Month: August 2020

The former Super Eagles captain made a goalscoring debut for the Championship outfit on Tuesday

John Obi Mikel scored his first Stoke City goal in their 5-1 hammering of Shrewsbury Town in Tuesday’s pre-season friendly match.

Mikel who joined the Potters on a free transfer earlier this month, made his first start for Stoke City at the club’s Clayton Wood training ground.

The 33-year-old restored the hosts’ lead just before the break after Oakley-Boothe’s opener was cancelled out by Shrewsbury Town.

Mikel was in action for 45 minutes before he was replaced by Tom Ince while DR Congo’s Benik Afobe was introduced for Lee Gregory, nine minutes after the hour-mark.

Following Tuesday’s convincing victory, Mikel will be eager to steer the Potters to victory when they host Blackpool for their League Cup fixture at bet365 Stadium on Saturday.

Meanwhile, O’Neill has lauded the former Nigeria captain for showing an instant impact in the team with his hard work.

“John’s been great in his first few days. You can see his quality, there’s no doubt, people in the group see his quality,” he was quoted by Stoke Sentinel.

Stoke City are scheduled to begin their 2020-21 Championship campaign on September 12 with a trip to Millwall.

Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has agreed a new deal that will keep him at the club until 2023.

The 33-year-old’s current deal at the King Power Stadium was due to expire in two years.

However, Vardy has been rewarded with a one-year extension after finishing last season as the Premier League’s top scorer with 23 goals.

“It’s a special feeling to be able to commit my future to Leicester City once again,” Vardy said.

“I love playing my football in front of our fans at King Power Stadium and I’m delighted to continue this journey at such an exciting time for the club.

“We’ve a fantastic team that I believe is capable of getting even better and I can’t wait to see what we can achieve together in the next few years.”

Ajax and Netherlands defender Daley Blind collapsed during Tuesday’s pre-season friendly against Hertha Berlin.

Blind, 30, was diagnosed with a heart condition in December 2019 after suffering from dizziness during a Champions League game against Valencia.

The former Manchester United player returned to action in February after having an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) fitted.

Ajax boss Erik Ten Hag said Blind was feeling “OK” after being substituted.

“Daley Blind’s ICD went off. He got subbed off straight away and he is feeling OK now, he is feeling fine,” Ten Hag told Dutch TV station Ziggo Sport.

“We will do research about this now.

Lionel Messi has communicated to Barcelona that he wants to leave the club and will activate a clause to end unilaterally his contract.

It has also been reported that the club will defend their rights to demand a fee for the player, rather than let him go for free. The club claim the clause became inactive after June 10th.

His decision to call time on his career at Barcelona comes following the most humiliating defeat he has suffered while playing for the club, losing 8-2 in the Champions League quarter final to Bayern Munich.

It was after that game that rumours started to circulate that Messi had come to the end of his tether at Barça, as journalist Marcelo Bechler, the man who first broke the news that Neymar would move to PSG, reported that Messi wanted a move.

It is a situation that neither the club nor Messi ever wanted to happen. He would happily spend the rest of his career at the Camp Nou if he had any faith in the board to oversee the sort of changes the club has needed for a while. But having dragged Barcelona to title wins in 2018 and 2019, not with the help of the board’s recruitment but in spite of it, he does not owe them anything more.

He has given his best years to the club, has not won a Champions League for five years, and does not want to waste any more time at a club going through a rebuild as his legs begin to wane.

Where he goes now is another matter, but there will not be a shortage of takers for the greatest player of all time.

Inter Milan are understood to be interested in bringing Messi to the San Siro, while Barça have also shown interest in Lautaro Martínez. The Italian club are understood to have the financial might to match his wage demands too.

Another option for Messi will be a reunion with his former manager Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. Guardiola has not won the Champions League since he managed Messi at Barcelona and with the coach only likely to stay at City for another year, a Last Dance with his old mentor could tempt Messi towards Manchester.

AS Roma have completed the signing of Pedro, who was a free agent after leaving Chelsea this month, on a three-year contract.

AS Roma have made an official statement to confirm that they have secured the services of Pedro on a three-year contract that will run through to 30 June 2023. The Spanish winger joins the Serie A giants on a free transfer, having departed Chelsea at the end of his contract this month.

Pedro is one of the most decorated players of all time, having won 25 trophies over his stints with Barcelona and Chelsea as well as the Spanish national side. The 33-year-old joined Chelsea in the summer of 2015 after an illustrious spell with the Blaugrana, with whom he won every possible trophy multiple times.

Over the past half-a-decade, the Spaniard was a consistent performer for the Blues, although the last couple of seasons saw him fall down the pecking order. His prospects were only going to suffer more in the upcoming season, with Chelsea already signing Hakim Ziyech while also closing in on Kai Havertz.

So, it became clear that with Chelsea becoming a more youthful side, he, like Willian, who has gone on to join Arsenal, would need to move on to a club where he can secure regular game time. As a result, Pedro started being linked with a number of clubs across Europe.

In particular, AS Roma seemed to be heavily linked with the player, with their prospects of signing him strengthening further in recent weeks. Now, the Giallorossi have gone on to land the veteran winger on a free transfer. Pedro, who is set to play Serie A football for the very first time, has put pen to paper on a three-year contract.

Upon completing the switch, the former Chelsea winger expressed his excitement, saying, “I am delighted to be here at Roma. I’m excited for this challenge and to compete to achieve our targets over the coming seasons. I want to thank the fans for the welcome they’ve given me. I hope to make them happy.”

Roma already have a stacked squad, with attack being beefed up in recent windows as well. But, despite all the talent at Paulo Fonseca’s disposal, the Serie A outfit lack an experienced figure out on the wings, especially Diego Perotti linked with a possible summer exit.

Pedro, with all his experience at the top level with Chelsea and Barcelona, is potentially a fine addition to the Roma squad. Now set for a new phase in his career, it will be interesting to see if his signing can galvanize an underperforming squad.