Football News: Review Of The Day 1st August 2019

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Dutch defender Ki-Jana Hoever has signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool, the 17 year old's first professional one.

Birmingham City have given English defender Harlee Dean a new deal which runs until 2023.

Former Liverpool full-back Brad Smith has signed a deal until the end of the year with Seattle Sounders.

Dan Happe has signed a 1 year contract extension with Leyton Orient, taking him up to 2021.

Ipswich Town striker Freddie Sears has agreed a 2 year contract.

Young winger Harry Anderson has signed a long-term contract with Lincoln City.

Rob Dickie has signed a 2 year deal with Oxford United.

Transfers

Robert Glatzel has signed for Cardiff City from 1.FC Heidenheim for over £5m.

Brentford have signed Joel Valencia from Polish side Piast Gliwice for under £2m.

German midfielder Sebastian Rudy has joined TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on loan from Schalke 04.

Crotone have taken Italian forward Luca Vido on loan from Atalanta.

Former Chelsea midfielder Andre Schurrle has moved to Spartak Moscow on loan from Borussia Dortmund for a loan fee of just under £1m.

Mallorca have spent just over £1m for Serbian forward Igor Zlatanovic from Radnik Surdulica.

After his failed loan to Barcelona, Kevin-Prince Boateng has left Sassuolo to join Fiorentina for under £1m. Sassuolo have also sent Italian forward Marco Pinato out on loan to AC Pisa.

Manchester City defender Tosin Adarabioyo has joined Blackburn Rovers on loan.

Millwall have released James Meredith.

Genoa midfielder Petar Briel has joined Ascoli on loan.

Goalkeeper Jonny Maddison has signed for Port Vale after a trial with the Potteries club. He was released by Yeovil Town in the sumemr.

Newport County have taken Danny McNamara on a season-long loan from Millwall.

Anthony Forde has signed for Oxford United on a free from Rotherham United.

Portsmouth have paid an undisclosed fee for John Marquis from Doncaster Rovers.

Birmingham City have signed goalkeeper Moha Ramos on loan with an option to make it permanent from Real Madrid.

Everton have sold midfielder Joe Williams to Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee.

Injury Round-Up

Bournemouth's star forward David Brooks has joined the ankle injury list. The 22 year old Welsh international is set to spend 3 months on the sidelines with the problem.

And yet another ankle injury has hit, this time it is Tottenham Hotspur's Argentine defender Juan Foyth, who hobbled off the pitch during a friendly against Bayern Munich. The 21 year old went down completely unchallenged and needed to be stretchered down the tunnel with what looks a serious injury.

Elliot Apologises Over Kane Mockery

New Liverpool signing, the 16 year old Harvey Elliott, has apologised for a social media video he posted which appeared to mock Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane. Elliott said, after taking down the video: "I would just like to wholeheartedly apologise for any offence caused on the back of a video of me currently circulating on the internet. The video was taken whilst messing around with friends in a private environment and was not directed at any individual but I realise that my actions were both immature and senseless. I would like to stress that the contents of the video do not represent who I am as a person or how I've been brought up, and I am truly sorry."

Cambridge Appoint Mather

Ian Mather has been appointed chief executive of Cambridge United for the 2019-20 season. Cambridge have not had a CEO since January 2018, when Jez George resigned from the role. COO Henry Comfort will be leaving the club in September.

Clough Wants More From Premier League

Burton Albion manager Nigel Clough has said that there should be more money from the Premier League being filtered down into the lower leagues. Burton's League One rivals Bury and Bolton Wanderers have been deducted 12 points ahead of the new season due to financial problems, but Clough feels there is enough money in the game to support these clubs if split more equitably. Clough said: "I genuinely think there is enough money in football at the moment to support everybody. I know the Premier League have so much control because they control the purse strings, but also there is a responsibility to the rest of football. I know they do a lot anyway, but they've maybe go to do just a little bit more. There is an awful lot of money at the top of the game, but I think a little more could be spread out among the other teams. The wider thing of why clubs are struggling and being in this position is something people might just say is mismanagement, but others will say they could do with more help from the top level. When you look at some of the players at the highest level, so many have come through the Football League. It is not even a fairness thing, it is a reality that if you look after the lower clubs they will produce players that will one day perform at a higher level and maybe on the international stage. Quite a few of the England side that are doing so well came through the Football League, so it is absolutely vital that we look after it."

FA Increase Racism Ban

The Football Association has increased the minimum ban for racist abuse to 6 matches, as it was reported that there was an increase of 43% in reported abuse last season. The ban also covers gender, religious, sexuality and disability abuse and rises from a previous minimum of 5 matches. Another change to the regulations is that people in the technical area can be shown red and/or yellow cards and will receive suspensions if they receive too many. Four yellow cards will mean a 1 match ban, 8 yellows a 2 match ban and 12 will trigger a 3 match ban. 16 cautions will mean a misconduct charge.

Posh To Buy Back Ground

League One side Peterborough United have agreed to sign an agreement prior to their first home game of the season, against Ipswich Town, to buy back their London Road stadium from the local city council. Posh had owned the ground until 2003 when it was sold to a property developer.

EFL Deny Working Against Bury

A winding-up petition against Bury over an unpaid tax bill has been dismissed by the High Court, after previously being adjourned three times. The club's creditors agreed on a CVA, which repaid all football creditors in full and non-football creditors 25% of money owed. Bury owner Steve Dale had claimed that all that was standing in the way of Bury's survival was the EFL, which he said were "working against" the League One side. Interim EFL CEO Debbie Jevans has denied that the EFL are doing so, telling BBC Radio Manchester: "We want to see that players have been paid and we want to see assurance of funding the club can be run for the season. It's simply not true we're standing in their way. We are here 24 hours a day to work with him but it is up to him to provide the information that is required."

Swans Agree Fee For Former Liverpool Youngster

Swansea City have agreed an initial fee of around £500,000 for Swedish international winger Kristoffer Peterson with Dutch club Heracles. New Swans' manager Steve Cooper worked with Peterson when they were both with Liverpool.

Reading Owner To Pay Fans Travel

Reading owner Yongge Dai has offered to pay for away fans' travel to the 15 furthest matches in the season. Any fan with a match ticket who is a member of the supporters' trust is eligible for their coach travel to be paid for by Dai. The 15 destinations are:
Barnsley
Hull City
Sheffield Wednesday
Birmingham City
Leeds United
Stoke City
Blackburn Rovers
Middlesbrough
Swansea City
Derby County
Nottingham Forest
West Bromwich Albion
Huddersfield Town
Preston
Wigan Athletic

Foriesteri Gets 6 match Racist Abuse Ban

The FA's independent regulatory commission have found Sheffield Wednesday forward Fernando Forestieri guilty of using racist language in a pre-season match last year. Forestieri is appealing the decision and said via a club statement: "I am devastated and disappointed with the decision of the regulatory commission. Throughout that period of time, throughout both the criminal proceedings and the FA's disciplinary proceedings, I have consistently and strenuously denied the allegations that have been made against me. Whilst I was shocked and saddened to face criminal charges regarding this matter, I was equally happy to be found not guilty of those charges in March 2019 by the criminal court and considered that to be the end of a very distressing time. As I said at the time, I felt vindicated by the decision of the judge. To discover I would then have to face an FA charge was devastating. But I truly believed that these erroneous allegations would be dismissed and my good name upheld. The decision goes against everything about the person I am and the person I was brought up to be. It is absolutely no comfort to me that, when charging me with misconduct, the FA were very clear that they did not consider me to be racist but instead believed that I had acted in the 'heat of the moment'." Forestieri was accused of using racist language toward Mansfield Town player Krystian Pearce, which sparked a mass brawl. In court the judge had said that Pearce truly believed he had been racially abused but that he had "to accept it is possible, albeit it is in my judgment unlikely, that Mr Pearce was mistaken" and so could not find Forestieri guilty.

Gerrard Denies Morelos Bids

Despite Sly Sports News claims that Rangers' Colombian striker Alfredo Morelos had rejected a deal with Chinese club Hebei Fortune, Steven Gerrard has denied that Rangers have received any bids for him. Gerrard said: "There have been no bids. It is as you were from the last time."

Villa Agree Deal For Heaton

Aston Villa's search for a new goalkeeper looks to be at an end after they agreed an £8m fee for England keeper Tom Heaton with Burnley. The 33 year old has been with Burnley since 2013 following his release from Bristol City.

Blades Agree Club Record Deal

Sheffield United have agreed a club record fee for Swansea City's Scottish striker Oli McBurnie. The 23 year old is expected to cost an initial fee of over £17m, with more possibly to come in add-ons.

African Champions League Descends Further Into Chaos

The disputed result of the African Champions League final from last season has now become more confused after the Court of Arbitration for Sport overruled the decision by CAF to replay the game. CAS decided that CAF's executive committee (you know the committee set up to take decisions) "did not have jurisdiction" to make the decision to order a reply. CAS has ordered "competent Caf authorities to review the incidents" and make a decision on whether or not to replay the game. The word farce comes to mind!

Poch Wants Job Title Change

Mauricio Pochettino has told the media his job title should be changed to coach from manager as he is "not in charge" of transfers at Tottenham Hotspur, in direct contradiction to his words in 2016 when he signed a new contract. Back then he said: "We are agreed that it would be good, for myself, for the club, for all. It's true that 'manager' is a word that means different things than head coach. Maybe I was always manager from the first day I arrived here - and maybe it describes my job better." Now he is saying: "I am only coaching them and trying to get the best from them. Sell, buy players, sign contract, not sign contract - I think it is not in my hands, it's in the club's hands and [chairman] Daniel Levy. The club needs to change my title and description. Of course I am the boss deciding the strategic play, but in another area I don't know. Today, I feel like I am the coach." This seems very similar to the mess that was happening at Liverpool when then-manager Rafael Benitez was at loggerheads with penny-pinching CEO, Prick Parry. It is clear that Pochettino is unhappy with Daniel Levy and is making sure everyone knows who to blame for any transfer failings.

Zidane Sends Out Warning To Bale

Gareth Bale has once more shown the contempt he has for his club Real Madrid by being caught golfing when he should be training, having spent years with injury problems due to his refusal to stop playing golf while rehabilitating. After being told by the media that pictures of Bale playing golf while supposedly too unfit to travel and play for Madrid had emerged, manager Zinedine Zidane has responded: "I hope he trained there. We are here, thinking about the team."

Written by Tris Burke August 01 2019 06:50:21