Football News: Review Of The Day 15th January 2023

Review of the Day

Contracts

Preston North End have extended the contract of Ched Evans until 2024.

Reading have extended the short-term deal of Amadou Mbengue to run until the end of the season.

Northampton Town boss Jon Brady has agreed a new rolling contract, as have his assistant Colin Calderwood and first team coaches Marc Richards and James Alger.

Sutton United have extended the contracts of five players to run until the end of next season. The quintet are club captain Craig Eastmond, Ben Goodliffe, Louis John, Joe Kizzi and Rob Milsom.

New York Red Bulls have given Scottish winger Lewis Morgan a new 2-year deal with a club option for a further year.

Salernitana have extended Norbert Gyomber's contract until 2025.

Portland Timbers striker Nathan Fogaca has signed a new 1-year deal with club option for another year.

Birmingham City midfielder Alfie Chang has agreed a contract which ties him down until 2024.

AC Milan have extended Ismael Bennacer's deal until 2027.

Experienced midfielder Benjamin Andre has signed up until 2026 with LOSC Lille.

Coventry City youngster Josh Eccles has signed up until 2027.

Minnesota United have given young left-back Ryen Jiba a 1-year deal with a club option for 3 years more.

Giacomo Bonaventura has extended his Fiorentina contract until 2024, with an option for a further season.

Jayden Braaf has joined Hellas Verona on loan from Borussia Dortmund with an option to buy.

Transfers

Wout Weghorst's loan spell at Besiktas has been ended early so that the Burnley striker can make a move to Manchester United on loan for the rest of the season. The Red Devils are paying Burnley a loan fee of over £2.5m, though that is mostly going to Besiktas as compensation.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have signed former Southampton midfielder Mario Lemina from OGC Nice for a fee of nearly £10m. West Ham United manager David Moyes has also revealed that the Hammers rejected a bid from Wolves for Craig Dawson.

Leandro Trossard's agent Josy Comhair has said that his client wants out of Brighton & Hove Albion in the January transfer window due to falling out with the manager Roberto De Zerbi. Trossard was dropped from the Brighton squad to face Liverpool after leaving training early without permission but Comhair claims he left due to a calf injury and that De Zerbi and Trossard have not spoken for over a month. Comhair sent a statement to Sky Sports saying: "Leandro still was a first-11 player against Southampton and Arsenal but against Everton he was on the bench. In the five substitutions that took place then, he was also not among them and this without any explanation. In the run-up to the match against Middlesbrough for the FA Cup, Leandro had already reported calf problems twice. This was the reason he stopped training. This was in consultation with the medical staff. Through the physical trainer Leandro learned that he had to train separately. Last Monday the trainer [De Zerbi] then grounded Leandro in the group and indicated that he did not want to see him anymore. A trainer who has not communicated directly with his player for four weeks is truly incomprehensible. It is also the trainer who has indicated several times that a transfer is the most reasonable solution. It is therefore important that Brighton cooperate this mercato [transfer window] with a potential transfer." De Zerbi had said earlier in his news conference that Trossard was dropped from the squad because of a poor attitude and that he had spoken with him to tell him that.

Young Brighton forward Todd Miller has joined Doncaster Rovers on loan. Also leaving BHA on loan is defender Ed Turns who has moved to Leyton Orient.

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has ruled out selling goalkeeper David Raya in the January window following interest from Tottenham Hotspur.

Callum Johnson has signed for Mansfield Town for an undisclosed fee from Ross County. Going into the SPFL side is Nohan Kenneh on loan from Hibernian.

Motherwell have taken Olly Crankshaw on loan from Stockport County for the rest of the season.

Teenage Australian international forward Garang Kuol has signed for Heart of Midlothian on loan. The 18-year-old only joined Newcastle United from Central Coast Mariners on 1st January.

Huddersfield Town have signed Coventry City forward Martyn Waghorn on loan from Coventry City.

Wigan Athletic have signed Christ Tiehi on loan from Slovan Liberec.

Burnley have spent an undisclosed fee on Sint-Truidense V V defender Ameen Al-Dakhil.

David Wagner has revealed that he is happy to let Todd Cantwell leave in the January transfer window. The 24 year old is out of contract in the summer and is not in the new head coach's plans.

Preston North End have taken Liam Delap on loan from Manchester City.

Swansea City head coach Russell Martin has admitted that striker Michael Obafemi's future is up in the air as he revealed that the club have rejected two bids for him. He also said that an offer for Morgan Whittaker was also turned down while admitting they have had two offers of their own dismissed for a player he neglected to name. One player who did leave the Swans is full-back Nathanael Ogbeta, who has joined Peterborough United on loan.

Forest Green Rovers have signed Bolton Wanderers striker Amadou Bakayoko for an undisclosed fee. He will be replacing Jamille Matt who has signed for Walsall, also for an undisclosed fee.

Free agent forward Macauley Bonne has returned to Charlton Athletic after being released by Queens Park Rangers earlier this month. Also joining the Addicks is Coventry City's Todd Kane on loan.

Burnley have sold midfielder Mark Helm to Burton Albion for an undisclosed fee.

Mansfield Town have paid an undisclosed fee for Bristol Rovers defender Alfie Kilgour.

Salford City have signed Callum Morton from Fleetwood Town.

Crystal Palace have sent John-Kymani Gordon to Carlisle United on loan.

Stockport County have paid an undisclosed fee to sign Kyle Knoyle from Doncaster Rovers.

Another undisclosed fee was paid by Hartlepool United to get Edon Pruti from Brentford's B Team.

AFC Wimbledon have signed Forest Green Rovers midfielders Armani Little on loan and Ali Al-Hamadi on a permanent deal from Wycombe Wanderers.

The now standard undisclosed fee has allowed Tranmere Rovers to sign Brad Walker from Port Vale.

Gillingham have paid the ubiqitious undisclosed fee to sign Oli Hawkins from Mansfield Town and have also converted Glenn Morris' loan deal into a permanent move after he terminated his contract with Crawley Town.

Sheffield United goalkeeper Jake Eastwood has joined Rochdale on loan.

Daniel Dodds had joined Hartlepool United on a permanent transfer from Middlesbrough.

Bayer Leverkusen have signed Noah Mbamba from Club Brugge for less than £100,000.

Cercle Brugge will have Hugo Siquet on loan for the rest of the season from Freiburg.

Club Brugge have signed Josef Bursik from Stoke City.

Abdoul Kader Bamba has moved to Saint-Etienne on loan from Nantes and Niels Nkounkou has also joined Les Verts on loan, this time from Everton.

Augsburg have paid over £600,000 for Croatian left-back David Colina from Hajduk Split.

Manchester City's Brazilian youngsters Diego Rosa and Kayky have signed for EC Bahia.

Jonathan Leko has joined MK Dons from Birmingham City.

Chicago Fire have released Stanislav Ivanov.

Frosinone have signed Jaime Baez from Cremonese.

Napoli have loaned Nikita Contini to Reggina.

Augsburg have paid just under £3m for Dion Beljo from NK Osijek.

A fee of nearly £2.5m was enough to taken Andreas Hanche-Olsen to 1.FSV Mainz 05.

Getafe have taken Gonzalo Villar on loan from AS Roma.

Former Stoke City, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid winger Jese has been released by Ankaragucu.

New England Revolution midfielder Wilfrid Kaptoum has joined UD Las Palmas on a free transfer.

Benfica have completed the £13m signing of teenage Norwegian left winger Andreas Schjelderup from Nordsjaelland, who Liverpool failed to sign in the summer window.

Leeds United defender Leo Fuhr Hjelde has joined Rotherham United on loan.

Union Berlin have signed Jerome Rousillon from VfL Wolfsburg.

Hull City winger Dogukan Sinik has joined Antalyaspor on loan.

Spezia have taken Szymon Zurkowski on loan from Fiorentina.

Racing Lens have paid over £3.5m for Adrien Thomasson from Racing Strasbourg.

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

Real Madrid have sent Antonio Blanco to Alaves on loan.

PSG have said that Spanish forward Pablo Sarabia is set to join Wolverhampton Wanderers. The Parisians head coach Christophe Galtier has admitted Sarabia was "not happy" at the club.

Burnley have recalled Bobby Thomas from a loan spell with Bristol Rovers and instead sent him to Barnsley.

Jake Young has joined Barrow on loan from Bradford City.

Salford City have released goalkeeper Tom King and the 27-year-old has signed for Northampton Town.

Mikey O'Neill has joined Grimsby Town on loan from Preston North End.

Stevenage have signed Jonathan Tomkinson on loan from Norwich City.

Young AC Milan goalkeeper Andreas Jungdal has joined SCR Altach on loan with the Austrian side having an option to buy him.

Injury Round Up

Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek will be sidelined for the rest of the season with a knee injury suffered against Bournemouth in January.

Bristol City have lost top scorer Tommy Conway to a hamstring injury and fellow striker Andi Weimann for 2 to 3 weeks with an injury suffered in the same game. Nigel Pearson dodged questions about how long Conway would be out, but did confirm it would be for longer than Weimann.

Luton Town will be missing midfielder Luke Freeman for "a number of weeks" after the 30 year old underwent groin surgery.

After joining Cambridge United a day earlier on loan from League One rivals Oxford United, Steve Seddon suffered a fractured cheekbone and eye socket on his debut. The 26-year-old has now had surgery to repair the damage.

Job Changes

AS Roma's former Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United head coach Jose Mourinho has claimed that he rejected the offer of the Portugese national job before it was offered to Roberto Martinez. Mourinho said: "The fact that the president of the FPF said that I was not his first choice, but his only choice, makes me proud. But I decided not to go. I'm here and that's what matters."

Alan Burrows is leaving his role as chief executive of Motherwell after he announced his resignation on Thursday. Burrows will remain in the post until a replacement is found.

St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson has admitted the club were forced to make cuts after announcing a loss of £1.6m for the year ending May 2022. Robinson admitted he operates with just four first-team staff members in order to keep costs down: "I have one physio, Gerry Docherty, who doesn't have a day off. I have one strength and conditioning coach (Gary McColl) who works in the academy as well and works incredible hours. My assistant manager (Diarmuid O'Carroll) who does the analysis and goes above and beyond everything that is done at a football club to make sure we protect what we are doing. In all parts of the football club there have been cuts made but everyone has stuck together, everyone has worked very, very hard to get us to this point of the season and we will continue to do that."

Forest Green Rovers are beginning a search for a new CEO after Henry Staelens announced a decision to step down from the position. When he was appointed in 2018, Staelens was the youngest CEO in the English Football League at the age of just 30.

Chelsea's latest change in backroom staff has come in the shape of their Head of Research and Innovation Ben Smith, who is leaving the Blues to take up a job with a data analytics firm in Los Angeles called BreakAway Data.

Borussia Dortmund's former Paris Saint-Germain right-back Thomas Meunier has become his own agent after his long term agent, Jacques Lichtenstein, decided to retire after a lengthy illness.

Cardiff City have sacked manager Mark Hudson following a 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic. Dean Whitehead has been placed in interim charge of the team.

Disciplinary Charges

Argentina are facing disciplinary action from FIFA for "offensive behaviour" and "fair play violations" for what went on during the World Cup final and the players' celebrations after their win over France on penalties. While no players were singled out and named and shamed by FIFA, it is pretty clear that Aston Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez's lewd gesture after receiving the Golden Glove award and his mocking of French star Kylian Mbappe will be pretty high on the list. Though I am not sure how a goalkeeper feels justified in mocking an opponent that scored a hat-trick against them anyway! FIFA stated: "The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Argentinian Football Association due to potential breaches of articles 11 (Offensive behaviour and violations of the principles of fair play) and 12 (Misconduct of players and officials) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, as well as of article 44 of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Regulations in conjunction with the Media and Marketing Regulations for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, during the Argentina v. France FIFA World Cup final."

Manchester City left-back Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, but will face a retrial over one count of rape and one count of attempted rape.

Newcastle United midfielder Joelinton is facing drink-driving charges after being stopped by police in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Arsenal have been fined £40,000 for "failing to ensure players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion" against Newcastle United in the Premier League on 3rd January. They are also facing the same charge following their FA Cup 3rd round win at Oxford United.

Fifteen people have been suspended from football in Kenya amidst a match-fixing probe. A statement from Football Kenya Federation read: "In an effort to protect the integrity of the league, in line with the federation's zero-tolerance policy on match-fixing, the federation has with immediate effect provisionally suspended the following individuals pending the investigations of the matter by Fifa and the FKF's integrity department. All FKF members are advised to avoid any form of sporting contact with the aforementioned individuals during their suspension period." The suspended list is as follows:
1) Willis Ochieng Oganyo - Coach, Zetech University
2) Hamidu Kwizera Lucas - Former player, Zoo FC
3) Vincent Misikhu - Former player, Zoo FC
4) Sammy Sindani Sabiri - Player, Silibwet Leons FC
5) Michael Idovolo Madoya - Former player, Nairobi City Stars FC
6) Johnstone Ligare - Former player, Zoo FC
7) Geoffrey Gichana - Player, Zoo FC
8) Dominic Ouma Okoth - Player, Kericho Rovers FC
9) Isaac Kipyegon - Player, Tusker FC
10) Stanslaus Akiya Munyasa - Player, Silibwet Leons FC
11) William Odunga - Player, Silibwet Leons FC
12) Daniel Kiptoo - Former player, Zoo FC
13) Brian Lumumba - Player, Zoo FC
14) Du Monde Selenga Mangili - Head coach, Kericho FC
15) Dennis Monda - Former player, Vihiga United

Chad are the latest nation to suffer after age testing of their players ahead of the Under-17 African Cup of Nations qualifiers. Unlike Cameroon, who lost over 30 players ahead of the tournament due to them failing MRI test, and DR Congo, who pulled out after 25 members of their 40 men squad tested as overage before the tournament, Chad have been disqualified after one player tested as overage. Unlike Cameroon and DR Congo, Chad's failure was as a result of in-tournament testing. That leaves just Congo-Brazzaville, Central African Republic and Cameroon to compete in the qualifying tournament from which two teams were due to progress to the next round.

Huddersfield Town have been fined £6,000 and Preston North End £5,750 following a first-half scuffle between the two sets of players in their Championship match on Boxing Day.

Carlisle United have condemned alleged racist chanting at their home match against Bradford City. CEO Nigel Clibbens wrote on the club's website: "On behalf of the club, I am sorry that this incident took place. We abhor this behaviour and maintain a zero-tolerance approach. On the day, neither the police nor the stewards saw or could identify those who were chanting, so no action could be taken at that point. We take these matters very seriously and have been working with the police as we do all we can to find those responsible and, if identified, strong sanctions will be issued. For the tiny minority who behave in an offensive, anti-social or unacceptable manner the message is clear - you will be dealt with through a combination of police action and club bans."

Everton's board of directors missed the defeat to Southampton because of what was termed a "real and credible threat to their safety". It is alleged that the club's CEO Denise Barrett-Baxendale was put in a headlock outside the director's box by a male fan following last week's 4-1 home loss to Brighton & Hove Albion. Everton said that "increasing incidents of anti-social behaviour, including targeted physical aggression" have taken place in recent weeks. Following the game, Everton fans refused to leave the ground as they protested against the board, with chants of "sack the board" ringing out around Goodison Park as banners proclaiming messages such as "A football giant owned by a clown all you'll achieve is taking us down" were held high.

Following the running battles, which spread from a motorway service station onto the A1 Motorway itself in Italy causing traffic chaos, fans of both AS Roma and Napoli have been banned from attending away fixtures for 2 months. The trouble started when Napoli ultras threw stones and smoke bombs at the passing Roma fans, who then stopped to retaliate. The ban has been imposed by Italy's interior minister, Matteo Piantedos.

Pointless List Of The Day

FIFA have released their nominations for the 'Best' awards for 2022.

Best Men's Player
Julian Alvarez (Argentina/Club Atletico River Plate/Manchester City)
Jude Bellingham (England/Borussia Dortmund)
Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid)
Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City)
Erling Haaland (Norway/Borussia Dortmund/Manchester City)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco/Paris St-Germain)
Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich/Barcelona)
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool/Bayern Munich)
Kylian Mbappe (France/Paris Saint-Germain)
Lionel Messi (Argentina/Paris Saint-Germain)
Luka Modric (Croatia/Real Madrid)
Neymar (Brazil/Paris St-Germain)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool)
Vinicius Junior (Brazil/Real Madrid)

Best Men's Coach
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid)
Didier Deschamps (France/French national team)
Pep Guardiola (Spain/Manchester City)
Walid Regragui (Morocco/Wydad AC/Moroccan national team)
Lionel Scaloni (Argentina/ Argentinian national team)

Best Men's Goalkeeper
Alisson Becker (Brazil/Liverpool)
Yassine Bounou (Morocco/ Sevilla)
Thibaut Courtois (Belgium/Real Madrid)
Ederson (Brazil/Manchester City)
Emiliano Martinez (Argentina/Aston Villa)

Samp Mess

Sampdoria are in a total mess at the moment as their 'former' president Massimo Ferrero refuses to sell the club despite the club being in a financial mess. Ferrero, who effectively took over the club for free back in June 2014, is not officially the president due to being disqualified after being arrested for fraudulent bankruptcy in other businesses he owns in December 2021. The official president is former Samp player Marco Lanna, who has been frantically searching for someone to buy the club. The problem he is having is that Ferrero and his family are refusing to listen to offers or attend board meetings, leading to the board to release the following statement: "Out of respect for the law and the interests of fans, employees, shareholders and all those interested in the good of the club, we will continue our work making all necessary actions to protect the club." Samp have until 16th February to pay outstanding taxes of nearly £10m + player salaries from October, November and December or they could potentially have points docked by Serie A. US investment firm Merlyn have been trying to buy the club, putting forward a plan that involved debt restructuring and a takeover, which was rejected by Ferrero. A Merlyn spokesperson told Calciomercato: "Sadly, what we warned would happen is now coming true. Yesterday's statement from Sampdoria indicates once again that the current owners and their financial partners have no interest in evaluating situations that can rescue and relaunch Sampdoria. We repeat that our offer was serious, respectful of the story of Sampdoria and able to guarantee its fans an exciting future. The proposal would've included not only an increase in capital, but also working in synergy with Lille, and we had hoped to get it done by January to make the most of the transfer window. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to implement it in time. It is genuinely sad to see what is happening. Merlyn will continue to follow the evolution of the situation, repeating that if the conditions should be present, we would be ready with a new plan that will however have totally different timing, objectives and methods."

Messi Texts

Leaked messages between former Barcelona board members have revealed a series of personal attacks on players, particularly Lionel Messi. Messages from the head of the club's legal department Roman Gomez Ponti, which are dated from 31st January 2021, refer to Messi as a "sewer rat", a "hormonal dwarf" and a "money grubber". The messages are a reaction to an article in El Mundo which revealed Messi and Gerard Pique's contract details, with Catalan police since alleging that it was Ponti that leaked the information. The message was sent in a WhatsApp group which included several board members, including then club president Josep Maria Bartomeu, and read in full: "Barto, really, you can't be such a good person with this sewer rat. The club has given him everything, and he has dedicated himself to being a dictator in terms of signings, transfers, renewals, sponsors just for him, etc. I could never do it, but we should add to the cost of his contract the cost of Pinto, the renewal of Suárez, and that of Jordi Alba, or the renewal commission for Fati (Rodrigo Messi, agent? He does not even know how to read and he is partner to a drug dealer). And above all, the blackmail and rudeness that the club and those of us who work for it have suffered from this hormonal dwarf who owes Barça his life... ah! But when things go wrong (pandemic) you receive the mythical WhatsApp: 'President, lower the salaries of others, but don't touch Luis and me.' Hopefully, when he leaves, people will be indifferent, which is the worst thing that can happen to him (one more money grubber)." Barcelona's then CEO, Oscar Greu, replied to the message with "yes", suggesting his agreement with the content. Bartomeu himself responded: "I agree on many things, but the priority is Barca and this type of article damages the club's image." He also defended Messi's contract writing: "Many times we have listened to Leo, not always, but many times, and this contract without the pandemic was totally acceptable." Also in that same conversation, Ponti said Pique "lacked scruples" and was a "huge son of a bitch". He also went on to say Sergio Busquets should be fired and forgotten about.

Written by Tris Burke January 14 2023 20:31:04