Football News: Review Of The Day 18th September 2022

Review of the Day

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Contracts

Mansfield Town have given captain Ollie Clarke a new 2-year deal.

Fomer Middlesbrough winger Carlos de Pena has signed a 2-year contract with Internacional.

Transfers

Reading have re-signed Andy Carroll on a short-term contract which expires in January.

Ibrahima Mbaye has joined CFR Cluj on a free transfer from Bologna.

Olympiakos have signed experienced striker Cedric Bakambu on a free transfer from Olympique Marseille and taken TSG 1899 Hoffenheim midfielder Diadie Samassekou on loan.

Stoke City midfielder Peter Etebo has joined Aris Salonika on loan.

Panathinaikos have signed Alexis Touillet from OGC Nice.

Former Everton and Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez has joined Olympiacos on a free from Al-Rayyan SC of the Qatari Stars League.

Injury Round Up

Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips has dropped out of the England squad due to a shoulder injury. The 26-year-old could require shoulder surgery which would make him unlikely to make the World Cup later this year.

Exeter City have been hit by injury problems after centre-back duo Cheick Diabate and Sam Stubbs were ruled out with injury. Diabate has a stress fracture in his foot which is expected to keep him out until November. Stubbs has suffered a recurrence of the knee problem he has been managing since joining the club. He is expected to need fluid drained after it reacted to playing 3 games in quick succession. They are also set to be without midfielder Tim Dieng, who has a significant hamstring tear, which will probably also keep him out until November.

Fiorentina have revealed that their goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini suffered a knee injury in the shock defeat to Baseksehir in the Europa League. It is likely he would have been dropped anyway after his poor showing, where he was partly at fault on all three goals conceded.

AS Roma wing-back Rick Karsdorp has torn the meniscus in his left knee and will require surgery. The 27-year-old is expected to be out for around 6 weeks.

Job Changes

Rangers have given coach Roy Makaay compassionate leave due to a family health issue.

Leicester City's Head of Player Development Paul McGuinness has left the club in order to care for his father Wilf, who is suffering with dementia. Wilf is a former Manchester United player and manager, with Paul originally starting out as a player at the Red Devils before going into coaching at their academy. Paul is now looking for a job closer to his home in Manchester, to allow him more time at home with Wilf.

Nottingham Forest have turned to Dan Morris in the newly created role of Head of Data Insights. Morris had been working as a data scientist at Swansea City since 2017 before taking up the job at Forest.

Watford will once again be looking for a new Sporting Director after Cristiano Giaretta left the club. It is a role that changes hands nearly as often as head coach at the Hornets with Giaretta joining in August 2020 replacing the previous incumbent Eric Roy, who had been there just 8 months. Giaretta had worked with Watford owers the Pozzos before when he was Sporting Director of their other club Udinese.

Southampton have taken Cheltenham Town's Senior Professional Development Phase Coach Pete Haynes. Haynes will work as U18s Individual Coach at the Saints replacing Mikey Harris. Harris has been moved to the role of U18s Game Coach. The spot as Game Coach was opened up after the previous coach Carl Martin was promoted to the first-team set-up in the summer to be an in-possession specialist. Haynes, who is now 28, had been coaching at Cheltenham since he was 16 and holds a UEFA A license. Also working with the youth teams at Southampton is former first-teamer Sam McQueen, who had to retire in January due to a knee injury despite being just 27.

Disciplinary Charges

FIFA's appeals committee have dismissed Peru and Chile's claims that Ecuador fielder an ineligible player, in the shape of Byron Castillo, in World Cup qualifying and deemed the right-back eligible to play for the South American nation. There have been claims that Castillo used a false birth certificate and an interview has been published where he appears to admit to using fake documents and admitting to being born in Colombia in 1995 and not Ecuador in 1998 as his birth certificate claims. Chile and Peru are set to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport with Chile's general secretary Jorge Yunge saying: "This is a dark day for football and for the credibility of the system. The footballing world heard a player who helped Ecuador qualify for the Fifa World Cup admit he was born in Colombia and that he gained an Ecuadorian passport using false information. No wonder he refused to participate in the Fifa hearing. What does it say about the appeals committee that confronted with all this still they fail to act? The weight of evidence is clear and we urge the appeals committee to deliver the grounds of the decision very quickly." Chile's lawyer said: "I have never seen in my entire life as a lawyer an injustice like this one. There are a huge number of documents that, alone, prove without any reasonable doubt that the player was born in Colombia. In addition to that, everyone heard his confession, given during an official investigation carried by the Ecuadorian Federation. It's a sad day for football and for fair play. The message is clear: cheating is allowed."

Bologna's Nigerian forward Orji Okonkwo has been handed a 4-year suspension from football for doping. The 24-year-old tested positive for the steroid clostebol while on loan at Cittadella last season. The ban was initially handed out by Italy's anti-doping agency Nado Italia in June but has now been extended worldwide by FIFA. The ban is backdated to 25th February, enabling him to return to the game on 24th February 2026. He has confirmed an intention to appeal against the ban to FIFA.

Nigeria's High Court has indefinitely postponed elections for the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) because of an ongoing court case. The polls were recently subjected to a bomb threat from a group calling itself 'Nigeria Football Stakeholders', who threatened to bomb the election venue if the election went ahead. The court case is unrelated to the bomb threat, instead being the result of legal action by players' union factions. The election has been controversial, with arguments over how many members should be in the elective congress. It remains to be seen how FIFA will feel about this, having already banned a number of countries for outside interference in the running of their football associations, including Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Mathias Pogba has been charged along with 4 other men with extortion of his brother Paul Pogba. Mathias, who is also a professional footballer though he has never reached the level of his French international younger brother, he admitted posting a video on social media promising to make revelations about Paul. Paul, now at Juventus after a failed spell back at Manchester United, has claimed he was the target of extortion and threats from an organised gang.

Pointless List Of The Day

Today's list is the most valuable players in Major League Soccer according to Transfermarkt.
1. Lorenzo Insigne - Toronto FC - $22m
2. Thiago Almada - Atlanta United - $16.5m
3. Talles Magno - New York City FC - $11m
4. Jose Cifuentes - Los Angeles FC - $11m
5. Emanuel Reynoso - Minnesota United - $11m
6. Sebastian Driussi - Austin FC - $11m
7. Cucho Hernandez - Columbus Crew - $9.9m
8. Alan Velasco - FC Dallas - $8.8m
9. Jesus Ferreira - FC Dallas - $8.8m
10. Luiz Araujo - Atlanta United - $8.8m
11. Dennis Bouanga - Los Angeles FC - $8.8m
12. Hany Mukhtar - Nashville SC - $8.8m
13. Federico Bernadeschi - Toronto FC - $8.8m
14. Josef Martinez - Atlanta United - $8.8m
15. Lucas Zelaryan - Columbus Crew - $8.8m
16. Gabriel Slonina - Chicago Fire - $8.25m
17. Daniel Salloi - Sporting Kansas City - $8.25m
18. Facundo Torres - Orlando City - $7.7m
19. Brenner - FC Cincinnati - $7.7m
20. Riqui Puig - LA Galaxy - $7.7m
21. Carles Gil - New England Revolution - $7.7m
22. Ryan Gauld - Vancouver Whitecaps - $7.15m
23. Efrain Alvarez - LA Galaxy - $6.6m
24. Djordje Mihailovic - CF Montreal - $6.6m
25. Jefferson Savarino - Real Salt Lake City - $6.6m

Las Vegas Of The South?

A Las Vegas cosortium has entered a period of exclusivity after making a bid to buy AFC Bournemouth from its Russian owner Maxim Denim. At the moment there are 7 teams in the English Premier League owned by American consortiums, with Leeds United and Manchester City having large portions of their clubs also owned by Americans. The new group is believed to be led by Bill Foley, the majority owner of NHL (ice hockey) team Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Senegal Squad

New Nottingham Forest defender Moussa Niakhate has received his first call-up for the Senegalese national team. Also getting his first call up is Khalilou Fadiga's son, Noah Fadiga. Khalilou played for Senegal in the 2002 World Cup alongside the nation's current head coach Aliou Cisse.
Senegal squad in full
Goalkeepers: Edouard Mendy (Chelsea, England), Alfred Gomis (Rennes, France), Seny Dieng (Queens Park Rangers, England), Mory Diaw (Clermont, France).
Defenders: Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea, England), Abdou Diallo (RB Leipzig, Germany), Pape Abou Cisse (Olympiakos, Greece), Fode Ballo-Toure (AC Milan, Italy), Moussa Niakhate (Nottingham Forest, England), Ismael Jakobs (Monaco, France), Noah Fadiga (Brest, France), Formose Mendy (Amiens, France).
Midfielders: Moustapha Name (Paphos, Cyprus), Pape Gueye (Marseille, France), Idrissa Gana Gueye (Everton, England), Nampalys Mendy (Leicester City, England), Mamadou Loum Ndiaye (Reading, England), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur, England), Cheikhou Kouyate (Crystal Palace, England), Pathe Ismael Ciss (Rayo Vallecano, Spain), Krepin Diatta (Monaco, France).
Forwards: Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich, Germany), Keita Balde (Spartak Moscow, Russia), Ismaila Sarr (Watford, England), Bamba Dieng (Marseille, France), Iliman Ndiaye (Sheffield United, England), Boulaye Dia (Salernitana, Italy), Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal, Spain), Demba Seck (Torino, Italy).

Congo Call Up False ID Player

Despite admitting just 15 months ago that he was playing under a fake identity, Silas Katompa Mvumpa has been called up by DR Congo. Mvumpa, who was using the name Silas Wamangituke, was suspended by the German Football Association (DFB) in June 2021 after admitting to using the fake documents which claimed him to be a year younger than he actually was. The VfB Stuttgart player had just been voted Bundesliga rookie of the season in 2020-21 with 13 goals scored.
DR Congo squad in full
Goalkeepers: Joel Kiassumbua (AC Bellinzona, Switzerland), Lionel Mpasi (Rodez, France), Baggio Siadi (TP Mazembe).
Defenders: Chadrack Isaka Boka (Saint Eloi Lupopo), Merveille Bokadi (Standard Liege, Belgium), Idumba Fasika (Cape Town City, South Africa), Henoc Inonga Baka (Simba, Tanzania), Gedeon Kalulu (Lorient, France), Arthur Masuaku (Besiktas, Turkey), Chancel Mbemba (Marseille, France), Dieumerci Amale (El Jadida, Morocco).
Midfielders: Samuel Bastien (Burnley, England), Theo Bongonda (Cadiz, Spain), Edo Kayembe (Watford, England), Neeskens Kebano (Fulham, England), Makabi Lilepo (Al Hilal, Sudan), Miche Mika (Saint Eloi Lupopo), Samuel Moutoussamy (Nantes, France), Fabrice Ngoma (Al Fehayheel, Kuwait), Yoane Wissa (Brentford, England).
Strikers: Chadrac Akolo (Saint Gallen, Switzerland), Cedric Bakambu (Marseille, France), Philippe Kinzumbi (TP Mazembe), Meshack Elia (Young Boys, Switzerland), Arnaud Lusamba (Antalyaspor, Turkey), Ben Malango (Qatar SC, Qatar), Jackson Muleka (Besiktas,Turkey), Silas Katompa Mvumpa (Stuttgart, Germany).

Golden Boy Nominees

The Tuttosport Golden Boy award nominees not-so-shortlist has been cut to 40 this month:
Jude Bellingham - Borussia Dortmund
Pedri - Barcelona (last year's winner)
Jamal Musiala - Bayern Munich
Gavi - Barcelona
Ansu Fati - Barcelona
Eduardo Camavinga - Real Madrid
Nuno Mendes - Sporting Clube de Portugal/Paris Saint-Germain
Yeremy Pino - Villareal
Karim Adeyemi - RB Salzburg/Borussia Dortmund
Harvey Elliott - Liverpool
Ryan Gravenberch - Ajax/Bayern Munich
Josko Gvardiol - RB Leipzig
Giovanni Reyna - Borussia Dortmund
Anthony Elanga - Manchester United
Castello Lukeba - Olympique Lyonnais
Nico Gonzalez - Barcelona/Valencia
Luka Sucic - RB Salzburg
Pedro Hincapie - Bayer Leverkusen
Destiny Udogie - Hellas Verona/Udinese
Fabio Silva - Wolverhampton Wanderers/Anderlecht
Fabio Carvalho - Fulham/Liverpool
Yunus Musah - Valencia
Brian Brobbey - Ajax
Nicola Zalewski - AS Roma
Ansgar Knauff - Eintracht Frankfurt
Giorgio Scalvini - Atalanta
Wilfried Gnonto - FC Zurich/Leeds United
Benjamin Sesko - RB Salzburg
Xavi Simons - Paris Saint-Germain/PSV Eindhoven
Jan Thielmann - 1. FC Koln
Marquinhos - Sao Paolo/Arsenal
Sebastiano Esposito - Inter Milan/Anderlecht
Henrique Araujo - Benfica
Fabio Miretti - Juventus
Rasmus Hojlund - Sturm Graz/Atalanta
Alex Balde - Barcelona
Martin Baturina - Dinamo Zagreb
Matteo Cancellieri - Hellas Verona/Lazio
Mathys Tel - Stade Rennais/Bayern Munich
Kiliann Sildillia - Freiburg

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Written by Tris Burke September 18 2022 09:25:55