Football News: Review Of The Day 4th May 2019

Image from: freelargeimages.com

Review of the Day

Contracts

Peter Haring has signed a contract extension with Hearts. The 25 year old Austrian is now tied to the club until 2022.

Gaetan Bong signs a new one year deal with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Fulham captain Tom Cairney has signed a new long-term contract, with the 28 year old stating that he wants to "finish his career" with the Cottagers. His new deal runs until 2024 with the option for a further year.

Former Middlesborough defender Emanuel Pogatetz has extended his LASK deal by a year to 2020.

Iverness Caledonian Thistle have agreed a new deal with goalkeeper Mark Ridgers which runs until 2022.

Port Vale have given the keeper Scott Brown a new 2 year deal.

Transfers

Steven Davis has agreed to turn his loan deal with Rangers into a permanent one for next season on a 1 year contract. The 34 year old joined the Glasgow giants on loan in January.

Leeds United forward Caleb Ekuban will join Trabzonspor in Turkey when the summer window opens for a fee of just under £1m.

AC Milan's young Italian central midfielder Manuel Locatelli is joining Sassuolo in the summer for around £9m.

Southampton have confirmed they will be signing striker Danny Ings from Liverpool on a permanent deal in the summer. The 26 year old forward will cost just under £20m.

Wolverhampton Wanderers will complete the permanent signing of on-loan Belgian Leander Dendoncker in the summer for about £12m from RSC Anderlecht.

Former Watford keeper Orestis Karnezis is swapping Udinese for Napoli, along with fellow goalkeeper Alex Meret, in the summer. They will cost just over £2m and just under £20m respectively.

Genoa are paying just over £7m to sign Luca Mazzitelli from Sassuolo.

Udinese midfielder Jakub Jankto is to join Sampdoria in the summer. Samp will pay around £13.5m for his services.

Young Italian centre back Marco Varnier will join Atalanta from Cittadella in the summer for about £4.5m.

Inter Milan are selling a couple of players in the summer. Albanian striker Rey Manaj will join Spanish side Albacete for just under £2m. Also moving on is Romanian goalie Ionut Radu, who will be joining Genoa for just over £7m.

Real Madrid will be paying over £40m to sign exciting young Brazilian winger Rodrygo from Santos FC in the summer.

Alex Ferrari will make the move to Sampdoriafor around £4m from Bologna.

Lazio are to make a double signing from Portugese side Braga. Pedro Neto will cost over £6m, while Bruno Jordao over £2m.

AC Milan will make Franck Kessie's loan from Atalanta into a permanent move for over £21m.

Bamford Gets 2 Game Ban

Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford has been handed a 2 match ban for "successful deception of a match official" in the draw with Aston Villa. Bamford went down holding his face, pretending to be hit there, but replays shows no contact had been made by Villa's Anwar El Ghazi, who was sent off for the incident. The red card was rescinded.

EFL To Split Transfer Window

The English Football League will have different summer transfer deadline days after clubs voted to introduce changes. Championship clubs will have until the Thursday before the start of the Premier League to complete permanent and loan signings, but League One and League Two sides will be given until the end of August to complete loan signings. Permanent signings will have to be completed at the same time as Championship clubs.

Confusion Over Bolton Takeover

Bolton Wanderers released a statement on Thursday that the proposed takeover by Laurence Bassini was off, but Bassini has now told news outlets that the takeover is done and he is now in full control of the relegated Championship club. The only thing that does seem clear, within the club, is that staff wages are still unpaid for March and April. The EFL have cleared up the confusion over fixtures, with the postponed match against Brentford now cancelled and awarded to the Bees as a 1-0 win. The final day match is set to take place on Sunday against Nottingham Forest.

McInnes Banned

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes has been banned for one game for gesturing to Celtic fans who were singing a sectarian song at him and has been given a further match ban, suspended until the end of next season, for reacting during the game.

Old Firm Brawl Incurs Fine

Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers have been fined £7,500 each for a mass melee at the end of March's derby match. Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has also been given a one match touchline ban and winger Ryan Kent has failed to overturn his 2 game ban for lashing out at Celtic's Scott Brown.

Vertonghen Not Concussed

Tottenham Hotspur have stated that defender Jan Vertonghen "did not suffer a concussion" after the 32 year old Belgian was seen by a neurologist who specialises in sport-related concussion. Spurs say his near collapse was "the result of a presyncopal episode, a near faint". The "near faint" was caused by an injury to the defender's nose which caused "heavy bleeding".

Jones To Take Charge At Hatters

Roberto Martinez's former assistant Graeme Jones is to take charge at Luton Town next season. Jones will replace caretaker boss Mick Harford, who led the club into the Championship after succeeding Nathan Jones, who left for Stoke City in January.

Mbappe Gets 3 Match Ban

Kylian Mbappe has been banned for 3 matches following his sending off in the French Cup final. Mbappe was given his marching orders in extra time as his Paris Saint-Germain team lost on penalties to Rennes. PSG team-mate Neymar, already banned for 3 games by UEFA for a tirade against the officials on social media, is to face disciplinary proceedings after the idiot lashed out at a spectator as he was going up to collect his (very apt) losers' medal.

Xavi To Retire

Legendary former Spain and Barcelona midfielder Xavi is to end his playing career in the summer to head into coaching. The 39 year old has been playing in Qatari football in front of a couple of hundred people every week since 2015.

City More Valuable Than United

According to a new finance study by the University of Liverpool's Centre for Sports Business, Manchester City are now more valuable than Manchester United, due to United's higher wages and lower profit. Burnley are described as the "most sensibly run club in the Premier League financially". The calculations were done based on the 2017-18 season and took into account revenue, profits, non-recurring costs, average profits on player sales over a 3-year period, net assets, wage control and proportion of seats sold.
Value list:
1. Manchester City
2. Manchester United
3. Tottenham Hotspur
4. Liverpool
5. Chelsea
6. Arsenal
7. Burnley
8. Newcastle United
9. Leicester City
10. Southampton
11. Everton
12. West Ham United
13. Stoke City
14. Huddersfield Town
15. Brighton & Hove Albion
16. West Bromwich Albion
17. Watford
18. Crystal Palace
19. Bournemouth
20. Swansea City

Terriers To Be Sold

One lifelong Huddersfield Town fan will hand over ownership of the club to another after the final game of the season. Dean Hoyle is to sell 75% of the club to Phil Hodgkinson after ten years as chairman and owner. Hoyle said: "My heart doesn't want me to sell the club. I believe the Manchester United game will probably be the most emotional day of my life. However, my head is telling me that, after 10 years of total dedication and my recent ill health, I need to do what is right for myself, my family and Huddersfield Town and that is pass the reins to a new chairman who can take our club to a new chapter in its history."

Bielsa Paid Spygate Sanction

When the EFL hit Leeds United with a £200,000 fine because a member of the club staff was seen outside Derby County's training ground, back in February, it was manager Marcelo Bielsa who paid the fine out of his own pocket. Bielsa said: "The sanction (the EFL) gave us of £200,000 - it is a financial sanction against the club, not against me, but I am responsible for it. That is why I paid it from my pocket, the financial sanction."

Keita Out For 2 Months

Liverpool's Guinea international midfielder Naby Keita is set to miss the end of the season and will be a massive doubt for the Africa Cup of Nations in the summer after picking up a thigh injury in the defeat to Barcelona. Manager Jurgen Klopp said: "It is unlucky. A high-grade adductor injury; the tendon is ruptured. Bad news for us and him as the Africa Cup of Nations is coming up." The AFCON starts on 21st June, making it unlikely he will be fit to take part in it.

Arsenal Condemn Racist Abuse

Arsenal have said they "utterly condemn" the group of Valencia fans who were shown in video footage to look to be making Nazi salutes and monkey gestures during Thursday night's Europa League semi-final. Kick It Out said: "These blatant racist gestures are shocking and inexcusable." Though that is not quite true of the Nazi salute, as Wayne Hennessey proved it is possible to make up a ludicrous excuse and get away with doing one. Arsenal added: "We utterly condemn such behaviour. It has no place in society or football. We are working with Valencia on this and continue to encourage fans to report incidents and to provide witness statements so effective action can be taken." Six Valencia fans were arrested during the match for foul and abusive language and alcochol-related issues, but so far there have been no arrests related to the footage, which the Metropolitan Police say they are reviewing. Valencia's president Anil Murthy has said the club will "get rid" of any fans found responsible.

Written by Tris Burke May 04 2019 05:09:57