Football News: Bale's Move From Spurs To Madrid Under Investigation, Messi Scores Goal 300 And More
Image from: zimbio.com
1. Lionel Messi adds his 300th league goal
Despite giving up the chance to score from the penalty spot twice in two games, first by passing the ball, then letting Luis Suarez take (and miss) the one given in this match, Argentina's Lionel Messi notched his 300th and 301st goals as Barcelona beat Sporting Gijon 3-1. In a game that was rescheduled due to Barca's participation in the Club World Cup in December, Messi was able to stretch his record as the Spanish league's all-time leading goalscorer. He now has 15 this season alone, despite it being disrupted by injuries. This was Barca's 12th win in the last 13 games, stretching another record out further, this time a club-record streak of 31 games in a row without a defeat. Barcelona now lead Primera Liga by six points from Atletico Madrid.
2. Martins joins China exodus
Obafemi Martins has confirmed he is to leave Seattle Sounders of MLS to head to China's Super League and Shanghai Shenhua. Martins cited a desire for a 'new challenge', possibly the challenge being to close his bulging wallet on payday? "For me it's now time for a new challenge," Martins wrote. "After significant reflection, I have decided to join Shanghai Greenland Shenhua FC of the CSL." Martins has been with the Sounders for 3 seasons, scoring 40 goals and 23 assists in his 72 matches.
Thanks to all who made these last three years an amazing experience. Seattle has a special place in my heart 💚💙 pic.twitter.com/qg3XxYRzbK
— OBA MARTINS (@Obafemimartins) February 18, 2016
3. Bale's Madrid move faces EU probe
With Real Madrid already facing a transfer ban, they now face fresh issues as three MEP's have written to the European Commission to ask it to investigate Gareth Bale's world record move from Tottenham Hotspur to Madrid. The MEPs are questioning whether the £78m transfer was backed by Spanish banks, which had been bailed out by European Union taxpayers. The trio, Britain's Daniel Dalton, Belgium's Sander Loones and Spain's Ramon Termosa, have raised the question after the Football Leaks website revealed details of the move, which revealed the usage of promissory notes. The promissory notes, which assumed the risk for the outstanding instalments on the deal, have been reported in Spain to have been bought by, among others, Bankia, a Spanish bank bailed out with 18billion Euros by the EU. If found to have been funded by promissory notes from bailed-out Spanish banks, then it could constitute illegal state aid. Spanish banks have used the contracts of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo as collateral when applying for loans to the European Central Bank in 2010. Bankia, at the time, owned Madrid's debt. Dalton said: "If taxpayers' money was used to underwrite the Gareth Bale transfer deal then this is something the EU should investigate. Real Madrid are the world's richest football club and if it has used a state-owned bank, owned by taxpayers, to guarantee multi-million pound transfer fees, then it is something the EU should address to ensure there are no unfair competitive advantages given to teams supported by taxpayer-funded financial institutions." This is not the first time Real Madrid have stood accused of receiving an unfair competitive advantage due to state aid, the sale of their training ground for a massively over-inflated fee is currently under investigation.
4. Spurs hopeful of Lloris return for Prem title push
Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris has been ruled out of the next two matches, a Europa League tie with Fiorentina and an FA Cup tie with Crystal Palace, with a shoulder injury. Lloris hurt his shoulder pushing away a cross from Sergio Aguero in a 2-1 win over Manchester City on Sunday. While the injury is said to be minor, the club are resting him as a precaution. "It's a very small injury and we hope he will be ready to play again in the second leg against Fiorentina next Thursday," said Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino. "There is always an impact - Hugo is our captain and a very important player. But we have Michel Vorm to replace him, who is a top goalkeeper, and we trust in him. We need to assess Hugo during the week to see if he is available next Thursday, but for the first leg against Fiorentina he is out, and he will miss the game against Palace, too."
5. Ings returns to outdoor training
Liverpool have been boosted as striker Danny Ings has returned to training following a lengthy lay-off after he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament rupture. It is too early to get excited about his return though, as he is not expected to play this season, and his training is just some outdoor running at this stage. The 23 year old joined from Burnley in the summer and scored 3 goals in 8 matches, before the injury ruled him out. Ings never even got to play for new manager Jurgen Klopp as the injury came about in one of Klopp's first training sessions.
6. Mitrovic ruled out for two weeks
Struggling Newcastle United have suffered an injury blow, as summer signing Aleksandr Mitrovic has been ruled out with a medial knee ligament injury, which is keeping him out of the club's midseason training camp in Spain. Mitrovic has struggled to get going, only managing 5 goals this season, but his presence helped unsettle defences. Luckily for the Toon, the arrival of forward Seydou Doumbia from AS Roma should provide under-fire manager Steve McClaren with options to replace him.
7. Transfer round up
Ezequiel Lavezzi, Paris Saint-Germain to Hebei China Fortune, £4.13m
Wanderson, Chapecoense to Juventude, free
Bo Wang, Liaoning to Nei Mongol Zhongyou, free
Antolin Alcarez, UD Las Palmas to Libertad, free
Krzysztof Nykiel, Zawisza to Sokol Aleksandrow Lodzki, free
Fagner, Comercial Futebol Clube to Aguia Negra, free
Cristiano, Villa Nova Atletico Clube to Fluminese, free
Sander Puri, Sligo Rovers to MFK Karvina, free
Jure Glavina,Toronto Croatia to Drensteinfurt, free
Jocenir, Farroupilha to Avenida, free
Adam Larsson, Umea to Mjallby AIF, free
Sten Grytebust, Aalesunds FK to Odense BK, free
Roland Gigolaev, Ruch Chorzow to Amkar Perm, free
Catalin Golofca, FC Botosani to Rapid Suceava, on loan
Maximiliano Ugge, Suduva to Kalju Nomme, free
Marcelo Cristian, America to Formiga, on loan
Vinicius Tanque, Botafogo to Volta Redonda, on loan
Alexandru Tarnovan, Steaua Bucharest to Universitatea Cluj, on loan
Mathias Ranegie, Watford to Djurgardens IF, on loan
Robert Arzumanyan, Amkar Perm to Schachtjor Karagandy, on loan
Xiao Chen, Yanbian Funde to Hangzhou Greentown, undisclosed fee
Moussa Maazou, Changchun Yatai to Randers FC, undisclosed fee
Michael Ortega, Junior to Londrina EC, undisclosed fee
Denis Vnukov, Silamae Kalev to FC Infonet, undisclosed fee
Dardan Mustafa, Gefle IF to Orgryte, undisclosed fee
Artur Rattel, Levadia Tallinn to FC Infonet, undisclosed fee
Aaron Olanare, Ghangzhou R&F to CSKA Moscow, on loan
Miguel Castroman, BSC Young Boys to FC Wohlen, on loan
Krystian Pomorski, Wisla Plock to Blekitni Raciaz, on loan
Sergey Makarov, Lokomotiv Moscow to FK Minsk, on loan
Rangel Ignatov, Botev Plovdiv to PFC Pirin Razlo, on loan
Smail Kreboliev, OFK Pirin to FC Septemvri Simitli, on loan
Souza, unattached to Passo Fundo
Fabio Simplicio, unattached to Batatais
Jung-Woo Kim, unattached to BEC Tero Sasana
Jerome Thomas, unattached to Rotherham United
Leonardo Aleixo, released by Bangu Atletico Clube
Rafael, released by Catanduvense
Eltinho, released by Avai
Jorge Araujo, unattached to Cruzeiro
Zhivko Atanasov, unattached to Juve Stabia
Anouar Kali, unattached to Willem II
Leo Fioravanti, unattached to Monte Azul
Ari Mohr Jonsson, released by Silkeborg IF
Bruno Lucas, unattached to Boa Esporte
8. League Cup to move to pre-Christmas final date in Scotland
The SPFL have announced that they are going to return to scheduling the Scottish League Cup final for pre-Christmas dates, starting from next season. The 2016/17 final has been announced for Sunday 27th November. This marks a return to pre-1998 timescales, as well as the return of group stages and bonus points for penalty shoot-out victories. Scotland have also scheduled in a three-week winter break to start after the New Year league fixtures, which will end when the Scottish Cup 4th round begins on 21st January.
9. Carroll injured again
Andy Carroll has just come back after a month out with a hamstring injury, and the West Ham United striker is back on the treatment table after suffering an abductor injury after coming on as a substitute during the weekend's draw with Norwich City. The 27 year old has suffered with injuries throughout his career, and has only managed 31 Premier League starts since joining the Hammers. Co-chairman David Gold has said the injury is not a serious one though, tweeting: "Andy has a slight injury and will be rested for the game against Blackburn."
10. Van Persie complains about being substituted
Fenerbahce's former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie has hit out at his manager for constantly substituting him in games. The Dutch forward has only scored nine goals this season and has not completed a full game since December. "Fenerbahce paid a big transfer fee for me so I want to help the team," Van Persie told Turkish website Fanatik. "But I cannot contribute as much as I want when I am taken off each game. I cannot be efficient like this. "We have to find a solution for this situation."
Written by Tris Burke February 18 2016 19:28:17