Football News: Review Of The Day 4th July 2022
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Review of the Day
Contracts
Welsh international forward Brennan Johnson has signed a 4-year deal with Nottingham Forest.
Millwall have given their head coach Gary Rowett a new contract.
Eiran Cashin and Liam Thompson have signed 2-year deals with Derby County, subject to EFL approval.
Bristol Rovers have given their scumbag head coach Joey Bellend Barton a 3-year contract extension.
Former Manchester United youngster Ritchie De Laet has signed a 2-year deal with Royal Antwerp.
Elche winger Pere Milla has agreed to stay at the club until 2025.
Arsenal icon Santi Cazorla has signed a contract extension with Al-Sadd.
Bayern Munich have extended Jahn Herrmann's deal by a year to take him through the coming season as they look to see how well the youngster has recovered from a serious of injuries.
Transfers
French defender Giulian Biancone has signed for Nottingham Forest from Troyes for a club record fee of £9m for the Ligue 1 side.
Everton have shown they learnt nothing from signing Michael Keane and picked the wrong defender to sign from Burnley. Last time it was Keane rather than the far superior Mee, this time a rather more practical decision, as James Tarkowski is a free signing, but it does leave the far better defender, in the shape of Nathan Collins, in the Championship team. The Toffees have finally offloaded Cenk Tosun, who has joined Besiktas on a free transfer.
Also moving on a free transfer is former Arsenal and Manchester United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has moved to Inter Milan from AS Roma. It is no wonder they failed to win Serie A last season if this is the level of their signings!
Nottingham Forest have signed Dean Henderson on a season-long loan deal from Manchester United. Leaving Forest to make room for Henderson is their US international goalkeeper Ethan Horvath who is going to be playing for Luton Town on loan next season.
Brentford have agreed a transfer fee with Bologna for Scottish full-back Aaron Hickey.
Bournemouth midfielder Gavin Kilkenny has joined Stoke City on loan for the season.
RSC Charleroi's Ivory Coast striker Vakoun Bayo has signed for Watford for a fee of £5.22m.
Werder Bremen have announced an agreement in principle has been made to sign Lee Buchanan from Derby County. Buchanan has spent the weekend at Bremen's training camp in Zillertal and the deal is pending a medical. There are issues regarding the compensation payment due, which Derby are attempting to take to arbitration rather than accept the standard cross-border fee of £400,000.
Going in to Derby County on free transfers are Tom Barkhuizen, from Preston North End, Joe Wildsmith, from Sheffield Wednesday, and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing also from Wednesday. The deals are awaiting English Football League approval.
Lincoln City have paid an undisclosed fee for Jay Benn from Halifax Town.
Akin Odimayo has signed for Northampton Town for a compensation fee from Swindon Town.
Grimsby Town have signed Otis Khan from Leyton Orient.
Stoke City forward Douglas James-Taylor has signed on loan for Walsall for the season.
Swindon Town have taken Ciaran Brennan on a season-long loan from Sheffield Wednesday.
RCD Mallorca have released Aleksandar Sedlar.
Santa Clara have signed Xavi Quintilla from Villareal.
Athletic Bilbao have signed Gorka Guruzeta on a free transfer from Amorebieta.
Los Angeles FC have released Doneil Henry.
Andre Gray has joined Aris Salonika from Watford on a free transfer.
Borussia Moenchengladbach have signed Japanese centre-back Ko Itakura from Manchester City.
Racing Santander have signed Juergen Elitim from Watford on loan.
Lommel SK have signed Troyes midfielder Metinho on loan.
Bologna midfielder Nicolas Viola has joined Cagliari on loan.
PSV Eindhoven have paid £2.7m for former Newcastle United forward Luuk De Jong from Sevilla.
Monza have taken Stefano Sensi on loan from Inter Milan.
Teenage midfielder Tommaso Milanese has moved to Cremonese for a £675,000 fee from AS Roma.
Aitor Fernandez has joined Osasuna on a free transfer from Levante.
Olympiakos have signed Sime Vrsaljko on a free transfer from Atletico Madrid.
Real Sociedad have loaned Roberto Lopez to Mirandes. Also joining Mirandes on loan is Real Betis forward Raul Garcia.
Espanyol's 40-year-old goalkeeper Diego Lopez has joined Rayo Vallecano on a free transfer.
A £1.8m fee has been paid by Hertha Berlin for young forward Jessic Ngankam from Greuther Furth.
Cadiz have released Jens Jonsson.
Ryan Nyambe has been released by Blackburn Rovers.
Girona have released Jairo Izquierdo and David Junca.
Reading have released Junior Hoilett.
Nathan Byrne is now a free agent after his Derby County contract expired, as is Tom Lawrence.
Stoke City have signed Liam McCarron on loan from Leeds United.
Burnley have signed Taylor Harwood-Bellis on loan from Manchester City.
Montpellier HSC have signed Falaye Sacko on loan from Vitoria Guimaraes.
AC Milan have paid £2.43m for Alessandro Florenzi from AS Roma.
Former Arsenal youngster Fran Merida has been released by Espanyol.
Goztepe have signed Romal Palmer on a free transfer from Barnsley.
Sochaux have signed Saad Agouzoul from LOSC Lille on a free transfer.
Le Havre have signed Arthur Desmas from Clermont Foot.
LOSC Lille have paid £1.8m for Chaves defender Alexsandro.
Sonny Perkins has been released by West Ham United.
Union Saint-Gilloise have signed Simon Adingra on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Arsenal have completed the signing of Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City for £47.03m and then does a Robbie Keane and claims to have been an Arsenal fan all his life.
Former Liverpool defender Andre Wisdom is on trial at Portsmouth after a year out of football following his release from Derby County.
Rennes head coach Bruno Genesio has suggested his side might be interested in signing Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti: "I don't want to talk about names, neither in this position nor in others. It's not my domain, it's Flo's. There are several player profiles that interest us in this position. Sam is a player I know perfectly. I first had him in training in Lyon, then in the professional team. It definitely creates a bond. You all know his story, his qualities and the setbacks he had last year. He remains a very, very high level player, and very high level players may interest us."
Joan Laporta has confirmed Barcelona have had talks with Leeds United about signing Raphinha. He also confirmed that free transfers Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen, from AC Milan and Chelsea respectively, will be presented this week: "We will present Kessié on Wednesday and Christensen on Thursday."
Udinese have completed the signing of Festy Ebosele from Derby County. Also leaving the Rams are Tyree Wilson, Kornell McDonald, Alex Matthews, Marko Borkovic, Eli Christie and Charlie Rutt.
Nigerian international forward Chidera Ejuke has suspended his contract with CSKA Moscow as he seeks to make a move to Hertha Berlin. CSKA stated: "Striker Chidera Ejuke and midfielder Arnor Sigurdsson have used the temporary employment rules, which were approved by The Bureau of the FIFA Council, and suspended their respective deals with PFC CSKA until 30 June 2023. PFC CSKA regrets the players' decision, which was taken despite club's effort and their contract duties. As was announced earlier, PFC CSKA plans to fill in lawsuits to defend its interests against FIFA's decision, which we consider discriminatory and contrary to the statutes of that organisation."
Schalke's sporting director Rouven Schroder has confirmed that they are open to selling Malick Thiaw, who is being linked to Celtic.
RSC Anderlecht have taken Sebastiano Esposito on loan from Inter Milan.
Trabzonspor have completed the £3.6m signing of Egyptian winger Trezeguet from Aston Villa.
Fulham have spent £18m on Portugese midfielder Joao Palhinha from Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Manchester City's £43.87m move for Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United is now complete.
Injury Round Up
Heart of Midlothian's former Everton youngster Beni Baningime is aiming to return ahead of schedule. The 23-year-old suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in March and is looking to Liam Boyce's example, who returned from a similar issue in 6 months. The club are still planning on his return after the break for the World Cup in December.
Job Changes
Birmingham City have appointed Jon Eustace as their new head. Eustace has been working as Queen Park Rangers' assistant manager for the last 3 years, but left this summer following the appointment of Michael Beale as their new head coach. He is the ninth manager of the club since Trillion Trophy Asia took charge in 2016. TTA have since renamed themselves as Birmingham Sports Holdings Ltd, possibly in recognition of the fact that one trophy would be a miracle with the blue half of Birmingham, let alone a trillion of them. Eustace will have his work cut out to build a squad to play in a stadium that is partially closed and awaiting the go-ahead to even start the necessary repairs. Then there is the ongoing takeover, which could well mean his time in charge is short if the new owners want their own man. That is if they can even complete the deal! Otherwise Eustace is stuck with a club in turmoil and financially hamstrung.
Monaco's recruitment chief, former Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur man Paul Mitchell, has admitted he would be interested in returning to the Premier League. Media speculation has linked him with both Chelsea and Manchester United.
Joan Laporta has confirmed Rafael Marquez will return to Barcelona as the manager of Barca Athletic saying: "Rafa in principle had to be the coach of Barça Atlètic last year, he had a situation that prevented him from doing so last year, and now this has already been resolved and Rafa will be the coach of Barça Atlètic next season. I am especially happy because I have had Rafa as a player, he is a person with a great personality, captain of the Mexican team, and who was part of one of the best Barça teams in history."
Disciplinary Charges
UEFA has claimed it is going to fix social media with its plan which they ridiculously claim will "actively monitor, report and remedy cases of online abuse". Remedy? What they mean is the posts they spot will be taken down, which is not a remedy, it is closing the stable door after the horse is bolted. It is a start, but until they are honest about what they are doing and refer to it as a small step rather than a remedy, things will not change at all.
The manager of Argentinos Juniors, former Barcelona defender Gabriel Milito, had to be "escorted to a police station" after their win over Cordoba Central. Milito was involved in a brawl in the tunnel and tried to punch an opposition coach. Milito was sent off along with Facundo Gareca of Cordoba and he waited for Gareca in the tunnel before squaring up to him and throwing a number of punches as secutiry and other people tried to break it up. He was involved in a similar incident in November last year, but his assistant escorted him into the changing room to protest him then.
AFCON Date Changed
The next Africa Cup of Nations has been postponed until January 2024, from its originally planned date of June 2023. The competition had been planned to play in the European summer time to avoid conflicts with European clubs, who have the best African players on their books. However the threat of the rainy season in Ivory Coast during the June-July dates the games were set to take place in has seen the Confederation of African Football (CAF) move the competition back to its more normal January and February time period. The big question is why has it taken so long to realise that it is the rainy season in Cote d'Ivoire at that time, considering it has been that way for a lot longer than CAF has been around. It is strange that the dates were not moved the moment the destination was known!
Rams Saved
Derby County have finally been freed of the administrators Quantuma by local property developer David Clowes. Clowes stepped in to save the team he supported, initially by buying the club's stadium, Pride Park, from former owner Mel Morris. He then jumped in to buy the club itself after a move by Chris Kirchner collapsed. An EFL statement read: "The EFL welcomes confirmation from the joint administrators of Derby County FC, Quantuma, that they have today formally concluded the transfer of assets with Clowes Developments (UK) Limited to place Derby County under new ownership. Consequently, the EFL can now confirm that the club has met the requirements of the League's Regulations and Insolvency Policy and is therefore no longer in administration. As part of the conditions of continuing membership in the EFL, the club, whilst remaining under a registration embargo, will be permitted to sign new players in accordance with the terms of a business plan. The plan, which has been jointly agreed by the new ownership and the EFL, includes restrictions in respect of transfers fees, player wages and agents' fees. Any application to register players must comply with the terms of those agreed plans."
Vlahovic More Complete
The Serbian FA president Nenad Bjekovic has claimed that Juventus's January signing Dusan Vlahovic is a better player than Manchester City's new signing Erling Haaland. Bjekovic told Tuttosport: "Vlahovic is better and more complete than Haaland. The Norwegian has devastating power, but Dusan is not inferior: there is also very little difference in their height. But the Juventus forward's variety and styles of player is better. Manchester City and Juventus paid more or less the same fee, including commissions, to sign the two this year from Borussia Dortmund and Fiorentina."
Pointless List Of The Day
Today's pointless list is that of the most popular foreign football teams around the world. Uswitch analysed Google data on searches to find the most searched for team outside of the country. So English clubs were removed from English search data, Spanish from Spanish search data and so on.
Team - Countries They Top The Searches In
Real Madrid - 75
Liverpool - 34
Manchester United - 27
Manchester City - 20
Arsenal - 13
Barcelona - 8
Juventus - 3
Chelsea - 2
Porto - 2
Bayern Munich - 1
Rangers - 1
AC Milan - 1
SL Benfica - 1
Continental results are a little different. Oceania has Liverpool on the top spot, beating Real Madrid by coming out as favourite in Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Tonga, Kiribati, and New Zealand. Only Manchester United also featured in the continent.
North and Central America was topped by Real Madrid with 9 countries, Manchester United and Liverpool equal second. Barca and Man City were joint third in the region.
Asia belongs to Madrid with 19 countries favouring them. Liverpool were second and Man Utd third.
Europe was also Madrid's with Man City closely behind and their Manchester neighbours 3rd.
Africa was also Madrid's, with 23 countries favouring them. Liverpool came second, Arsenal third.
South America also chose Madrid ahead of Man City and Liverpool in 3rd.
Pointless List Number 2
The win rates of coaches are often used as an indication of just how good they are, which is why someone has created this list of the win rates of coaches in the top 5 leagues (England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) plus, for some unknown reason (though probably because he is a Sporting fan I would think) Portugal, Netherlands, Austria and Scotland.
Coach - Club - Club Win Rate % - Career Win Rate %
Ruben Amorim - Sporting CP - 73.15 - 73.48
Matthias Jaissle - Red Bull Salzburg - 72.92 - 70.77
Pep Guardiola - Manchester City - 72.73 - 72.52
Sergio Conceicao - Porto - 71.96 - 58.48
Julian Nagelsmann - Bayern Munich - 70.2 - 51.1
Ange Postecoglou - Celtic - 70 - 52.09
Carlo Ancelotti - Real Madrid - 69.6 - 58.3
Ole Werner - Werder Bremen - 68.42 - 53.13
Giovanni van Bronckhorst - Rangers - 68.29 - 59.17
Mauricio Pochettino - Paris Saint-Germain - 65.48 - 48.49
None can compare with Sam Allardyce's England record of a 100% win ratio though.
Written by Tris Burke July 04 2022 12:17:03
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