Football News: Review Of The Day 12th January 2019

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Review of the Day

Transfers

Aston Villa's young forward Rushian Hepburn-Murphy has joined Cambridge United on loan until the end of the season.

Harvey Barnes has been recalled from his season-long loan with West Bromwich Albion. The 21 year old had been an ever-present for the Baggies but Leicester City decided to bring him back to their side for the second half of the season.

Rotherham United have spent an undisclosed fee to sign midfielder Matt Crooks from Northampton Town. The 24 year old has previously played for Rangers and Accrington Stanley.

Struggling Ipswich Town have added former West Ham United centre back James Collins on a short term deal. The 35 year old, who was released by the Hammers at the end of last season, is contracted until the end of the season.

Greg Stewart has been recalled by Birmingham City from a loan spell with Kilmarnock as the Championship side look to sell him this month.

Hibernian have convinced Ryan Gauld to join them for the rest of the season on loan from Sporting CP. The 23 year old former Dundee United midfielder had spent the first half of the season on loan with Farense.

Czech goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky has joined St Mirren from Slovan Liberec.

Yeovil Town have made a double signing of Premier League youngsters. Chelsea defender Josh Grant and Bournemouth winger Alex Dobre will spend the rest of the season on loan with the League 2 side.

Forward Billy Waters has returned to Cheltenham Town on loan from Northampton Town.

West Ham United midfielder Moses Makasi has joined Stevenage on loan for the rest of the season.

Blackpool have signed Crystal Palace starlet Nya Kirby on loan until the end of the season.

Luke Hendrie has moved to Grimsby Town on a 2 and a half year deal. Hendrie had been on loan with Grimsby from Shrewsbury Town in the first half of the season.

Rochdale have made a double Ethan signing from the Premier League. Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Ethan Ebanks-Landell and Manchester United midfielder Ethan Hamilton have both joined the League One team for the rest of the season.

Macclesfield Town have completed the double winger signing of Adam Dawson and Enoch Andoh on short-term contracts.

Josh Clarke has joined Burton Albion on loan from Brentford for the second half of the campaign.

Middlesbrough striker Luke Armstrong has joined Accrington Stanley on loan.

Manolo Gabbiadini has returned to Sampdoria after the Italian side paid Southampton an undisclosed fee of over £10m for the Italian international.

Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas has signed a 3 and a half year deal with Ligue 1 side Monaco. The 31 year old had started just once in the league under new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri.

Liverpool's young Nigerian forward Taiwo Awoniyi has joined Mouscron on loan after completing his loan with fellow Belgian Jupiler Pro League side Gent.

Elfsborg have taken Leeds United forward Pawel Cibicki on loan.

Houston Dynamo have paid over £100,000 to sign winger Marlon Hairston from Colorado Rapids. Arriving in to the Rapids is Benny Feilhaber from Los Angeles FC on a free transfer.

Dutch flop Paul Gladon has been released by Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Sevilla have paid just under £1m to sign young forward Munir El Haddadi from Barcelona. Also joining Sevilla, for just under £10m, is Maximilian Wober, the Austrian defender from Ajax. On the way out from Sevilla is Borja Lasso, who has left on a free to join Tenerife.

Former Chelsea midfielder Ulises Davila has joined Indian Super League side Delhi Dynamos. The 27 year old Mexican had been a free agent since being released by Santos Laguna last July.

Contracts

22 year old striker Alessandro Rossi has signed a new Lazio contract which runs until 2022.

Juventus youngster Grigoris Kastanos has also signed a new deal which runs until 2022.

Burton Albion winger Lukas Akins has signed a new contract. The 29 year old former ballet dancer is tied to the Brewers until 2021. Midfielder Marcus Harness has also signed a new deal, which runs until 2020.

Sol Campbell has handed defender Nathan Cameron a contract extension at Macclesfield Town. The 27 year old was on a short term deal which has now been extended until the end of the season.

Kazuyoshi Miura has signed a new deal with Japanese second tier side Yokohama FC. The striker, who turns 52 (yes fifty-two) next month, has agreed a new one year contract. Miura, who has 89 caps for his country, the last of them coming 19 years ago, holds the record for being the oldest professional to score a goal.

Huth Dismisses Derby Rumours

Robert Huth has ruled out a rumoured move to Derby County as the 3 time Premier League winner has retired from playing. Injuries stopped Huth from playing any first team football in his final season with Leicester City but that never stopped a football agent on social media claiming the German was set to sign an 18-month deal with Frank Lampard's Rams. Huth said: "This literally couldn't be less true. I've retired. (I just haven't done an interview and cried about it)."

Luton Fail In Jones Replacing Jones Attempt

West Bromwich Albion manager Darren Moore has revealed that his assistant Graeme Jones has turned down the chance to replace Nathan Jones as manager of Luton Town. Graeme Jones had previously worked with Roberto Martinez before joining the Baggies in August 2018 as assistant to Darren Moore. Moore said: "I believe Luton made an approach but he has turned it down. Myself and Graeme work well together and we feel we've got a wonderful project here at West Brom. It is pleasing that he wants to stay."

Karanka Walks Away From Forest

Former Jose Mourinho assistant Aitor Karanka has walked away from Nottingham Forest just as rumours swirl linking him with a return to Real Madrid with Mourinho. Karanka had been ppublicly unhappy for a while now and so it is little surprise that he asked to be released from his contract. First team coach Simon Ireland has taken temporary charge of the team.

Bielsa Takes Responsibility For 'SpyGate'

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has admitted he sent a member of staff to watch Derby County training on Thursday. Police confirmed that they were called to investigate a man looking through the perimeter fence but no action was taken as the man was breaking no laws. A Derbyshire Police statement read: "Officers conducted routine checks which were all above board. Despite media reports, no damage to the fence was found, and the man was stopped outside the grounds." Before his Leeds team beat Derby 2-0 last night, Bielsa said in an interview: "It's true there was someone from Leeds United. The responsibility for this lies with me. I'm responsible. Yesterday I talked to Frank Lampard and he told me I didn't respect the fair play rules. I have a different point of view but the important thing is what Frank Lampard and Derby County think. I didn't ask permission from Leeds United to do it so it's my responsibility. Without trying to find a justification, I've been using this kind of practice since the qualifications for the World Cup with Argentina." Frank Lampard referred to it as bad sportsmanship, saying: "At least, on a sportsman's level, it's bad in my opinion. If we're going to start talking about 'culturally, I did it somewhere else' - that doesn't work for me. If I'm lucky enough to do well and travel to another country I'll find out what the etiquette is in that country and abide by that. It's disrupted our build-up to this game. People are going to say I'm trying to make an excuse - but I'm going to speak like this after the game win, lose or draw." I am not sure why this is such a big issue, teams have always watched training sessions and coaches regularly visit other clubs to have a look at their training routines and learn from them. There are hundreds of anecdotal stories of teams deliberately messing around with their training to confuse watchers from opposing sides, such as when the Celtic team swapped shirt numbers around ahead of the 1967 European Cup final.

Liverpool Duo Get Monthly Awards

Jurgen Klopp has won the Premier League's manager of the month for December, while centre back Virgil van Dijk has won player of the month. Liverpool went unbeaten in December, with van Dijk an ever-present and scored his first Premier League goal for the club in the win over Wolves.

UEFA Name Their Fans' Team Of The Year

UEFA.com has announced the result of their online vote for Fans' Team of the Year, with Cristiano Ronaldo being included for a record 13th time. Luka Modric was the most popular, receiving more votes than any other:
Uefa.com XI:
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (FC Barcelona & Germany)
Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid CF & Spain)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool FC & Netherlands)
Raphael Varane (Real Madrid CF & France)
Marcelo (Real Madrid CF & Brazil)
N'Golo Kante (Chelsea FC & France)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid CF & Croatia)
Eden Hazard (Chelsea FC & Belgium)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain & France)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid CF/Juventus & Portugal)
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona & Argentina)

Muller Gets 2 Game Ban

Bayern Munich will have to make do without Thomas Muller for their Champions League last-16 match up with Liverpool after the Germany international was handed a two-match European ban. The 29 year old was given his first ever red card in a group stage draw with Ajax for kicking Nicolas Tagliafico in the head. Muller has appealed against the decision, calling the kick "unintentional".

Written by Tris Burke January 12 2019 05:45:39