Football News: Neville Believes He Is Improving Valencia, Cahill Thinks China Will Buy A $100m Player Soon And More

1. Leeds wanted defender in January
Leeds United manager Steve Evans has admitted to BBC Radio Leeds that the club tried to sign right back Ritchie De Laet from Leicester City last month. Middlesbrough beat them to the 27 year old on loan. De Laet had made 15 appearances for the Foxes but was mostly relegated to a substitute's role late on in games. Evans said, "Middlesbrough brought in the boy De Laet, who I think was top class, from Leicester. He was a name on my list as well. You look at how they have gone and recruited, and what they have done is added some real cream upon cream."

2. Boro keeper nets new deal
Middlesbrough's Spanish goalkeeper Tomas Mejias has signed a contract extension with the Teeside club. Meijas initially signed a permanent deal with Boro in 2014, after a period on loan with them from Real Madrid. While Meijas is settled as the back up keeper at the Riverside Stadium, the 27 year old has been given the chance to shine in the cups, notably in a League Cup win over Manchester United at Old Trafford on penalties. He is now contracted until 2018.

 

3. Transfer round up
David Estrada, Sacramento FC to Charlotte Independence, free
Matti Lund Nielsen, Odense BK to Sarpsborg 08, free
Vojo Ubiparip, Vasas Budapest to Novi Pazar, free
Wallyson, Maldonado to Santa Cruz, on loan
Blair Gavin, Portland Timbers to Arizona United, free
Ivan Tatomirovic, FK Sarajevo to HJK Helsinki, free
Thomas Hansen, Vendsyssel FF to Jammerbugt FC, free
Yuri Gabovda, Granit Mikashevichi to Dinamo Minsk, free
Denis Mahmudov, Levski Sofia to Banants Yerevan, free
Joadson, Salgueiro to Campinense, free
Dalton, Internacional to Fort Lauderdale Strikers, free
Lulinha, Botafogo to Mogi Mirim, free
Rodrigo Depetris, Olympiakos Volos to Sarmiento, free
Alex, Tombense to Capivariano, on loan
Renan, Corinthians to Tigres, on loan
Thalles, Friburguense to Atibaia, free
Hassan Abu Zaid, Torpedo Armavir to Bnei Yehuda, free
Chico, Bragantino to Capivariano, free
Aleksandr Sverchinskiy, FK Minsk to MFK Zemplin Michalovce, free
Federico Ramos, Portoviejo to CA Atenas, free
Ze Vitor, Sao Paulo to Rio Claro, free
Matt Whichelow, Boreham Wood to Oxford City, on loan
Jonas, Flamengo to Ponte Preta, on loan
Haidong Lu, Chongqing Lifan to Shenzhen FC, free
Fernando Viana, Joinville to Ituano, on loan
Pablo Caballero, Independiente to Racing Club, free
Kaio Oliveira, Rio Branco to Araxa, free
Juanan, CD Leganes to Rayo OKC, free
Mircea Axente, ASA Tirgu Mures to Maccabi Netanya, free
Renato Santos, Flamengo to Mogi Mirim, free
Stanislav Reznikov, NoSta Novotroitsk to Sakhalin, free
Roberto, Avai to Novorizontino, free
Nei, Vasco de Gama to Parana, free
William Paulista, Zhongyou to Joinville, free
Carl Medjani, Trabzonspor to Levante UD, free
Sebastian Ereros, Talleres to Quilmes, free
Claudio Rivero, Pasto to CA Fenix, free
Andrei Popescu, SVN Zweibrucken to Eintracht Trier, free
Nigel de Jong, AC Milan to Los Angeles Galaxy, free
Gabriel Tamas, Cardiff City to Steau Bucharest, free
Vasili Karmazinenko, SKA-Energia to Sakhalin, free
Artem Kasyanov, Ordabasy to Metalist Kharkiv, free
Fahel, Paysandu to Novorizontino, free
Mauro Rosales, Vancouver Whitecaps to FC Dallas, free
Nei, Tianjin Quanjian to Trindade GO,, free
Jorge Barbosa, AD Carmelita to Puntarenas FC, free
Andres D'Alessandro, Internacional to River Plate, on loan (£206,000 fee)
Nemanja Nikolic, BATE Borisov to Hapoel Tel Aviv, £338,000
Kike, Middlesbrough to SD Eibar, £1.5m

4. Barca equal club-record
Barcelona's 2-0 win over bottom placed Levante has equalled the club record of 28 games in a row without defeat. The record was set by the 2010-11 Pep Guardiola side. The victory also kept Barca 3 points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga, after they beat Eibar 3-1 and four ahead of Real Madrid, who beat Granada 2-1. The Catalans also have a game in hand. The match was coach Luis Enrique's 100th game in charge, plus the 10th win in a row. "What matters to me are the team's objectives," said Enrique. "These are nice numbers, if they help us win titles at the end of the season, fantastic. We are in good position but there is still a lot left."

 

5. Neville claims he is being unfairly judged
Valencia's head coach Gary Neville claims he is being unfairly judged as a failure in his role. "I said before I came that I would be judged as a success or failure in five months. The obituaries have already been written, so I've been judged in six weeks," Neville said after Valencia's 1-0 loss at Real Betis. "This is a far more organized team than the one that I saw when I first came, but it's one that is not getting the results and that's the biggest problem I have at this moment." More organised? No wonder he is flopping so badly, he is obviously not even watching the shambles on the pitch, which is certainly not getting better. "I don't believe we are getting the results that reflect the improvement in this team," Neville said. "That's difficult to explain, but I've seen this before in football many times. This can happen to anybody. It's happening to me at this moment, but I believe in myself." He may not believe it, but it is true, they are really that poor and deserve to be getting beat. It is difficult to see what exactly he is achieving. Neville got the job because his business partner, Peter Lim, is the owner, he is still in the role for the exact same reason. Time to just accept that it is not working out and you made a huge mistake in taking on a role at a club when you have not even learnt the language, nor have any real aptitude for the role yet.

6. It only takes a second to score a goal
Well ten seconds in this match in Portugese football

 

7. Cahill believes China will make the first $100m transfer
Tim Cahill, one of the first to follow the money to Chinese football, believes transfer fees will continue to rise. Former Everton player Cahill is currently at Shanghai Shenhua, and admits it is a purely monetary decision to go there. "The choices that players are making are not about football like it was in my day, they're purely about personal gains and it depends what you want as an individual," Cahill said. "Is it going to help players? No. Is it going to be big for the country? Yes. Players have got different ideas and you have to be able to live in China as well. I live in Shanghai, it's a big city. Some of the other areas it's a bit tough and we'll see how long they last." Not sure if he meant it to be ironic when he is talking about it not being like his day and players moving for the money, when it is exactly what he has been doing in recent years, when he joined first the MLS then jetted off to China to play. The transfer window has not yet shut in China, having already seen the record transfer fee broken, first with an 18m Euros deal for Elkeson to move from Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao to Shanghai SIPG. Then Jiangsu Suning bought Ramires from Chelsea for 28m Euros, followed by Evergrande replacing Elkeson with a 42m Euros move for Jackson Martinez from Atletico Madrid. Finally Suning stepped in again to pay 50m Euros for Alex Teixeira from Shakhtar Donetsk. "When I first went to China I knew the vision, I knew what was behind it and I knew what they wanted to do. To see where it's come to now and where we're at, it's pretty crazy," Cahill told Fox Sports. "They've got the power and when they want something, they get it and when they don't want something they get rid of it. It's pretty much like a revolving door, you see a lot of players coming in and a lot of players going. It's crazy to see but this is only going to get worse. This is going to be massive, soon they'll break the $100million mark easily."

8. Legend returns to the Yellow Submarine
Villareal's legendary Brazilian midfielder Marcos Senna is returning to the club following his retirement from playing. The 39 year old won a second Soccer Bowl with New York Cosmos at the end of last year. Senna made 350 appearances after joining Villareal from Brazilian club Sao Caetano, becoming a Spanish international along the way. After 11 years as a key figure in Villareal's midfield, and in the Spanish side that won Euro 2008, Senna left for Cosmos in 2013. He will now take up a role in their Institutional Relations Departmenr.

 

9. Pick that out

10. Even better than the previous one:

Written by Tris Burke February 08 2016 12:31:41