Football News: Review Of The Day 15th December 2021

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Review of the Day

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Contracts

Real Sociedad have given left-back Aihen Munoz a new contract which expires in 2024.

Florian Sotoca has extended his Racing Lens deal until 2024 also.

Victor Ulloa has signed a new contract with Inter Miami which runs until 2023.

Everton have given teenage defender Jarrad Branthwaite a deal which runs until 2025 with a club option for another year on top of that.

Olympique Marseille forward Bamba Dieng has extended until 2024.

Nashville right-back Alistair Johnston has a new 1-year contract.

Rayo Vallecano have signed Isi Palazon to a deal which will run until 2025.

Nashville have given 1-year contracts to Alex Muyl, Luke Haakenson, Taylor Washington, Robert Castellanos, Dylan Nealis and Eric Miller. Nealis' deal also includes a 1-year club option.

Fleetwood Town's young forward Paddy Lane has agreed a deal running until 2024 with a 1-year option.

Real Betis midfielder Sergio Canales has extended his contract until 2026.

Raith Rovers defender Frankie Musonda has signed an extension to take him up until the end of the season.

Aberdeen's young full-back Jack MacKenzie has inked a new deal which will end in 2025.

Transfers

In Major League Soccer Charlotte FC have made a double signing. Right-back Jaylin Lindsey has signed from Sporting Kansas City for £266,000 and Los Angeles FC goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega has joined for a fee of £41,000.

Staying in the MLS, Los Angeles have brought in Atlanta United right-back Franco Escobar for a fee of £491,000 following his return from a loan spell with Newell's Old Boys in his native Argentina.

The other Los Angeles side, LA Galaxy, have lost centre-back Daniel Steres to Houston Dynamo.

Nashville SC have signed Teal Bunbury from New England Revolution for £123,000.

Scottish winger Lewis Morgan has joined New York Red Bulls from David Beckham's Inter Miami for £982,000.

To replace Morgan, Inter Miami have signed Jean Mota from Santos FC for a fee of around $500,000.

Newport County midfielder Christopher Missilou's contract has been cancelled by mutual consent.

MLS expansion club Charlotte FC have drafted Ismael Tajouri-Shradi from New York City, Tristan Blackmon from Los Angeles FC, Anton Walkes from Atlanta United and Joseph Mora from DC United. Charlotte immediately dealt Tajouri-Shradi to Los Angeles FC for a fee of £327,000 and Blackmon to Vancouver Whitecaps for £389,000. Charlotte have also agreed a deal to sign Brazilian teenager Vinicius Mello on 1 January 2022 for a fee of around $1.8m for 60% of the player's right.

Los Angeles FC have received a record transfer fee for the club after agreeing to sell Eduard Atuesta to Palmeiras for a fee of $4m + $3m in performance related bonuses.

Injury Round-Up

QPR have been forced to call off a second game in a week due to a CV outbreak at the club. Their Championship game on Monday night, at Sheffield United, has already had to be postponed and Saturday's match with Swansea City is also called off.

Reigning Scottish champions Rangers have been hit by a double blow as midfielder Ryan Jack and forward Kemar Roofe are unlikely to return to action until after the winter break.

A calf injury will keep Everton forward Richarlison out of action for a "number of weeks".

Managerial Changes

With Afcon looming large on the horizon, Nigeria have sacked their national team's head coach Gernot Rohr and replaced him with Augustine Eguavoen as interim coach. Eguavoen will return to the technical director role once a permanent head coach is found. Rohr was sacked for creating "a toxic environment".

Former Arsenal player Kaba Diawara is to continue as caretaker head coach of Guinea for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Sudan have sacked Hubert Velud as their head coach and replaced him with Burhan Tia on an interim basis.

Samuel Eto'o has been elected as the new president of the Cameroon FA.

FC Cincinnati have finally appointed a replacement for the sacked Jaap Stam, who left in September, in the shape of Pat Noonan. Noonan, who was previously working as the assistant coach at Philadelphia Union, is the 5th head coach since the franchise joined Major League Soccer.

Disciplinary Charges

Legia Warsaw have been ordered to partially close their stadium for their next home match in UEFA competition. They have also been fined 40,000euro for lighting of fireworks and blocking of public passageways as result of their game at home to Serie A's Napoli.

The Eintracht Frankfurt against Royal Antwerp match has also resulted in disciplinary proceedings with Frankfurt ordered to partially close their stadium as a result for their next UEFA competition game. Also a fine has been levied of 30,000euro for the throwing of fireworks. Antwerp will be unable to sell tickets to its away support for their next away game in European competition as well as being fined 30,000euro. They were found guilty of lighting fireworks, throwing objects, crowd disturbances and acts of damage. The damages must be settled within 30 days.

Brondby's tie with Olympique Lyonnais has led to Brondby being fined 30,000euro and another partial stadium closure for a home game in Europe for throwing objects, lighting of fireworks and the lack of discipline by their supporters (abusing and spitting on the opponents).

Vitesse's away game at Stade Rennais has led to a 30,000euro fine and a ban on selling tickets to away fans for their next away European competition match for throwing objects and crowd disturbances. Acts of damage by their fans have resulted in a further 5,000euro fine plus Vitesse have been given 30 days to pay for the damages caused.

Feyenoord's trip to Prague to face Slavia Prague has led to the Dutch side being banned from selling tickets to away fans for their next UEFA competition away game and a fine of 40,000euro for licking of fireworks and throwing objects. There has also been a second fine of 8,000euro for acts of damage and they are also ordered to settle within 30 days.

The result of the postponed Europa Conference League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Rennes will be decided by UEFA. Spurs pulled out of the game after a CV outbreak hit the club with 13 confirmed cases to players and staff members. A UEFA statement read: "Uefa in cooperation with the two clubs tried to find a viable solution in order to reschedule the match. Unfortunately, despite all efforts, a solution that could work for both clubs could not be found. As a consequence, the match can no longer be played." Rennes have already won the group with Spurs sat in 3rd currently with just the top 2 having the possibility of progression in the competition.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been stripped of the Arsenal captaincy after breaching the club's rules.

The Football Association have charged Leeds United with failing to control their players because they players surrounded the referee after he awarded a penalty to Chelsea on Saturday.

European Draws

Chaos ensued as UEFA made a mess of the draw for the Champions League, but a redraw was made to decide the actual teams that would face each other:

Champions League last-16 draw:
Red Bull Salzburg v Bayern Munich
Sporting Lisbon v Manchester City
Benfica v Ajax
Chelsea v Lille
Atletico Madrid v Manchester United
Villarreal v Juventus
Inter Milan v Liverpool
PSG v Real Madrid

Europa League knockout round play-off draw
Sevilla v Dinamo Zagreb
Atalanta v Olympiakos
RB Leipzig v Real Sociedad
Barcelona v Napoli
Zenit St Petersburg v Real Betis
Borussia Dortmund v Rangers
Sheriff Tiraspol v Braga
Porto v Lazio

Europa Conference League knockout round play-off draw
Marseille v Qarabag
PSV Eindhoven v Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Fenerbahce v Slavia Prague
Midtjylland v POAK
Leicester City v Randers
Celtic v Bodo/Glimt
Sparta Prague v Partizan Belgrade
Rapid Vienna v Tottenham Hotspur or Vitesse Arnhem

Newcastle Give Saudi Sponsorship Go-Ahead

The Premier League have given the green light to Newcastle United to accept sponsorship deals with Saudi Arabian companies. The deals will have to be considered "fair market value" by the Premier League board to ensure that it will not be used to falsely inflate their spending power by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund which recently acquired the club.

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Written by Tris Burke December 15 2021 02:28:03