Football News: Man City Set For Kompany Boost, Lionel Messi's Barcelona Contract Details Leaked And More

1. Transfer round up
Itay Shechter, Maccabi Haifa to Beitar Jerusalem, undisclosed fee
Esteban Saveljich, Racing Club to UD Almeria, on loan
Mikel Arruabarrena, SD Eibar to SD Huesca, on loan
Serge Gakpe, Genoa to Atalanta, on loan
Alexy Bosetti, OGC Nice to Sarpsborg 08, on loan
Dominik Furman, Legia Warsaw to Toulouse, loan return
Borja Lopez, Arouca to Monaco, loan return
Stephan El Shaarawy, Monaco to AC Milan, loan return
Mathieu Dossevi, Standard Liege to Olympiacos, loan return
Derek Boateng, unattached to Rayo OKC
Alexis, Getafe to Besiktas, £1.05m
Conor Casey, Philadelphia Union to Columbus Crew, free
Ali Ahamada, Toulouse to Kayserispor, free
Assani Lukimya, Werder Bremen to Liaoning FC, £1.4m
Pieter Gerkens, KRC Genk to Sint-Truiden, undisclosed fee
Borja Lopez, Monaco to Barcelona, free
Marcus Olsson, Blackburn Rovers to Derby County, £462,000
Aymen Tahar, Steaua Bucharest to Boavista, on loan
Emmanuel Adebayor, unattached to Crystal Palace
Vasilios Pliatsikas, unattached to Slovan Bratislava
Robin Olsen, PAOK Saloniki to FC Copenhagen, on loan
Miguel Cifuentes, Elche to Malaga, on loan
Oscar Duarte, Club Brugge to Espanyol, £1.05m
Ismael Diomande, Saint-Etienne to Caen, on loan
Stephan El Shaarawy, AC Milan to AS Roma, on loan (£980,000 fee)
Jelle van Damme, Standard Liege to Los Angeles Galaxy, undisclosed fee
Paulo Diaz, Colo Col to San Lorenzo, £644,000
Nuno Andre Coelho, unattached to Sporting Kansas City
Shane Ferguson, Newcastle United to Millwall, undisclosed fee
Willian Farias, Cruzeiro to Vitoria, on loan
Alexander Bittroff, FSV Frankfurt to Chemnitzer FC, free
Mitchell Donald, Red Star Belgrade to Mordovia, loan return
Aras Ozbiliz, Besiktas to Rayo Vallecano, on loan

2. Vazquez deserves Liverpool or Man Utd move says Ballardini
Former Palermo coach Davide Ballardini believes Palermo's attacking midfielder Franco Vazquez deserves to be at one of Europe's elite clubs. The 26 year old joined the Sicilian team in 2012 and has gradually built a reputation as a standout due to his creativity. Now his former coach is tipping him to make a move to a 'big' club: "Vazquez? He is ready for a big team, with his quality [he] deserves a big European club like Liverpool or Manchester United," Ballardini told Mediaset Premium. Ballardini lasted just two months in charge of Palermo.

 

3. City given Kompany boost
Manchester City have been given a boost in their quest to regain the Premier League title as much missed captain and steadying influence at the back, Vincent Kompany, is nearing a return. After his last return, on Boxing Day, lasted just nine minutes, it is expected that the Citizens will want to ease the Belgian back into the side. City have been in poor form since losing Kompany to injury. "We said in the last press conference that it will be a couple of weeks and we need to wait and see how he improves but he could be back before," City manager Manuel Pellegrini said.


4. Messi contract details leaked
Football Leaks is not the only place leaking details of football contracts now, Spanish media outlet ARA has leaked the shocking details of Barcelona's Argentine maestro Lionel Messi's contract. Messi signed a new contract in 2014, tying him to the club until 2018 and setting his buyout at a mammoth 250m Euros. With the new contract, Messi now earns 22.8m Euros a year, though the summer will see his wages rise to 39.4m Euros! If Barca decide to sell Messi in the summer, they have to pay 16.6m Euros in compensation to him. If they wait until 2017 to offload him, the compensation would drop slightly, to a more palatable, but still obscene, 9.97m Euros.

 

5. Portugese 2nd division teams must have one Chinese player in their squad
The second flight in Portugal has signed a new sponsorship deal with a Chinese firm called Ledman. Under the terms of the agreement, the competition will be called Ledman Proliga and each team in the 10 club division must have at least one Chinese player in their squad. This comes as Chinese clubs are investing heavily in the transfer market to improve the quality of their squads. Ledman are the first Chinese company to sponsor a European league.

6. Oooops!
Why running back towards goal, straight at your keeper, is very rarely a good idea:

 

7. Celtic still looking for more signings
Celtic manager Ronny Deila has insisted the club are looking to bring in more signings before the transfer window shuts next week. So far the Hoops have signed just one player, Eric Sviatchenko, though they have has Slaven Belupo midfielder Ljuban Crepulja on trial, he has not impressed and so is highly unlikely to get a contract offered. When asked if more players would join in January Deila said: "Maybe, we'll see, but it's so hard to know right now, but we're working hard to find the right players and also see if it's possible to do it. If everything clicks we'll bring in more players, if not we wait until the summer."

8. Thomas trains with Tractor Boys
Former Arsenal youngster Jerome Thomas is currently training with Ipswich Town with a view to signing for them. The 32 year old, who has also played for Charlton Athletic and West Bromwich Albion, was released by Crystal Palace at the end of last season. He had a trial with Hearts in September but was unable to agree a deal to join the SPFL side. Ipswich are searching for a winger after Australian Tommy Oar was released due to being unable to settle in the UK.

 

9. Ramires jets off to China
Jiangsu Suning have completed the signing of Brazilian midfielder Ramires from Chelsea. The 28 year old is part of a big money influx of players, as the Chinese Super League is currently very cash rich due to a huge investment. It is reportedly a fee of around £25m for the central midfielder known mainly for his energy and workrate. Jiangsu are managed by a former Chelsea player, in the shape of Romanian Dan Petrescu. Ramires will face the likes of former Arsenal player Gervinho, former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan, former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Paulinho and another former Chelsea player Demba Ba, who also played for West Ham United and Newcastle United.

 

10. Augsburg prepare emergency glasses for Klopp visit
With Liverpool heading to Augsburg in a few weeks, in the knockout phase of the Europa League, the German club have prepared their stadium for the arrival of Jurgen Klopp with an emergency set of specs.

Our @EuropaLeague clash with @LFC is less than a month away! We're making sure we're ready for #Klopp & Co... #FCA pic.twitter.com/Q569xdiNQG

— FC Augsburg English (@FCA_World) January 26, 2016

I wonder if they will be so happy if he requires them under the same circumstances as the last time they were broken??

Written by Tris Burke January 27 2016 16:52:25