Football News: Review Of The Day 15th April 2022

Image from: freelargeimages.com

Review of the Day

Become a Patron!

Contracts

Juventus have given their Italian goalkeeper Mattia Perrin a new contract which will expire in 2025.

Swansea City's veteran former Tottenham Hotspur full-back Kyle Naughton has extended his deal until the end of next season.

Gianluca Scamacca's new deal with Sassuolo will tie him to the club until 2026.

Vancouver Whitecaps winger Cristian Danjome has a new deal which runs until 2024 with a club option for a futher year.

Veteran Portugese midfielder Miguel Veloso has extended his contract with Hellas Verona for a year to take in next season.

Monaco have given youngsters Fouad El Maach and Louis Torres new deals which will end in 2024.

Teenage goalkeeper Lucas Lavellee has signed a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain which runs until 2025.

In the Indian Super League goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh has put pen to paper on a new deal with Odisha which will expire in 2025 but has an option for another year on top.

Transfers

The exodus from the Ukrainian war continues with Nikolai Zolotov the latest to leave the area. The Belarussian left-back has moved to Bastia in France's Ligue 2 from Ukrainian side Kolos Kovalivka on loan.

Major League Soccer's Cincinnati have paid £2.45m to sign Obinna Nwobodo from Goztepe.

Georgian midfielder Zuriko Davitashvili has joined Dinamo Batumi on a free transfer from Russian side Arsenal Tula.

Jose Mauri has been released by MLS side Sporting Kansas City.

Brazilian midfielder Edson has moved to Atletico Goianiense on loan from Ukrainian Premier Liga side Rukh Lviv.

Queens Park Rangers have loaned Niko Hamalainen to Botafogo.

Internacional have paid £1.8m to sign Alan Patrick from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Inter Milan have loaned young Brazilian keeper Gabriel Brazao to Cruzeiro.

Goias have taken Juninho on loan from Zorya Lugansk.

Lazio have sent Andre Anderson to Sao Paulo on loan.

Former Arsenal youngster Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been released by Aberdeen.

England keeper Sam Johnstone is to sit out the end of the season with West Bromwich Albion, with Steve Bruce dropping the 29-year-old due to his contract expiring at the end of the season. With Johnstone telling the club he will be leaving, Bruce has decided to try out number 2 goalkeeper David Button.

A similar situation is taking place at Cardiff City, with number one keeper Alex Smithies dropped after telling the Bluebirds he would be leaving in the summer on a free transfer.

Hartlepool United have been awarded a "six-figure" compensation sum for Luca Murphy from Fulham. The youngster joined Fulham 11 days after leaving Hartlepool due to "mutual termination" of his contract after Fulham had originally agreed a fee for him only to then claim to no longer have interest in signing him after he had spent some time at Fulham. Hartlepool chairman Raj Singh said: "I'm obviously delighted. The circumstances and timeline around Luca's departure speak for itself and we always considered that compensation was due. Luca was a player that was with us from the age of nine. The compensation is probably a drop in the ocean for a big club like Fulham, but it is a large amount for Hartlepool United which at the time was a non-league club. It was also withheld during an incredibly difficult period that included the Covid pandemic. That approach could literally have sent our club to the wall. I am bitterly disappointed at the manner in which Fulham have conducted their business. As a club we did everything we possibly could to resolve this amicably for nearly three years and we've been ignored, seen delays and had technicalities thrown at us throughout."

Injury Round Up

Newport County midfielder Robbie Wilmott has picked up a knee injury which will keep the experienced man out for 6 weeks.

Managerial Changes

David 'Rhino' Unsworth is leaving his role as Everton academy director and U-23s manager in order to pursue ambitions to become a first team manager. The 48-year-old has previously been in caretaker charge at the Toffees and is now looking for a permanent position.

Egypt have appointed Ehab Galal to replace Carlos Quieroz as their new national head coach. The 54-year-old was managing Pyramids in the Egyptian league.

Patrice Beaumelle has left his position as head coach of the Cote d'Ivoire national team after their FA decided against renewing his contract. Ivory Coast failed to qualify for this year's World Cup under him and went out in the last-16 of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Walsall have sacked technical director Jamie Fullarton after his choice of manager in Matt Taylor failed. Walsall are currently 18th in League Two.

Disciplinary Charges

Arsenal are investigating homophobic abuse from their fans during the 2-1 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion. Two Arsenal supporters were thrown out of the Emirates Stadium during the match and they are looking to identify others involved.

QPR have been fined £5,000 and their assistant manager John Eustace £3,000 for incidents during their defeat to Fulham at the start of the month. Eustace also has a one-match touchline ban.

Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini will go on trial in Switzerland in June on corruption charges. Both men have been banned from football by FIFA after an investigation by their ethics committee but (hilariously in Blatter's case) deny any wrongdoing. The pair are charged with fraud, embezzlement, unfaithful business management and forgery of documents.

Both Ipswich Town and Cambridge United have been fined £2,500 following scuffles between players at the end of their League One game early this month.

Tranmere Rovers have been fined £3,000 and Carlisle United £1,500 after a melee between their players following a red card being shown to Calum McDonald of Rovers.

Ukraine Invasion

Chelsea director Eugene Tenenbaum has joined the list of Russian oligarchs to be sanctioned by the British government. Tenenbaum's assets have been frozen.

The reshuffle to fixtures to allow Ukraine's World Cup play-off semi-final against Scotland to be postponed will see the Republic of Ireland face Armenia to open their Nations League campaign. They were set to face Ukraine on 4th June, just 3 days after the rescheduled Scotland v Ukraine play-off, but now they will face the Armenians on the 4th and Ukraine will be next up on the 8th June.
Republic of Ireland Nations League fixtures
4 June - Armenia (a)
8 June - Ukraine (h)
11 June - Scotland (h)
14 June - Ukraine (tbc)
24 September - Scotland (a)
27 September - Armenia (h)

Red Devils To Redevelop

The architects who designed Tottenham Hotspur's stadium have been appointed by Manchester United to work on the redevelopment of Old Trafford. United are looking to increase the capacity from its current size of 74,000. A club statement read: "Work will begin immediately on developing options for Old Trafford and studying their feasibility, with the aim of significantly enhancing the fan experience. Fans will be at the heart of the process, starting with a meeting between the consultants and the Manchester United fans' advisory board later this month." A different firm has been appointed to draw up plans for a new, "expanded, state-of-the-art facility" at their training ground.

Xhaka Complains About Lack Of Respect

Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has talked to Players Tribune about the time he was jeered by Gunners' fans as he weas substituted against Crystal Palace in a home match. The Swiss international ended up confronting his own teams' fans after he reacted by waving and cupping his ear sarcastically in response to the jeers. Xhaka said: "I had barely begun to move when I heard the boos. And it was not just a few guys in the corner - it was a lot of people. I was shocked. I had never experienced anything like this. This is hate. Pure hate. I am really not exaggerating this. To feel that level of hatred and disrespect - I wouldn't want it for my worst enemy. Still to this day, if we have lost, I hate walking those last metres to the tunnel, because I still recognise the faces. The same people are sitting there. So now, I just keep my head down. I lived through that nightmare once. I don't ever want to do it again. When I close my eyes now, I can still see their faces. I can see their anger. The passports were out. I was done with Arsenal. Finished. When we are losing, I know what people are saying about me. When we are playing well, nobody says anything, but I know what people think. I don't forget what I hear. 'He gets too many cards. He's killing our game.' Listen, the cards have always been part of my game. They were in Germany, too. Remember the 50-50? I'm all in, and it's the same in training. If I elbow a player, I'll be the first one to say, 'I'm sorry.' But a tackle? Come on, guys. This is not ballet. It's like broken glass, you know? You can piece it together, but the cracks will always be there. I would like us to have a better relationship. I would like us to understand each other better. I understand that we will never be best friends, but I hope we can treat each other with honesty and respect. I want you to know that whatever I do on the pitch, it comes from the right place. Yes, for 90 minutes I am Granit Xhaka, Arsenal midfielder. But the rest of the week I'm just a Swiss guy living in London with his wife and two kids."

Become a Patron!

Written by Tris Burke April 15 2022 09:43:56