Football News: Signings And Goals Plus Blanc Rules Out PSG Selling Star Forward

1. Chelsea sign a defender
Chelsea have headed to the USA to pluck a defender from Major League Soccer. 20 year old Matt Miazga has joined from New York Red Bulls after a meteoric rise to prominence in the MLS. Miazga was seen as the symbol of success for the MLS's homegrown program, which desperately needed some success. Chelsea's interim manager Guus Hiddink has admitted that he is one for the future, rather than someone who will jump in and rescue Chelsea from the terrible season they are having. "We don't rush him, but he will be one of the squad members for the future," Hiddink explained when asked about what role Miazga will play at Chelsea. "He's a young guy stepping up to the national team and it's always good to have such players here so you can see what they are capable of in training. He's a young player, a promising player - let's see if he can get himself to the high demands of this club and the Premier League." Others are not so sure about this signing:

Here is a quote I got from a former teammate of new Chelsea signing Matt Miazga ... pic.twitter.com/yvAe8o0a67

— Secret Footballer (@TSF) January 28, 2016

2. Watford sign Suarez
After a few days of the media linking Mario Suarez with Liverpool, so they can get their clickbait 'Liverpool try and sign Suarez' headlines, Suarez has moved to Watford on a four and a half year deal. Watford paid an undisclosed fee to get the 28 year old Spanish international midfielder from Serie A side Fiorentina. Suarez has played for Hornets boss Quique Sanchez Flores before, while the pair were both at Atletico Madrid, only joining the Viola in July from Atleti. "I am very happy to be here because it is a dream come true to play in the Premier League," Suárez told the official club website. "I am very excited with the project of the club, to be trained again by Quique and to start playing for Watford."

 

3. How on earth did he miss?
Juanpi makes Christian Benteke look clinical as he managed to miss after receiving the ball centrally in front of a gaping net after the keeper went walk about in the Malaga v Eibar game.

4. Transfer round up
Michael Madl, Sturm Graz to Fulham, on loan
Antonio Carlos, released by Fluminese
Marinho, Cruzeiro to Vitoria, on loan
Lucas Gomes, Londrina EC to Chapecoense, on loan
Krisztian Nemeth, Sporting Kansas City to Al-Gharafa, £1.96m
Pablo Batalla, Beijing Guoan to Bursaspor, undisclosed fee
Jordan Loties, CA Osasuna to Dijon, free
Borja Lopez, Monaco to Barcelona B, free
Pablo de Lucas, Beitar Jerusalem to FC Viitorul, free
Alper Uludag, Trabzonspor to Akhisarspor, swap deal
Emil Halfredsson, Hellas Verona to Udinese, £700,000
Jacopo Sala, Hellas Verona to Sampdoria, on loan
Carl Medjani, unattached to Levante
Rodrigo Moledo, Internacional to Panathinaikos, free
Enes Unal, Manchester City to NAC Breda, on loan
Vladimir Volkov, KV Mechelen to Lech Poznan, on loan
Thomas Murg, SV Ried to Rapid Vienna, undisclosed fee
Flavio Ferreira, released by Malaga
Caue, released by Neftchi Baku
Serge Akakpo, 1461 Trabzon to Trabzonspor, on loan
Wahbi Khazri, Girondins Bordeaux to Sunderland, £8.26m
Daniele Sciaudone, Salernitana to Spezia, on loan
Dossa Junior, Konyaspor to Eskisehirspor, on loan
Ismail Haktan Odabasi, Gaziantepspor to Giresunspor, on loan
Adnane Tighadouini, Malaga to Kayserispor, on loan
Mario Suarez, Fiorentina to Watford, £3.71m
Piti, Granada to Rayo Vallecano, free
Yuri Zhirkov, Dinamo Moscow to Zenit St Petersburg, on loan
Aleksandr Kokorin, Dinamo Moscow to Zenit St Petersburg, undisclosed fee
Marcos Angeleri, Malaga to San Lorenzo, undisclosed fee
Patrick Roberts, Manchester City to Celtic, on loan
Patrick Bamford, Chelsea to Norwich City, on loan
Baris Basdas, Goztepe to Adana Demirspor, on loan
Kevin Constant, unattached to Bologna
Yasuhito Morishima, Jubilo Iwata to Kawasaki Frontale, loan return

 

5. York sign former Hibs and Celtic forward
Derek Riordan had been training with former club Hibernian earlier in the season, in the hope of getting a contract, when he received a call from fellow Scot Jackie McNamara, whose York City side are bottom of the whole Football League. McNamara convinced Riordan to to go down for a trial, and, after a couple of weeks on trial, Riordan signed a deal to stay until the end of the season. "I'm delighted to have signed and just to be back playing football games, it's brilliant," Riordan said. "I'm going to take each game as it comes now and hopefully score a few goals too. A couple of weeks ago the gaffer phoned me asking if I wanted to come down for a few week on trial and I came straight away, so I've been training for the last couple of weeks and I've really enjoyed it. It's been good, I've got on really well with all the lads and obviously with the coaching staff too so it's been enjoyable and it's even better when you get a contract at the end of it."

6. Celtic sign exciting attacker
One of the most exciting prospects in English football, Patrick Roberts, has signed for Celtic on an 18 month contract. Manchester City took the 18 year old from Fulham last year, but, with chances at the Etihad Stadium limited for him, they have allowed him to join Celtic on a loan deal that includes the entirety of next season. The Citizens were happy with the development work done by the Hoops on previous loanee Jason Denayer, so were keen to get Roberts to link up with Celtic manager Ronny Deila.

 

7. Fantastic back heel finish from El Shaarawy
Stephan El Shaarawy scored a lovely back heel volley on his debut to put AS Roma back into the lead against Frosinone.

8. Dortmund coach calls for video reviews
Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel has asked for video evidence to be introduced to review all goals scored. Even though his team benefited from a 77th minute goal being awarded, despite Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being offside as the ball was crossed in by Lukasz Piszczek for Aubameyang to slot him, Tuchel believes goals should be subject to video review. "I believe that the referee did not see the replay of our first goal, but he is not able to change his decision retrospectively anyway," he said. "I am very much an advocate of reviewing all goals. It cannot be that the four referees do not know, but everyone in the stadium with a smartphone can see it ten seconds later."

 

9. Blanc rules out January move for Lavezzi
Ezequiel Lavezzi is out of contract in the summer, but Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc has ruled out the possibility of selling him in the January window. PSG are willing to lose their Argentine forward for nothing in the summer. "We have been very clear with Lavezzi. We have been very, very clear with him," Blanc said. "I don't want to tell you what we said but we have been very clear with him, from the beginning of the season until this transfer window. We have been very clear on his situation. He cannot say the contrary. We all know that if someone wants to leave the club, all the parts of the club must agree. Apparently, it is not the case, because he hasn't move. The contract of 'Pocho' ends in June and there is a strategy. Well, not really a strategy, but there is a position to stand, hold or keep," the Frenchman continued. We have had discussions with players at the end of their contracts. We spoke with them and we told them that we could adapt to their positions if we found satisfaction."

10. Klopp praises Liverpool youngsters
After making 10 changes to the team which saw Liverpool through to the League Cup final with a penalty shoot out win over Stoke City, Jurgen Klopp was delighted to see his youngsters perform against West Ham United in the FA Cup. Klopp felt the youngsters justify their inclusion, as they gave an almost full strength Hammers side a test. While West Ham can point to a couple of handball calls that probably should have been given, their keeper, Darren Randolph, was given a good workout by the youthful Liverpool side. Now Klopp is intending to mostly keep faith with this side for the replay. "We will have a team for the replay at West Ham, and maybe it won't be too far away from this team today," said Klopp. "You can ask me about Joao Teixiera and Cameron Brannagan, but if you want to mention names, there are others too. Five weeks ago, Kevin Stewart was at Swindon and not playing too often. Brad Smith made a big step in the right direction and did really well at full-back. That was really cool. Sheyi Ojo came in and again did well as a substitute, and so did Jerome Sinclair. So there's a lot of potential. That's very important. But it's important not just to know about it. The players have to show it, but as a manager, you also have to show that you are seeing their steps. That's what we tried today. I'm pleased with this. These boys would have deserved to win tonight, but it is what it is."

Written by Tris Burke January 31 2016 05:53:03