Football News: Review Of The Day 23rd January 2020

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Fiorentina winger Riccardo Sottil has signed a deal which runs until 2024.

Falkirk forward Louis Longridge has signed a deal until the end of the season.

Hibernian defender Ryan Porteous has signed an improved contract.

Derby County teenagers Jason Knight and Morgan Whittaker have been rewarded with long-term contracts.

Charlton Athletic manager Lee Bowyer has signed a new 3 and a half year deal.

Transfers

FC Dallas have signed Franco Jara from Mexican Liga MX side Pachuca. Moving within Major League Soccer is Jacori Hayes, who Dallas have traded to Minnesota United in return for a 3rd round pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft.

Southampton have loaned winger Josh Sims to New York Red Bulls until 30th June.

DC United have signed Julian Gressel from Atlanta United for a fee which could rise up to $1.1m.

Vancouver Whitecaps have signed Leonard Owusu from Israeli side FC Ashdod.

Real Salt Lake have signed free agent defender Ashtone Morgan.

Celtic have completed the signing of Ivory Coast midfielder Ismaila Soro from Bnei Yehuda.

Western United have released Ersan Gulum.

Atalanta have paid just over £4m to sign Lennart Czyborra from Heracles Almelo.

LOSC Lille have loaned Brazilian midfielder Thiago Maia to Flamengo.

Celtic defender Jack Hendry has joined Melbourne City on loan. Melbourne have released midfielder Kristijan Dobras. Melbourne have signed Marco Rojas on a free transfer from Danish side Sonderjyske.

Numancia have taken Alvaro Aguado on loan from Real Valladolid.

Genoa have loaned Riccardo Saponara to Lecce.

Nicolas Kuhn has joined Bayern Munich on loan from Ajax. Bayern have also taken Alvaro Odriozola on loan from Real Madrid.

OGC Nice's French midfielder Remi Walter has signed for Yeni Malatyaspor.

Nimes Olympique have splashed just over £2.5m on Moussa Kone from Dynamo Dresden.

Emil Hansson has joined RKC Waalwijk on loan from Hannover 96.

Lewis Baker's loan spell with Fortuna Dusseldorf has ended and he has returned to parent club Chelsea.

Vincent Bezecourt has joined Miami FC on a free transfer from New York Red Bulls.

Former West Ham United youngster Jordan Spence has signed for ADO Den Haag, ending his time as a free agent.

Macclesfield Town have signed goalkeeper Jonathan Mitchell on loan from Derby County and midfielder Danny Whitehead on loan from Salford City also on loan.

George Thorne has made his loan move from Derby County to Oxford United into a permanent deal.

Chelsea goalkeeper Jamal Blackman has joined Bristol Rovers on loan.

Coventry City forward Jordan Ponticelli has joined Wrexham on loan.

Luton Town have paid an undisclosed fee for Hartlepool United defender Peter Kioso.

Crystal Palace defender Sam Woods has signed for Hamilton Academical on loan. Joining Palace from Scotland is teenage midfielder Scott Banks from Dundee united.

Heart of Midlothian forward Craig Wighton has signed for Abroath on loan.

Ross County have paid an undisclosed fee for Oli Shaw from Hibernian.

Former Everton youngster Hallam Hope has signed for Swindon Town for an undisclosed fee from League Two rivals Carlisle United.

Injury Round-Up

Hibernian have been hit with a double defensive injury blow. Jason Naismith has been ruled out for 6 months with a serious knee injury, Ryan Porteous has also suffered a serious knee injury requiring surgery but expects to be back before the end of the season.

Hull City's Angus MacDonald has returned to training after being given the all-clear from bowel cancer. The 27 year old has undergone months of treatment, including two operations, following being diagnosed with the disease in August.

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has given the club a boost by dismissing reports he would be out for the season writing on social media: Blink and I'll be back, fitter than ever. I'll be back before the season ends to hopefully help my team claim top four."

Shrimpers Winding-Up Order Dismissed

Southend United's latest court battle has ended after a winding-up order filed by HM Revenue & Customs was dismissed by Judge Sebastian Prentis. The ruling was issued after HMRC lawyers revealed that the unpaid tax has now been paid by the club.

Baggies Winger Given 3 Game Ban

West Bromwich Albion winger Matheus Pereira has been suspended for 3 matches after accepting a charge of violent conduct. The Brazilian, on loan from Sporting Clube de Portugal, clashed with Stoke City midfielder Joe Allen but the elbow was missed by the referee, Tim Robinson, at the time. Video evidence caught the incident and West Brom decided not to contest the charge.

Clarets Reject Offers

Burnley have rejected a number of offers from Championship clubs for the services of defender Ben Gibson. Teams including former club Middlesbrough made loan offers for him, as the centre-back has yet to feature in the Premier League for Burnley this season.

Barnsley Confirm Doping Investigation

Barnsley have confirmed that their defender Bambo Diaby has missed the last two matches due to being suspended while a potential doping violation is investigated. Barnsley head coach Gerhard Struber had claimed the 22 year old centre-back was missing with a knee injury until media outlets revealed that he had failed a drugs test in November.

African Qualifying Groups Drawn

The qualifying groups for the African nations hoping to reach the 2022 World Cup in Qatar have been drawn:
Group A: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Djibouti
Group B: Tunisia, Zambia, Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea
Group C: Nigeria, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Liberia
Group D: Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Malawi
Group E: Mali, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda
Group F: Egypt, Gabon, Libya, Angola
Group G: Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia
Group H: Senegal, Congo, Namibia, Togo
Group I: Morocco, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan
Group J: DR Congo, Benin, Madagascar, Tanzania

Bale's Agent Dismisses Loan Talk

Gareth Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett has dismissed suggestions that his constantly injured client may go out on loan from Real Madrid. Barnett said: "Why would one of the best players on Earth go on loan? That's ridiculous. At the moment, he is going to be playing football for Real Madrid and he has got two-and-a-half years left on his contract. He is happy and hopefully he will win a couple of more things with Real Madrid. Things can change but loans are ridiculous and there are not many clubs that can afford him anyway."

Agents Plan To Challenge Limits

FIFA's plans to limit the fees agents can claim during transfers have shocked the greedy grasping bunch into action. In September, FIFA announced a plan to limit agents of the selling club to a maximum of 10% of the transfer fee and a 3% cap on the cut from the player's fee for agents of the buying club. Gareth Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett said: "We want fairness. Fifa should recognise us and treat us in a proper manner. The truth is Fifa doesn't know exactly what an agent does. No-one from Fifa has ever been to my office or had a conversation with me. If you ask players what they want, they are in favour of agents. There are never complaints about agents' fees from players. We will try until the last minute to resolve the problem but rest assured, if necessary we will go to every court in the world." 10% of a multi-million pound fee is not enough? Sometimes their greed astonishes me.

Record Transfer Spending In 2019

FIFA have revealed that a record high of £5.6bn was spent on transfer in 2019, an increase of 5.8% on 2018. English clubs alone spent £1.5bn, which was a big decrease of over 20% from the previous year, but still the most overall. The number of moves also hit a record high, with 18,042 transfers made in total. Surprisingly permanent club-to-club transfers made up just 11.6% of all transfers in 2019, as free agent signings were the most common, making up 64.3% of the moves.

Written by Tris Burke January 22 2020 22:00:26