Football News: Review Of The Day 24th August 2019

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Review of the Day

Contracts

Darren Pratley has signed a 1 year contract extension with Charlton Athletic.

Fulham trio Stefan Johansen, Tim Ream and Denis Odoi have all signed new deals. Johansen until 2022, the others until 2021. No idea why Odoi has been given a new deal though, he is awful!

Transfers

Reims forward Grejohn Kyei has moved to the Swiss Super League to join Servette FC.

Almeria have paid just under £700,000 to sign Girondins Bordeaux's Argentine midfielder Valentin Vada.

Croatian striker Stipe Perica has joined Mouscron on loan from Udinese.

Nantes have lent Brazilian midfielder Lucas Evangelista to Vitoria Guimaraes.

Somehow Bayern Munich have managed to not just find someone to take the major flop Renato Sanches from them but also convinced LOSC Lille to pay around £18m for him! The world truly has gone mad.

Bristol City have signed Ashley Williams on a free transfer. The Welsh defender(?) was released by Everton in the summer.

1.FC Koln have sent Salih Uzcan on loan to Holstein Kiel.

Brighton & Hove Albion have loaned one of their legion of wingers to Heerenveen. 21 year old Danish right winger Anders Dreyer will spend his season in the Eredivisie.

Croatian full-back Ivan Strinic has been released by AC Milan.

Napoli have paid over £34m for Mexican forward Hirving Lozano from PSV Eindhoven. Add ons could make Lozano the most expensive signing in the Neapolitan's history.

Rangers striker Zak Rudden has joined Plymouth Argyle on loan for 6 months.

Bradford City have signed Jamie Devitt on a season-long loan from Blackpool just 2 months after signing for the Tangerines.

Goalkeeper Andrew Fisher has joined Northampton Town on loan from Blackburn Rovers until January.

Newport County have taken Ryan Inniss on loan from Crystal Palace for the season.

Ben Heneghan has returned to Blackpool on loan from Sheffield United, until January.

Former Southend United defender Ben Coker, who is currently recovering from a serious knee injury, has signed for Lincoln City.

Swedish midfielder Melker Hallberg has signed for Hibernian on a free transfer from Vejle Boldklu in the Danish league.

Klopp Backs Poch Transfer Window Call

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has come out in support of Mauricio Pochettino's call for the transfer window in the English Premier League to be returned to coinciding with the rest of Europe. Currently the English window closes earlier than the rest of Europe, but Pochettino and now Klopp want it back the way it was. Klopp said: "I don't care when it closes, I only think it must close at the same time (as the rest of Europe). When they spoke about 'Let's finish it before the season starts then everyone knows their squad' - that's a good idea. But then the rest didn't do it and that makes no sense. Can somebody explain what is the benefit for the Premier League? We don't really have a problem but for other teams, their key players are still on the market and everything can happen. You want a team not only together but together and focused on the future, but that is not possible as long as there is a door open. I don't understand why this decision is not already reviewed at least. At first it was a good idea but it didn't work out so let's change it again."

Dell Looking To Buy Into Sunderland

A group of US businessmen, including Michael Dell the founder of Dell Technologies, are seeking to buy Sunderland. The Mackems have already changed hands twice since being relegated in 2017. They are currently in League One, losing the play-off final last season.

Dale Finally Sells Up

Bury owner Steve Dale has told the BBC that he has agreed a deal to sell the club to C&N Sporting Risk, a football analytics company. A statement from C&N read: "We can confirm that over the past 10 weeks we have been in discussions with Bury FC, the EFL and others with a view to putting forward a proposal to buy the club. It is a very complicated scenario and there remain a number of outstanding legal and other issues that have to be addressed. Our background is in football and data analytics and it should therefore not be surprising that we are taking a very detailed forensic look at the realities of Bury FC's finances. A club like Bury ought to have a viable long-term future even if the short-term future is clearly very challenging. To that end we have been in discussions with the EFL about an extension so that we can continue to explore the prospects for a purchase." The EFL have said that "limited progress" has been made.

Butler Not In It For The Money

English coach Paul Butler has said he is not taking the job of Liberian head coach for the money. Unsurprisingly really, as I doubt it is particularly well paid! Butler told the BBC: "It was an opportunity, which really I didn't want to turn down. So it is not a money move. I can assure you. So it is not about financial gain. It is about great challenge of contributing to the rise of Liberian football. Not just the senior national team but also the respective development levels like under-20 and under-17, where needed, I am quite happy to multitask. It is very very important to work with Liberian coaches. So I am not thinking about bringing coaches [backroom staff] from outside. There is a huge amount of talent here. From my experiences of working in English, Asian and African football and trying to enhance the level of the league here and from a development perspective, the ultimate goal is to improve [Liberia's] Fifa ranking and qualify for Afcon."

Rangers Ordered To Close Part Of Ibrox

UEFA have punished Rangers following "racist behaviour - which includes sectarian singing" from fans during their Europa League match with Legia Warsaw on Thursday. They have been ordered to close at least 3000 seats and cover the empty area with a banner which reads "#EqualGame" on it. A Rangers statement read: "Our supporters have been asked repeatedly by the club to refrain from indulging in this, and other forms of unacceptable behaviour. Sadly, the warnings have fallen on deaf ears and the actions of this minority will cause the club and the majority of good and decent Rangers supporters to pay a heavy penalty. Unfortunately, a significant number of supporters, innocent of any wrongdoing, will be unable to attend next week's match. This is deeply regrettable to all at the club and we hope that the guilty parties who attracted the attention of Uefa might reflect on the damage their unacceptable behaviour is causing Rangers and their fellow supporters. If any individual supporter is unable to behave in a civilised manner then please stay away from Ibrox and our club. You are harming Rangers and that is something a genuine supporter would never wish to do." Rangers manager Steven Gerrard said: "I hope it's the last time we have to deal with questions on fan behaviour. We've been here before. We want our fans to go to the games, enjoy it and get behind the team. That's what being a fan is all about. We've got one of the best fan bases in the world. They follow us in large numbers home and away and they have got a reputation for being the best supporters in the world. So when you hear stuff like this it damages that reputation. All I can do is echo what's been said in the statement and plead with fans to behave in the right manner when they come to support the team."

Torres Hangs Up His Boots

World Cup winning Spain striker Fernando Torres has played his final game. The 35 year old who played for Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea, then Atletico Madrid again before moving to Japan to join Sagan Tosu. His team lost his final game 6-1 to a team containing fellow Spanish World Cup winners and friends Andres Iniesta and David Villa.

Written by Tris Burke August 24 2019 00:37:31