouth have loaned defender James Hill to Heart of Midlothian. Hearts have also paid an undisclosed fee to Vissel Kobe for Japanese forward Yutaro Oda.

Wigan Athletic have signed former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur player Steven Caulker. Caulker was a free agent after leaving Fatih Karagumruk.

Blackpool have signed former Norwich City midfielder Tom Trybull from SV Sandhausen on a free transfer.

Udinese have loaned Brazilian midfielder Matheus Martins to Watford for the rest of the season. The Hornets also paid an undisclosed fee for Benfica defender Joao Ferreira.

Manchester City have loaned young defender Josh Wilson-Esbrand to Coventry City.

Free agent defender Sean Morrison has signed for Rotherham United.

Birmingham City have taken Reda Khadra on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion.

Arsenal midfielder Miguel Azeez has joined Wigan Athletic on loan.

Everton striker Tom Cannon has joined Preston North End on loan.

Gillingham have paid an undisclosed fee to sign Timothee Dieng from Exeter City. The Grecians have also lost captain Matt Jay for an undisclosed fee to Colchester United.

Another undisclosed fee has been paid by Forest Green Rovers for Tranmere Rovers goalkeeper Ross Doohan.

Former Aston Villa and Arsenal youngster Daniel Crowley has signed for Morecambe from Willem II.

Sutton United have signed former Tottenham Hotspur youngster Lee Angol for an undisclosed fee from Bradford City.

Harrogate Town have signed free agent defender Anthony O'Connor following his release from Morecambe.

West Ham United winger Thierry Nevers has joined Bradford City on loan.

Leeds United midfielder Alfie McCalmont has joined Carlisle United on loan.

Paul Hartley has re-signed for Hartlepool United after the veteran defender left Jamshedpur in the Indian Super League.

Veteran free agent former West Ham United winger Sofiane Feghouli has found a new club in the shape of Karagumruk in Turkey. Also joining them from free agency is Adem Ljajic, the nearly-Man Utd man.

Bologna have loaned Gianmarco Cangiano to Fortuna Sittard.

Huddersfield Town have taken Anthony Knockaert on loan from Fulham.

Lago Junior has signed for Malaga on a free transfer from RCD Mallorca.

Elche have signed Jose Angel Carmona on loan from Sevilla.

Augsburg have sent Raphael Framberger to SV Sandhausen on loan.

Belgrano have signed veteran forward Franco Jara from FC Dallas of Major League Soccer.

Southampton have completed the signing of Carlos Alcarez from Racing Club in Argentina for around £13m.

Lorient full-back Samuel Loric has moved to Quevilly Rouen on loan.

Austin FC have paid fellow MLS side Houston Dynamo over £200,000 for Adam Lundqvist. Leaving Austin is Tomas Pochettino, who has signed for Fortaleza in Brazil.

Modena have taken Cremonese forward Luca Strizzolo on loan.

Coritiba have taken Marcelino Moreno on loan from Atlanta United.

Former Manchester United full-back Fabio has signed for Gremio from Nantes.

Foolad, of the Persian Gulf Pro League in Iran, have signed Roberto Torres on a free transfer from CA Osasuna.

Bayer Leverkusen's Brazilian winger Paulinho has moved to Atletico Mineiro on loan.

Montpellier have loaned Sacha Delaye to Le Puy Foot.

Matias Vera has joined Argentinos Juniors on loan from Houston Dynamo.

Former Brighton and Arsenal goalkeeper Mathew Ryn has joined AZ Alkmaar for over £450,000 from FC Copenhagen.

Real Salt Lake will pay over £3m for Andres Gomez from Millionarios. The Colombian club will however hold onto 30% of his economic rights, meaning they will get 30% of any future transfer fee received for the 20 year old winger.

Werder Bremen have taken Canadian youngster Ronan Kratt on loan from York United of the Canadian Premier League. The deal has an obligation to buy after the 19 year old makes a set number of appearances.

Hartlepool United have signed Daniel Dodds on a permanent transfer from Middlesbrough.

Crewe Alexandra have paid an undisclosed fee for Tranmere Rovers forward Elliott Nevitt.

Injury Round Up

Sebastien Haller has made his return to playing in a friendly game for Borussia Dortmund against Fortuna Duesseldorf at the team's training camp in Marbella. Haller has been sidelined since being diagnosed with testicular cancer shortly after signing for Dortmund but is now back in full training following treatment and was deemed fit enough to come off the bench in the 73rd minute.

Walsall midfielder Jack Earing has been ruled out with a "long-term injury....for the forseeable future".

Job Changes

Former Coventry City chairman Tim Fisher has resigned his position on the board of the club after 12 years at the Sky Blues.

Hibernian are looking to hire a Director of Football "to improve the club's sporting performance".

Stoke City have fired first-team coach Rory Delap as new Technical Director Ricky Martin conducts a reshuffle of staff.

Scott Lindsey has quit as Swindon Town manager to take charge of Crawley Town. Lindsey only took charge of the Robins 6 months ago, stepping up from assistant when Ben Garner left to take over at Charlton Athletic. His assistant coach Jamie Day has also gone with him to Creepy from Swindon. Swindon have put first-team coach Gavin Gunning and goalkeeping coach Steve Mildenhall in temporary control of team affairs.

Disciplinary Charges

Amid calls for him to step down due to comments he made about Zinedine Zidane, French Football Federation president Noel le Graet is standing down while under investigation for sexual harassment and bullying. So Foot magazine investigated the FFF due to the claims and their investigation led to the French government launching an audit of the organisation in October. The FFF's director general Florence Hardouin has been suspended "as a precautionary measure".

A transfer embargo placed on Cardiff City has been lifted after they paid the first instalment (finally) on the transfer fee to Nantes for Emiliano Sala. FIFA have yet to confirm if their embargo on the Welsh club has also been lifted.

The Football Association is investigating suspicious betting patterns during Oxford United's third-round FA Cup tie against Arsenal. The investigation concerns an incident involving an Oxford player during the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal at the Kassam Stadium.

Following on from Cameroon having 32 players fail age tests for their 2023 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Democratic Republic of Congo, their opponents have now pulled out due to 25 of their squad of 40 failing MRI tests.

West Bromwich Albion forward Brandon Thomas-Asante has been handed a retrospective three game ban for violent conduct in Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie against Chesterfield. Thomas-Asante clashed with Jeff King in the dying seconds of the game and then scored the equaliser to take it to a replay while King was receiving treatment.

The FA has written to all the clubs in the football pyramid in England to warn them that they will "pursue formal disciplinary action against any club whose supporters engage in discriminatory behaviour", specifically the well known homophobic chant aimed at Chelsea and its supporters. The chant has recently been heard sung by Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United fans, which has forced the Football Association to take this step.

Pointless List Of The Day

Today's pointless list is the EA Sports 100-man shortlist for their 2022 Team of the Year, though I am not sure 100 names genuinely counts as a shortlist!

Goalkeepers:
Thibaut Courtois, Gregor Kobel, Mike Maignan, Alisson, Ederson, Wojciech Szczesny, Kevin Trapp, Yassine Bounou, Hugo Lloris, Emiliano Martinez

Defenders:
Marcos Acuna, Marquinhos. Cristiano Biraghi, Joao Cancelo, Jonathan Clauss, Thiago Silva, Alphonso Davies, Jeremie Frimpong, Eder Militao, Ruben Dias, Grimaldo, Achraf Hakimi, Theo Hernández, Reece James, Kalidou Koulibaly, Nicolás Otamendi, Gleison Bremer, Niklas Süle, Fikayo Tomori, Kieran Trippier, Virgil van Dijk, Joško Gvardiol, Jules Koundé, Cristian Romero, Dayot Upamecano

Midfielders:
Nicolò Barella, Jude Bellingham, Steven Berghuis, Marcelo Brozović, Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Moussa Diaby, Nabil Fekir, Seko Fofana, Pedri, Vincenzo Grifo, Rodri, Daichi Kamada, Joshua Kimmich, Filip Kostić, Toni Kroos, Merino, Sergej Milinković-Savic, Luka Modric, Martin Ødegaard, Parejo, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Sandro Tonali, Federico Valverde, Casemiro, Sofyan Amrabat, Bruno Fernandes, Ritsu Doan, Enzo Fernández, Ivan Perišić, Adrian Rabiot

Attackers:
Iago Aspas, Wissam Ben Yedder, Karim Benzema, Rafael Leão, Neymar Jr, Vinicius Jr, Ousmane Dembélé, João Félix, Gabriel Jesus, Phil Foden, Cody Gakpo, Erling Haaland, Borja Iglesias, Ciro Immobile, Harry Kane, Randal Kolo Muani, Dejan Kulusevski, Robert Lewandowski, Sadio Mané, Lautaro Martínez, Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi, Christopher Nkunku, Darwin Núñez, Victor Osimhen, Mohammed Salah, Heung Min Son, Martin Terrier, Dušan Vlahović, Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann

Cov Under New Ownership

Doug King has bought an 85% stake in Championship club Coventry City. The deal was agreed on 16th November but was awaiting approval from the English Football League as King needed to pass their owners' and directors' test. Though how it takes so long to pass a test that somehow has seen fit to allow Peter Ridsdale to financially destroy club after club I have no idea! The deal will, according to the club, clear all of the debts that the Sky Blues have. Former majority owners SISU will still have a minor 15% stake in the club. SISU rescued Coventry from being wound up with just 20 minutes to spare in 2007. SISU director Joy Seppala will remain on the board.

Written by Tris Burke January 12 2023 10:26:46