Football News: Cech Joined Arsenal Because Of Wenger, Zidane Gives Up On La Liga Trophy, Lescott Has A New Car And More
Image from: zimbio.com
1. Transfer round up
Xuesheng Dong, Guangzhou Evergrande to Heibei China Fortun, £3.12m
Yunqiu Li, Beijing Guoan to Shanghai Shenhua, £2.06m
Hang Li, Wuhan Zall to Heibei China Fortun, £1.56m
Aboubakar Oumarou, FK Partizan to Shenzhen FC, £900,000
Junjie Hou, Shanghai Shenxin to Guangzhou R&F, £833,000
Vitali Lysytsky, Metalurg Zaporizhya to Kolos Kovalivka, free
Tianhe Mi, Changchun Yatai to Baoding Yingli Yitong, free
Danko Lazovic, Beijing Enterprises to NK Olimpija, free
Everton, Vitoria to Boa Esporte, free
Damian Swierblewski, Dolcan Zabki to Pogon Siedlice, free
Yansheng Wu, Shanghai Shenxin to Yinchuan Helanshan, free
Zeljko Kuzmic, Rudar Prijedor to Travnik, free
Igor Shevchenko, Ufa to Arsenal Tula, free
Volodymyr Ordynsky, ? to FK Decic Tuzi, free
Fengtao Huang, Shijiazhuang Ever Bright to Wuhan Zall, free
Evgen Seleznev, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk to Kuban Krasnodar, free
Aleksey Rebko, Nika Moskau to Luch-Energia, free
Evandro Roncatto, Irtysh to Rio Branco, free
Vyacheslav Chadov, Enisey to FC Sibir, free
Dmytro Antonyuk, Arsenal Kyiv to FK Decic Tuzi, free
Chao Wen, Guangzhou R&F to BD Rongda, free
Nikolay Zhilyaev, Fakel Voronezh to Tekstilshchik, free
Denys Dedechko, FC Astana to FK Oleksandria, free
Sergey Mironov, Sakhalin to Tekstilshchik, free
John Smits, FC Edmonton to Wilmington Hammerheads, free
Xiaodong Liu, Changchun Yatai to Baodin Yingli Yitong, free
Yifei Sang, Tianjin Teda to Heibei China Fortun, free
Yuan Tang, Beijing Renhe to Yinchuan Helanshan, free
Igor Tyshchenko, unattached to Slask Wroclaw
Zhuoyi Feng, Guangzhou R&F to Henan Jianye, free
Mikhail Mishchenko, Tosno to Luch Energia, free
Greg Cochrane, Chicago Fire to San Antonio FC, free
Mario Sacer, Medjimurje to Velike Polana, free
Junzhe Zhang, Changchun Shenhua to Beijing Enterprises, free
Marcelo Carvalho, Maccabi Herzliya to Operario, free
Marcos Miranda, Rio Claro to Paranavai, free
Weiguo Liu, Guangzhou Evergrande to Liaoning, on loan
Brynjar Kristmundsson, ? To Fram Reykjavik, free
Maksim Mashnev, Baikal Irkutsk to Arsenal Tula, free
Xiaotian Zhao, Hangzhou Greentown to Heibei China Fortun, free
Josh Wakefield, Bournemouth to Walsall, on loan
Rustam Sosranov, Jelgava to Baltika Kaliningrad, free
Marcos Paulo, Gremio to Aimore, on loan
Jiarun Gao, Guangzhou R&F to Tianjin Teda, free
Denis Baryshnikov, Zenit Penza to Khimki, free
Shiao Leng, Shanghai Shenhua to Qingdao Huanghai, on loan
Weihao Pan, Shanghai Shenhua to Qingdao Huanghai, on loan
Masashi Oguro, Kyoto Sanga to Montedio, on loan
Stefano Layeni, Grumellese to Leiknir Faskrudsfjordur, undisclosed fee
Maksim Semakin, Ufa to Luch-Energia, on loan
2. Mills criticises McClaren's man-management skills
Dnny Mills has claimed Newcastle United manager Steve McClaren lacks man-management skills. The former Leeds United player has told how he was on loan at Middlesbrough, while McClaren was in charge, from Leeds when the two clubs were set to face each other in the Premier League: "A brilliant coach. Man-management; well, not so good. Of course when I was at Middlesbrough I should have signed there, the deal fell through last minute. I sort of walked out, and refused to play - I was on loan from Leeds at the time and I didn't want to play against my parent club when you could do that back in the day. He should have just been honest and said: 'Look, you've upset the chairman, you've upset the chief exec for what you did in January. I'd like to sign you but they don't.'"
3. Wenger is why I joined Arsenal says Cech
Former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has revealed that it was Arsene Wenger's presence that convinced him to swap the blue of Chelsea for the red of Arsenal in the summer. Cech, still one of the best keepers in the world, was surplus at Chelsea because of the emergence of Thibaut Courtois, and chose to stay in London despite his loyalty to Chelsea after ten years there. Cech said, "I think I made the right choice, I had to make a choice between upsetting a few supporters at Chelsea or making a choice that would make me happy. After spending 10 years at Chelsea and being loyal to the club, I for once made a choice to focus on myself."
4. Zidane admits defeat in title race
Following a 1-0 defeat to local rivals Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid's new head coach Zinedine Zidane has admitted that the La Liga title is out of reach for his charges this season. With bitter rivals Barcelona having a nine point lead, and a game in hand, Zidane has accepted that they have no longer any chance of winning the title. "Before you ask, the league is over," the Frenchman told reporters in his press conference. "It was always difficult. I told the players yesterday that if we lose points it will be more difficult. We are not going to throw the league away though, whatever happens. I'm not happy with the match and I'm not happy with the result," he continued. "The important thing for me and the team is to think about the next game. We didn't play the game how we prepared, so it's here we had to work more. When you play against a team who played on Wednesday you need to do more. They can't go into the match and be comfortable and that's what they did so it's more difficult to take."
5. Birthday boy shows off his twinkle toes
Lucas Boye, who is set to join Torino from Newell's Old Boys in the summer, has shown quick feet in this clip:
Happy 20th birthday Lucas
6. FA investigate more coin throwing at matches
After incidents in matches involving Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion, the behaviour has now spread to two more matches over the weekend. During Stoke City's 2-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa an object was allegedly thrown at Stoke keeper Jack Butland, while,in the Championship, QPR's players were allegedly targeted by objects thrown from the Birmingham City fans as they celebrated their victory. A QPR statement said: "Queen's Park Rangers Football Club is aware of a coin throwing incident that took place during the first half of today's fixture against Birmingham City. A coin from the School End stand, in which the visiting supporters were situated, was thrown towards the Rangers players as the Rs celebrated their second goal in our Sky Bet Championship fixture at Loftus Road. The club will continue to review video footage and liaise with the Metropolitan and West Midlands police. The club will be making no further comment at this time." A Birmingham spokesman said: "If anybody is found to have thrown a coin, we will take the strongest possible action. As a club, we utterly condemn that sort of behaviour. We will be liaising with the relevant bodies, including West Midlands Police, to investigate such allegations."
7. Lescott stitched up by Stoke's Twitter account
Stoke City's Twitter account had some fun at the expense of Aston Villa defender Joleon Lescott yesterday:
Apologies for that tweet, it was sent from our pocket ;-)
— Stoke City FC (@stokecity) 27 February 2016
You have to hand it to them, that is what Twitter should be for.
8. Napoli forward Insigne mugged
Saturday evening was a bad one for Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne as he was mugged while out in Naples with his wife. "It's true, yesterday night Lorenzo was victim of a mugging in the Vomero area," the 24-year-old's agent Antonio Ottaiano told Radio Kiss Kiss. "He was amazed and shocked. His wife was in the car with him but fortunately not his children. Lorenzo reported the case to the authorities and the police. It was a negative experience. He'll get over it by means of football and the help of his team-mates."
9. Arribage quits after defeat
Toulouse coach Dominique Arribage has resigned after Saturday's 2-1 defeat at home to Rennes left the French Ligue 1 side perilously close to the drop. Club president Olivier Sadran confirmed that Arribage's resignation was accepted, with Toulouse languishing in 19th place, 10 points away from safety with 10 games left. Toulouse have not won any of its last ten matches, losing eight, and Arribage will now take on a different role within the coaching staff at the club.
10. Gerrard documentary to be filmed
The director behind critically acclaimed documentaries Amy and Senna, about Amy Winehouse and Ayrton Senna respectively, is to film a similar documentary focusing on Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard. Asif Kapadia is also filming one about Argentinian great Diego Maradona. The main focus of the documentary is set to be the 2005 Champions League final, as Liverpool came back from 3-0 down to beat AC Milan on penalties in the Ataturk Stadium.
Written by Tris Burke February 28 2016 13:08:35