Football News: Barcelona Presidents Refuse To Testify In Tax Case, Wolves Turned Down By Serie A Forward And More

1. Chelsea midfielder moves to Holland
Following the arrival of new star midfielder Giannelli Imbula to Stoke City, on loan Chelsea midfielder Marco van Ginkel found himself surplus to requirements in the Potteries. Now the 23 year old has managed to find himself a new club to spend the rest of the season on loan with. The Holland international is returning to the Eredivisie to join PSV Eindhoven. Chelsea originally signed him from Eredivisie side Vitesse Arnhem in 2013.

2. Transfer round up
Ricardo Costa, PAOK Saloniki to Granada, free
Dusan Kuciak, Legia Warsaw to Hull City, £245,000
Panagiotis Kone, Udinese to Fiorentina, on loan
Giannis Maniatis, Olympiacos to Standard Liege, on loan
Nick Powell, Manchester United to Hull City, on loan
Joan Verdu, Fiorentina to Levante, free
Muriqui, released by Al-Sadd
Yekta Kurtulus, Sivasspor to Antalyaspor, free
Nikola Ninkovic, Genoa to Chievo Verona, on loan
Lerin Duarte, Ajax to NAC Breda, on loan
Antonio Floro Flores, Sassuolo to Chievo Verona, undisclosed fee
Ritchie de Laet, Leicester City to Middlesbrough, on loan
Gokhan Suzen, unattached to Sivasspor
Federico Ricca, Danubio to Malaga, undisclosed fee
Isaac Cuenca, Bursaspor to Granada, free
Leroy Fer, QPR to Swansea City, on loan
Jesper Lauridsen, FC Midtjylland to Esbjerg fB, £280,000
Nikolay Bodurov, Fulham to FC Midtjylland, on loan
Marcelo Sarvas, Colorado Rapids to DC United, ?
Fredy Montero, Sporting to Tianjin Teda, £3.5m
Julien de Sart, Standard Liege to Middlesbrough, undisclosed fee
Jordi Gomez, Sunderland to Blackburn Rovers, on loan
Yohan Benalouane, Leicester City to Fiorentina, on loan (£175,000 fee)
Marco van Ginkel, Chelsea to PSV Eindhoven, on loan
Gianelli Imbula, FC Porto to Stoke City, £16.98m
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, QPR to MK Dons, on loan
Alvaro Pereira, Estudiantes to Getafe, on loan
Sergiu Bus, Sheffield Wednesday to Salernitana, on loan
Victor Andrade, Benfica to Vitoria Guimaraes, on loan
Abel Aguilar, Toulouse to Belenenses, undisclosed fee
Toze Marreco, Mouscron to Chaves, undisclosed fee
Peter Utaka, Shimizu S-Pulse to Sanfrecce Hiroshima, on loan
Abdoulaye Doucoure, Watford to Granada, on loan
Ikechukwu Uche, Tigres to Malaga, on loan
Moubarak Boussoufa, Lokomotiv Moscow to KAA Gent, on loan

 

3. Former Barca starlet joins Pozzo group
During Pep Guardiola's time in charge of Barcelona, Isaac Cuenca was seen as the shining light of La Masia, regularly making first team appearances. Sadly his time at Barca was cut short as he suffered a succession of injuries which saw him leave and then spend time with Deportivo La Coruna and then Bursaspor. Now he is back in the Primera Liga with Pozzo owned club Granada, after joining on a free transfer. The 24 year old has penned an 18 month deal.

4. Barca insist they tried to sign Nolito
Barcelona sporting vice-president Jordi Mestre has revealed that the Catalans did everything they could to sign their top target Nolito. The Celta Vigo striker is a former Barca B player and has been in good form this season, scoring seven goals in his last nine games, though he is currently out with a hamstring injury. "Barcelona put in all they could, plus even more to try to sign him," the 53-year-old Mestre said at the Mundo Deportivo gala. "There were negotiations and we did make offers and alternative deals more than we could. But on the other side, Celta did not give in."

 

5. Former Everton defender retires
Former Netherlands international Johnny Heitinga has announced his retirment from playing at the age of just 32. Ajax have announced that he will take up a role on their coaching staff. Heitinga had rejoined Ajax on a one year deal in the summer from Hertha Berlin, but he only managed two Eredivisie appearances before deciding to call time on his career. Heitinga joined Everton in 2009 and made over 100 Premier League appearances for the Toffees in a five year spell at the club. Heitinga won 87 caps for Netherlands, famously being sent off in the 2010 World Cup final. Heitinga said: "My ultimate desire was to return to Amsterdam and at the end of the season as a player for the third time celebrate a championship trophy with the Ajax fans. Yet I realised in December that the time to put an end to my active career was coming closer. The farewell is slightly ahead of schedule. But I look forward to this new chapter in my life."

6. Egyptian left back joins the MLS
Real Betis have loaned out their Egyptian defender Amro Tarek Abdel-Aziz for a year to Major League Soccer side Columbus Crew. Tarek is set to be the first Egyptian player to move to the MLS. Real Betis signed him in the summer for 300,000 Euros from Egyptian Premier League side El-Gouna, but he has yet to play for the Spanish Primera Liga side. Tarek was born in Los Angeles, and has appeared in the MLS Reserve League for the now-defunct Chivas USA Reserves.

🔊 OFICIAL ' Amro Tarek, cedido al Columbus Crew SC

➡ https://t.co/RPnxKE25LU pic.twitter.com/aEXhdboOgN

— Real Betis Balompié (@RealBetis) February 2, 2016

 

7. Barca presidents refuse to testify in Neymar tax case
Both former Barcelona president Sandro Rosell and present incumbent Josep Maria Bartomeu have refused to testify in the tax fraud case of Brazilian forward Neymar Jr's transfer to the Catalan club. Both officials told the court they have nothing to add and will stand by the statements they have previously made. Neither man replied to any questions put to them, whether presented by the judge or the prosecution. Neymar is set to appear in court later today to give his testimony.

8. Messi ruled out of the Olympics
Barcelona star Lionel Messi has been ruled out of Argentina's Olympic squad by Argentina coach Gerardo Martino. Martino is able to pick up to 3 over-age players in his under-23 squad for the Rio games in August, but he has already ruled Messi out of contention. Messi led Argentina to their second ever Olympic title in 2008, in Beijing. "Messi won't go to the Olympic Games because there is a lot of competition for the national team this year," Martino said. "We have the Copa America, the Olympic Games and after that four rounds of the qualifiers [for the World Cup]," he told Radio La Red. "The reality at Barcelona shows the season will be long. I want to win very much but not at any price, nor for throwing the players on to the pitch for them to die there."

 

9. Nice finish from the edge of the box

10. Bologna striker rejects deadline day Wolves move
English Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers were turned down by Serie A striker Robert Acquafresca. The 28 year old former Italy U21 international has been with Bologna since 2012, but has struggled to get in the team this season, making just four Serie A appearances. Despite that, he chose to reject a move to England and a Wolves side looking to replace Benik Afobe who they sold to Bournemouth.

Written by Tris Burke February 02 2016 08:58:50