Football News: Bale Transfer Agreement Leaked, Barcelona Defender Sentenced To Jail Plus More
Image from: dailyecho.co.uk
1. What can you say but oops?
And to think I thought Djimi Traore's Cruyff turn to take the ball into the back of his own net was embarrassing enough, this Saudi League keeper has made that look clever:
2. Gareth Bale transfer agreement leaked
Football Leaks have continued their irregular release of football contracts with the release of the transfer agreement between Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur for the world record move of Gareth Bale: Football Leaks Gareth Bale contract
The document proves that Bale did in fact cost more than the previous record fee that was paid for Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo's move to the Spanish capital from Manchester United. While the price paid, due to the payment plan Madrid asked for, end up being over 100m Euros, paragraph 15 of the agreement is a clause that blocks Spurs from announcing a fee and that the clubs agree to publicise a deal of £78m or around 91m Euros. There are some interesting clauses in the deal:
Clause 4 makes Real Madrid waive all fees owed on the Rafael van der Vaart transfer.
Clause 10 ensures Madrid must inform Spurs of any bid from another Premier League club that they intend to accept and give Spurs the option to match the bid, though this clause expires in 2019.
Clause 16 bans Bale from saying anything negative about Spurs or its employees.
3. Mascherano receives jail sentence
Barcelona's Javier Mascherano has been sentenced to a year in prison over a £1.15m tax fraud he was involved with. He was also fined around £625,000 for tax offences. The Barca midfielder/defender is likely to see his prison sentence substituted for a further fine, after his lawyer requested that change. Spanish law allows a person, so long as their crime is non-violent, to avoid jail if their sentence is less than two years in total. The 31 year old Mascherano was given two sentences of four months and eight months for his two offences, he has already repaid the tax debt and interest on the money. Mascherano published an open letter in which he wrote: 'I am a professional athlete, I have no great knowledge of tax and legal issues. Therefore, I'm helped by people that handles these issues, which for me are complex. Throughout my career I was an honest and responsible person, respecting my colleagues, the clubs I represent and the countries in which I lived. This situation I'm going through is another experience, from which I will come out stronger, and very calm as I am once again within the law. I reserve the possibility of action against those who advised me badly by recommending me something which was not right.' I wonder if he counts the time he went on strike and refused to play for Liverpool in order to force a move away from the club as showing respect for his colleagues and clubs he represented? I would have to suggest it shows otherwise and makes the entire letter a laughable attempt to squirm out of responsibility for his own actions.
4. Chelsea loan out their 32nd player of the season
Summer signing Papy Djilobodj has headed off to the Bundesliga to join Werder Bremen for the rest of the season. The 27 year old Senegal defender joined Chelsea from French Ligue 1 side Nantes, but has only managed one minute of first team action for the London club. Werder are currently 16th of 18 teams in the Bundesliga and they will be hoping the new signing will fix their defensive issues, despite him only watching on from the sidelines as Chelsea's own defence faltered.
5. Southampton player the most fouled in the Prem
The Premier League has released a list of the most fouled players, though the list does not include as fouls those times when a ref waves play on, even though those are fouls too. Southampton attacker Sadio Mane has been fouled the most, 50 times in fact, just one ahead of Swansea City forward Andre Ayew. Though surprisingly Dwight Gayle tops the list when it comes down to fouls per game played, at 2.9 fouls per game.
Total number of fouls list:
1. Sadio Mane, Southampton, 50 fouls
2. Andre Ayew, Swansea City, 49 fouls
3. Dele Alli, Tottenham Hotspur, 46 fouls
4. Ross Barkley, Everton, 46 fouls
5. Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace, 45 fouls
6. Willian, Chelsea, 44 fouls
7. Odion Ighalo, Watford, 42 fouls
8. Riyad Mahrez, Leicester City, 42 fouls
9. Eden Hazard, Chelsea, 41 fouls
10. Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal, 37 fouls
Fouls per game list:
1. Dwight Gayle, Crystal Palace, 2.9 fouls per game
2. Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal, 2.6 fouls per game
3. Max Gradel, Bournemouth, 2.5 fouls per game
4. Andre Ayew, Swansea City, 2.3 fouls per game
5. Dele Alli, Tottenham Hotspur, 2.3 fouls per game
6. Sadio Mane, Southampton, 2.3 fouls per game
7. Fabio Borini, Sunderland, 2.2 fouls per game
8. Eden Hazard, Chelsea, 2.2 fouls per game
9. Stephane Sessegnon, West Bromwich Albion, 2.2 fouls per game
10. Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace, 2.1 fouls per game
11. Anthony Martial, Manchester United, 2.1 fouls per game
12. Willian, Chelsea, 2.1 fouls per game
13. Ross Barkley, Everton, 2.1 fouls per game
6. Fans group make bid for St Mirren
St Mirren Independent Supporter's Association is working with a former director, Gordon Scott, in an attempt to buy a majority shareholding in the SPFL Championship club. The buyout plan is based on the successful takeover of Edinburgh club Heart of Midlothian by fans' group Foundation of Hearts working with businesswoman Ann Budge. As happened at Hearts, SMISA and Scott intend to buy a majority stake with the fans group later purchasing Scott's stake, within a period of five-ten years.
7. Ronaldinho waiting until the Rio Carnival is done
Former Barcelona superstar Ronaldinho has told reporters that he is waiting for the Rio Carnival to finish before making a decision on his future. Ronaldinho is famous for his party lifestyle, which saw his top class career end far too quickly, so it is only to be expected he would put off a decision until after Brazil's biggest party has finished. The former Brazil international has been without a team since leaving Fluminese in September, though he did temporarily return to play for the club in this week's Florida Cup. "There is a lot to come in 2016," he told reporters. "I'll decide what to do next after Carnival. For now, I plan to travel the world to promote football, but now is not the time to stop. I will play for a little longer."
8. Pep calls Bundesliga winter break boring
With Pep Guardiola heading to the English Premier League next, he has admitted that he finds the Bundesliga's month-long winter break boring. The Premier League often faces calls to introduce a winter break, but the words of Guardiola could influence any future decision. "I'm happy that the first competitive fixture is finally upon us," he told Bayern Munich's official website. "It's boring going so long without playing." Bayern will start the second half of the German season on top of the league and with an eight point lead over second placed Borussia Dortmund.
9. Bilic rubbishes Sturridge rumours
Recent days have seen a minor local paper make headline sports news around the country by putting out a story suggesting that Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge was set to move to West Ham United for £18m. Unfortunately for them, and all the other media outlets that rushed to report the story, Hammers manager Slaven Bilic has dismissed the idea. "That is only a rumour and there is nothing behind it," Bilic told the Press Association. "I am not talking about who we want, Daniel Sturridge is a big player and a big name, but it is only paper talk." With Bilic desperate for striker cover for injury prone forwards, it seems Bilic has unsurprisingly not looked to sign another as that cover.
10. Poch believes new stadium will put Spurs on top of the world
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino, fresh from being lauded by Carles Puyol, is looking forward to a successful future for Spurs. The North London outfit plan to move into their new stadium in the 2018-19 season, with the 61,000 seater stadium providing a significant increase in gate and revenue over the current one, White Hart Lane. With plans to also hold lucrative NFL matches at the new stadium, Pochettino believes that it could propel the team to the top of the world. "Yes, I am sure that the future is great for the club when the new stadium arrives. I think why not [be in the top 10]? All the bases are for us to be on the top of the world. It's not magic, if you have the best stadium in the world but don't have a good squad, it's difficult to fight for a place in the top four or earn titles," Pochettino added. "Both things are very important, to build from here to the moment we arrive in the stadium, to build a very strong squad and to be in a very good condition at a very good level to try to fight when the new stadium comes. Both things are very important."
Written by Tris Burke January 21 2016 17:49:16
