Picture from: freelargeimages.com
Review of the day
contract
Peter Harling renews contract with Hearts. The 25-year-old Austrian is currently at the club until 2022.
Gaetan Bong has signed a new one-year contract with Brighton & Hove Albion.
Fulham captain Tom Cairney has signed a new long-term contract, with the 28-year-old saying he wants to “finish his career” at Cottagers. His new contract runs until 2024, with an option to extend for a further year.
Former Middlesbrough defender Emanuel Pogatetz has extended his contract with LASK by one year until 2020.
Iverness Caledonian Thistle have agreed a new contract with goalkeeper Mark Ridgers until 2022.
Port Vale have signed goalkeeper Scott Brown on a new two-year contract.
Pick up and drop off service
Steven Davis has agreed to convert his loan deal with Rangers into a permanent one-year deal next season. The 34-year-old joined the Glasgow Giants on loan in January.
Leeds United striker Caleb Ekuban will join Turkish side Trabzonspor when the summer transfer window opens for a fee of just under £1 million.
AC Milan’s young Italian midfielder Manuel Locatelli will join Sassuolo this summer for a fee of around £9 million.
Southampton have confirmed they will sign Liverpool striker Danny Ings permanently in the summer. The 26-year-old striker is worth just under £20m.
Wolves are set to sign on-loan Belgian player Leander Dendoncker permanently from RSC Anderlecht this summer for a fee of around £12 million.
Former Watford goalkeeper Orestis Kanezis will join Napoli from Udinese in the summer, along with team-mate Alex Meret. They cost just over £2 million and just under £20 million respectively.
Genoa spent more than £7 million to sign Luca Mazzitelli from Sassuolo.
Udinese midfielder Jakub Yankto will join Sampdoria this summer. Samp will be paid around £13.5m for his services.
Young Italian centre-back Marco Varnier will join Atalanta from Cittadella this summer for a fee of around £4.5 million.
Inter Milan sold several players in the summer. Albanian striker Rey Manaji is to join Spanish side Albacete for just under £2 million. Also leaving is Romania goalkeeper Ionut Radu, who will join Genoa for just over £7m.
Real Madrid will spend more than £40 million to sign exciting young Brazilian winger Rodrigo from Santos FC this summer.
Alex Ferrari is set to join Sampdoria from Bologna for a fee of around £4 million.
Lazio will sign two players from Portuguese side Braga. Pedro Neto will cost over £6 million, while Bruno Jordao will cost over £2 million.
AC Milan are set to make Franck Kessie’s loan move from Atalanta permanent in a deal worth just over £21m.
Bamford suspended for 2 games
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford has been banned for two games for “successfully deceiving match officials” in their draw with Aston Villa. Bamford fell to the ground holding his face and pretended to be hit, but replays showed there was no contact from Villa’s Anwar El Ghazi, who was sent off for the incident. The red card was cancelled.
EFL split transfer window
The English Football League will have different summer transfer deadlines after clubs voted to introduce changes. Championship clubs have until the Thursday before the start of the Premier League to complete permanent and loan signings, but League One and League Two teams will have until the end of August to finalize loan signings. The permanent signing must be completed at the same time as the Championship club.
Bolton takeover chaos
Bolton issued a statement on Thursday saying that a takeover bid from Lawrence Bassini had been withdrawn, but Bassini has now told the news media that the takeover has been completed and that he now has full control of the relegated Championship club. The only thing that is clear within the club is that staff salaries for March and April remain unpaid. The EFL has cleared up fixture confusion with the postponed game against Brentford now cancelled, with the Bees winning 1-0. The final day of action is scheduled for Sunday against Nottingham Forest.
McInnis banned
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has been banned for one match for gesticulating towards a Celtic fan who sang a sectarian song at him, and has been given a further ban until the end of next season for his reaction during the match.
Established companies will be fined for brawls
Old rivals Celtic and Rangers have been fined £7,500 each for massive scuffles at a derby match in late March. Rangers manager Steven Gerrard was also handed a one-match ban and winger Ryan Kent was handed a two-match ban for lashing out at Celtic player Scott Brown, but that was not overturned.
Vertonghen does not have concussion
Tottenham Hotspur said 32-year-old Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen “did not suffer a concussion” after being examined by a neurologist who specializes in sports-related concussions. Spurs said his near collapse was “the result of a pre-syncopal episode, a near-fainting”. The “near faint” was caused by “heavy bleeding” from a broken nose of the defender.
Jones to take charge of Hatters
Roberto Martinez’s former assistant Graeme Jones will take charge of Luton Town next season. Jones will replace caretaker manager Mick Harford, who took over from Nathan Jones, who led the club into the Championship when he left for Stoke City in January.
Mbappe banned for 3 games
Kylian Mbappe has been banned for three games after being sent off in the French Cup final. Mbappe was sent off in extra time and his PSG lost to Rennes on penalties. Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Neymar, who has been banned for three games by UEFA for a tirade against officials on social media, will face disciplinary action after the idiot lashed out at a spectator as he went on stage to collect his loser’s medal.
Harvey retires
Former Spain and Barcelona legend Xavi will end his playing career this summer and turn to coaching. The 39-year-old has been playing in Qatar football matches every week since 2015 in front of hundreds of people.
Manchester City is more valuable than Manchester United
Manchester City are now more valuable than Manchester United due to their higher wages and lower profits, according to new financial research from the University of Liverpool’s Center for Sport Business. Burnley have been described as “the most financially wise club in the Premier League”. The calculation is based on the 2017-18 season and takes into account revenue, profits, non-recurring costs, average profits on player sales over three years, net worth, salary controls and the percentage of seats sold.
List of values:
1.Manchester City
2. Manchester United
3. Tottenham Hotspur
4. Liverpool
5. Chelsea
6. Arsenal
7. Burnley
8. Newcastle United
9. Leicester City
10. Southampton
11. Everton
12. West Ham United
13. Stoke City
14. Huddersfield Town
15. Brighton & Hove Albion
16. West Bromwich Albion
17. Watford
18. Crystal Palace
19. Bournemouth
20. Swansea City
Terriers for sale
A lifelong Huddersfield Town fan is set to hand over ownership of the club to another player after the final game of the season. After ten years as chairman and owner, Dean Hoyle is to sell 75% of the club to Phil Hodgkinson. Hoyle said: “My heart doesn’t want me to sell the club. I believe the game against Manchester United was probably the most exciting day of my life. However, my head tells me that after 10 years of total dedication and recent ill health, I need to do what’s best for myself, my family and Huddersfield Town and that is to hand the reins to a new player who can lead our new club.
Bielsa pays spygate sanctions
When the EFL fined Leeds United £200,000 in February after a member of the club’s staff was seen outside Derby County’s training ground, manager Marcelo Bielsa paid the fine out of his own pocket. Bielsa said: “The (EFL) sanction gave us £200,000 – it was a financial sanction against the club, not against me, but I am responsible for it. That is why I paid it out of my own pocket.”
Keita is out for two months
Liverpool’s Guinea international Naby Keita will miss the end of the season and will miss the summer’s Africa Cup of Nations after suffering a thigh injury in the defeat to Barcelona. Head coach Jurgen Klopp said: “It’s unfortunate. A serious injury to the adductor muscle, a ruptured tendon. It’s bad news for us and for him as the Africa Cup of Nations approaches.” The Africa Cup of Nations starts on June 21, so it is unlikely that he will be fit to play.
Arsenal condemn racist abuse
Arsenal said they “thoroughly condemn” a group of Valencia fans who were filmed making Nazi salutes and monkey gestures during Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final. “These blatantly racist actions are shocking and inexcusable,” Kick It Out said. While that’s not entirely the case with the Nazi salute, Wayne Hennessy proved it’s possible to make up a ridiculous excuse and get away with it. Arsenal added: “We strongly condemn this behavior. It has no place in society or football. We are working with Valencia to address this issue and continue to encourage fans to report incidents and provide witness statements so that effective action can be taken.” Six Valencia fans were arrested at the game for vulgar, abusive language and alcohol-related issues, but so far there has been no action in connection with the footage, which would have resulted in arrests. Valencia president Anil Murthy said the club would “get rid” of any fans responsible.
Written by Tris Burke May 4, 2019 05:09:57