Football News: Review Of The Day 20th January 2019
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Review of the Day
Transfers
Nantes have sold Argentine striker Emiliano Sala to Cardiff City for a Cardiff club record fee of over £15m, which beats the £11m the Bluebirds paid for Chile international Gary Medel in 2013. Sala becomes the second forward to join the Welsh club after Everton striker Oumar Niasse joined on loan the day before.
Major League Soccer side New York City FC have taken American midfielder Keaton Parks on loan from Benfica.
Wolverhampton Wanderers youngster Ben Stevenson has returned at the end of his loan spell to FC Jumilla.
Contracts
Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has signed a new 5 year deal with the club which sees him tied down until 2024. The 20 year old has come through the academy at the club to establish himself as first choice at right back this season.
Swans Lose Defender
Defender Joe Rodon is facing 6 weeks on the sidelines after breaking a metatarsal in his foot. The 21 year old has established himself as first choice for the Swans this season under new manager Graham Potter with 24 appearances this season. Potter said: "That's a blow for us. He's been great."
Clarke Upset Over Stewart's Dons Move
Steve Clarke has complained about a nasty smell around the Greg Stewart move to Aberdeen. Stewart was on loan at Clarke's Kilmarnock in the first half of the season before Birmingham City recalled him and then sent him to Aberdeen on loan. Clarke said: "It's not the player. It's the deal. But the deal is private and what happens when you speak with other clubs stays private. You can work it out. Look at the deal. I only want to talk about players who are committed to Kilmarnock and want to play for us. If I am honest, the whole deal had a slightly strange smell right from the very start, but that happens in football. So we'll move on and I'll work with players who want to be here and, hopefully, they do just as well in the second half of the season." Clarke also described the deal as "bullsh**".
Lambert Pays For Travelling Support
Former Norwich City manager Paul Lambert has found a way to get the Ipswich Town fans on side after paying for the travel for supporters on the official coaches heading to the weekend's Blackburn Rovers game, where they saw their side lose 2-0. Fans taking their seats on the coaches found a letter waiting for them offering to reimburse their £37 costs and thanking them for their support. There were about 50 fans who used the official coach. Lambert has so far lost 9 of his 14 matches in charge.
Rivaldo Denies Joining Moroccan Side
Former world footballer of the year Rivaldo has denied that he has taken the role of technical director at Moroccan 3rd Division side Chabab Mohammedia after their official social media account had announced him. Rivaldo also posted on social media to clear up the situation: "I would like to thank the President of Sporting Club Chabab Mohammedia for the shirt and also the invitation but I am not coach yet, maybe in the future."
Champions League Match Abandoned Over Fan Trouble
An African Champions League match in Egypt had to be abandoned on Friday after crowd trouble erupted in the Group C clash between Egypt's Ismaily and Tunisian side Club Africain. The game had been stopped a number of times during the game, with the Tunisians leading 2-1 it was finally halted in stoppage time as sections of the crowd bombarded the pitch with water bottles. The troubles started when, with the score tied at 1-1, Club Africain were awarded a free kick, which the referee decided to change to a penalty (their second penalty of the game) after consulting with an assistant. An assistant referee was forced to abandon his position with 5 minutes left as objects were thrown from the crowd. The Ismaily coaching staff appealed to the crowd for calm but it had no effect and the game was abandoned.
Koulibaly Red Card Upheld
After Senegalese defender Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off for 'sarcastically applauding a referee's decision' when he refused to act after Koulibaly was racially abused during a defeat to Inter Milan, his club appealed the card. Napoli's appeal was on the grounds of wrongful dismissal but was rejected by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). The FIGC said: "The unacceptable atmosphere created inside the stadium during this match does not justify and can not be used by an athlete to ridicule the referee or justify an act of violence." Napoli have hit out at the decision: "The decision of the FIGC appeals court to turn down our appeal against Koulibaly's ban is a sad defeat both for football and the wider issue raised by this whole affair, namely, the fight against discrimination of all sorts, which is still part of football and society. After all these extraordinary events, the appeal was turned down. A procedural rule was incapable of doing the only thing there was to do: give back to Kalidou Koulibaly - this Senegalese lad who, in light of these events, represents everything that is good and bad in Italy at the moment - the dignity he deserves. Koulibaly, Italian football and the institutions all come out of this degraded. Koulibaly's ban should have been overturned regardless of the rules and the bureaucracy. All this does is kill football. Because football is above all a passion that unites billions of people around the world, and it should not be derided like this. A great opportunity has been missed today. Sadly it proves there is still much to do and many things to change."
Arnautovic's Head On Another Issue
West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini has explained Marko Arnautovic's absence yesterday was down to his head being on "another issue". Pellegrini said: "A manager must choose the players that work better during the week. Marko has his head on another issue so it wasn't a good idea for him to play." Arnautovic has been the subject of interest from China and his agent brother has said he wants to leave the Hammers to move to China.
Football Leaks Hacker Arrested
Lawyers have claimed that a 30 year old Portugese man arrested in Hungary was the man who hacked the documents of football bodies, which then appeared on the Football Leaks website. Rui Pinto's lawyers have claimed that he did so because he was "outraged" by criminality in sport. Portugese police have put in an extradition request.
Written by Tris Burke January 20 2019 05:56:41
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