Categories
football Sports News Transfer News

XHERDAN SHAKIR JOINS MANE AND THIAGO IN ISOLATION AS SWISS TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19.

Liverpool forward Xherdan Shaqiri has tested positive for coronavirus, the Swiss football association has confirmed.

The 28-year-old is the THIRD Reds player to contract COVID-19 in the last seven days, after both Sadio Mane and Thiago Alcantara tested positive last week.

Shaqiri is currently on international duty with Switzerland, having only linked up with his national team on Monday, and has now entered self-isolation in his homeland.

“Xherdan Shaqiri has tested positive for Covid-19,” read a statement from the Swiss Football Association on Tuesday morning.

“In consultation with the health authorities, he is in isolation.

“The strict protective measures and requirements of UEFA for national teams in accordance with the ‘UEFA Return to Play Protocol’ have been strictly adhered to since the move began.

“Based on this, clarifications are currently underway with the local health authorities about how to proceed.”

Self-isolation guidelines in Switzerland differ slightly from in the UK, as people must remain in isolation for at least ten days after the point symptoms first appeared.

Shaqiri was due to be part of the Swiss team to take on Croatia on Wednesday, followed by Nations League matches against Spain and Germany on October 10 and 13.

The Liverpool winger has made just one appearance in Jurgen Klopp’s side this season, in the 7-2 victory over Lincoln City in the Carabao Cup third round on September 24, where he opened the scoring.

He was linked with a departure from Anfield throughout the summer transfer window, especially having failed to even be named in a Premier League matchday squad this season.

Italian clubs Roma and Lazio were linked with an interest, but no deal materialised before Monday’s transfer deadline, and so he will remain with the Premier League champions until at least January.

Categories
football Sports News Transfer News

TELLES SIGNS FOR MAN UNITED

Manchester United have announced the signing of left-back Alex Telles from Porto for an undisclosed fee.

The 27-year-old joins on Man Utd a four-year deal, with an option to extend for a further year.

“I won many trophies at FC Porto and I want to continue that at United,” the Brazilian told the club’s official website. “The manager has a clear plan and direction for this team and I can’t wait to pull on the famous shirt.”

Telles will add to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s options on the left side of the Red Devils’ defence, with the new addition set to compete with Luke Shaw and Brandon Williams for a starting place.

He has spent the past five seasons at Porto, scoring 26 goals and registering more than 50 assists as an attack-minded full-back.

The defender also enjoyed spells in the UEFA Champions League with Galatasaray and Inter Milan after arriving in Europe in 2014.

Categories
football Slides Sports News Transfer News

EDISON CAVANI BECOMES A ONE-YEAR DEVIL.

Manchester United have made Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani their second Deadline Day signing, on a one-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.

The 33-year-old, who left Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, joins Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Man Utd side on a free transfer after scoring 341 goals in European club football since moving to the continent in 2007.

“I’ve worked really hard during the time off and I feel eager to compete and represent this incredible club,” Cavani told the club’s official website.

“I look forward to continuing to write my little story inside the book of football and I know that’s why my focus has to remain the same as always – work, work, work. I have had a conversation with the manager and this has increased my desire to wear this beautiful shirt.”

Cavani won six league titles with PSG and is their all-time leading scorer with 200 goals. He claimed the Golden Boot in both Ligue 1 and Serie A, having excelled in three years at Italian side Napoli.

He has also scored 50 goals in 116 international appearances for Uruguay.

Manchester United travel to St. James’s park for their next Premier League match with Newcastle United on Saturday 17 October.

Categories
football Sports News Transfer News

WALCOTT MAKES EMOTIONAL RETURN TO SOUTHAMPTON.

Everton winger Theo Walcott has returned to Southampton on loan until the end of the season, almost 15 years after he left his boyhood club.

Walcott progressed through Saints’ Academy and made his senior debut aged 16 years and 143 days in August 2005, before joining Arsenal in January 2006 after an impressive half-season in the Championship.

“I will probably cry, I bet, when I first play, and it means so much. All the people that made it happen, I can’t thank them enough. Honestly, I’m so pleased,” he told the club’s official website.

“I was seriously lost for words when Southampton came on the table, and for me it was such an easy decision.

“To get the chance to work with the manager as well and these young players that are coming through, I feel like I’ve made the right choice.”

The 31-year-old claimed 65 goals and 43 assists in 270 Premier League appearances during his 12 years with Arsenal, before joining Everton in January 2018.

He added 10 goals and eight assists in 77 PL matches for the Toffees.

Southampton are next in action on Saturday 17 October when they travel to Chelsea.

Categories
football Slides Sports News Transfer News

THOMAS PARTEY COMPLETES MOVE TO ARSENAL.

Midfielder Thomas Partey has joined Arsenal on a long-term contract from Atletico Madrid.

The 27-year-old scored four goals in 46 appearances as Atletico finished third in LaLiga and reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals last season.

Gunners manager Mikel Arteta said he is delighted to finally acquire his long-time target, who joins for an undisclosed fee.

“We have been watching Thomas for a while, so we’re now delighted to add such a high quality player to our squad,” Arteta told the club’s official website.

“He is a dynamic midfielder with great energy. He brings a lot of experience from a top club that have competed at the highest level in LaLiga and the Champions League for several years.”

Partey joins fellow new signings Willian, Gabriel and Runar Alex Runarsson at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal also wrapped up permanent deals for loanees Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares this summer.

The Ghana international will wear the No 18 shirt.

Arsenal’s next match is at Manchester City on Saturday 17 October.

Categories
football Slides Sports News Transfer News

BAYERN MUNICH CONFIRM THE SIGNING OF ERIC MAXIM CHOUPO-MOTING FROM PSG

Bayern Munich have confirmed the signing of former Stoke and Paris Saint-Germain striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting on a short-term contract until the summer of 2021.

Choupo-Moting has been without a club since leaving PSG in August, with his last appearance actually the 2020 Champions League against Bayern in Lisbon.

The 31-year-old Cameroon international was born in Germany and started his career with Hamburg, before later playing for Nurnberg, Mainz and Schalke.

Following a disappointing season with Stoke in 2017/18 that ended in relegation, Choupo-Moting’s switch to PSG soon afterwards was surprising enough. With only nine goals in 51 appearances under his belt, a move to Bayern now comes as an even greater shock.

But the player himself is revelling in the opportunity to play for another huge club.

“It’s a great feeling to come back to the Bundesliga – and then to the biggest club in Germany,” he told his new club’s official website.

“Who wouldn’t want to play for FC Bayern? It’s an honor to play for this club. At FC Bayern, the aim is always to win everything, and I am highly motivated to achieve these goals.”

Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic added, “I am happy that we were able to sign Eric. He gives our squad a depth on the offensive, especially in the centre, which we will need.

“Eric gained international experience at Paris Saint-Germain, he knows the Bundesliga, Eric is coming on a free transfer. It all fits together very well.”

Categories
football Slides Sports News Transfer News

TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY: EVERTON SIGNS GODFREY FROM NORWICH CITY.

Everton have announced the first signing of Transfer Deadline Day in defender Ben Godfrey from Norwich City.

The centre-back joins on a five-year deal as Everton’s fifth signing of the summer and has been given the No 22 shirt at Goodison Park.

“The aim for me at Everton is to win trophies and win games,” the 22-year-old told Everton’s official website.

“This is a club full of history that has an exciting team full of world-class players who will help me kick on to the next level.

“The manager’s past speaks for itself. He has worked with some top-class centre-backs. I will be able to learn so much from him.”

Godfrey returns to the Premier League after suffering relegation with Norwich last season, making 30 appearances in a breakthrough top-flight campaign.

He will spend the international break with England’s Under-21 side.

Everton’s next match is a Merseyside derby at home to Liverpool that the Toffees will head into as leaders.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

BARCELONA ANNOUNCE £95M LOSS FOR 2019/2020 SEASON.

Barcelona have announced that they have sustained losses of £95m for the 2019/20, citing the covid crisis as a key reason for the drop in revenue.

Barca have had to sell to buy players this summer as the realities of the coronavirus have impacted the club’s ability to operate fluidly in the market.

And their statement stated that commercial deals that were subsequently cancelled as a result of football being stopped for a period of three months has directly impacted their ability to generate capital.

The club also estimate that in excess of £30m has been loss due to a lack of footfall visiting their official stores and buying merchandise.

Barcelona have been on a mission to drastically reduce their wage bill this summer, and were able to offload two high earners, Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic, to Atletico Madrid and Sevilla respectively. They estimate they will have saved nearly £70m, taking into account other departures from the playing squad.

The club also announced that in the past decade it had spent in the region of £1.5Bn on transfer fees, and with sales taken into consideration, a net loss of £70m in the market.

The numbers show the impact the coronavirus crisis has had at the highest echelon of the game, and why Barca’s business this summer has been so muted.

Categories
football Slides Sports News

SPURS DEFEAT MY WORST DAY AT UNITED – OGS

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Manchester United’s 6-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur was his worst-ever day at the club before condemning Spurs forward Erik Lamela for his contribution to Anthony Martial’s first-half sending off.

United have now lost both home games in the Premier League this season, conceding nine goals in the process, after being humiliated by Jose Mourinho’s Spurs.

And United manager Solskjaer who played at Old Trafford from 1996 to 2007 and has been manager since 2018, said he has not endured a worse day during his time with the club.

It’s a horrible feeling, the worst day I’ve had as a Manchester United manager and player,” Solskjaer said. “You don’t win games of football by making individual mistakes, errors, making a performance like that.

“It’s alarming, nowhere near good enough. I hold my hand up. It’s my decision to pick the team and as a squad it’s not good enough for Manchester United.

“When you have a defeat like this, which has happened at the club before, you’ve just got to look yourself in the mirror.”

United were already 2-1 behind when Martial was sent off by referee Anthony Taylor on 29 minutes for slapping Lamela while defending a corner.

Lamela’s reaction prompted ridicule from Solskjaer.

“This is like a very two-edged sword for me,” Solskjaer said. “Anthony, well done for not going down when the lad struck you in the throat, but then you shouldn’t react to it like that with a slap in his throat.

“If you do that there’s always a chance they are going to send you off, but come on, if that was my son I’d put him in the attic for two weeks without food. You don’t go down like that, at all. It’s an absolute joke.

“If that was one of my players I would absolutely hang him up to dry because you don’t go down like that.”

United defender Luke Shaw suggested he and his teammates gave up following Martial’s red card.

“It was a lack of concentration and then a mistake, another mistake, another mistake,” he said. “We switched off. It really hurts.

“Manchester United shouldn’t lose in this manner. It really hurts, it’s embarrassing and we’ve let a lot of people down. We’ve let ourselves down and the staff down. We need to look in the mirror, we are nowhere near it at the moment. Maybe it’s lucky that we’ve got a break now.

“When we went down to 10 men maybe we gave up, there wasn’t that character on the pitch. We were too quiet and naive. There was many mistakes, we need to do more. “It’s embarrassing. I was embarrassed on the pitch. We need a long hard look at ourselves.”

Meanwhile, Mourinho showed no sympathy to his former club over the red card, adding: “I didn’t watch it. Maybe later I will. If someone can cry about the VAR decisions it is Tottenham and if someone cannot cry about VAR it is Manchester United for sure.

“I don’t know, the only thing I know is we played extremely well. I told my players that a good result here would be to win and we did that.”

Categories
football Slides Sports News

WE LOST THE PLOT AT VILLA PARK – KLOPP

Stunned Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said his side did “all the things you should not do in a football match” as they “lost the plot” to play into Aston Villa’s hands in their 7-2 humbling at Villa Park in the Premier League on Sunday.

Following on from Manchester United’s 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool added to a remarkable day as they became the first reigning English top-flight champions to ship seven goals in a league match since Arsenal in 1953.

Ollie Watkins’ first-half hat trick set Villa en route to an astonishing victory, as Liverpool slipped to a first defeat of the season thanks to a woeful showing at the back in the Midlands.

“We played into their hands, with all the goals,” Klopp said. “Then the game has a specific direction.

“We had still good moments, but our good moments lead to nothing, other than Mo’s [Mohamed Salah] two goals.

“All their good moments lead to a big chance or goals, and that makes all the difference. All the things you should not do in a football match we did tonight, but all credit to Aston Vila, as they forced us to do those things.

“The first goal had an impact but it shouldn’t. We conceded goals like that in the past, but the reaction wasn’t good, and we lost the plot.”

A combination of missed chances and poor defending were largely to blame for the loss, according to Klopp, who said he wished the team had a training session on Monday to address the issues.

“It was unexpected but it happened tonight,” Klopp said. “For me it wasn’t a specific moment, we put all our rubbish things and mistakes in one game and hopefully we can start again.

“Tonight wasn’t sloppy, it was just bad. I have to admit that but I can’t change it. I would love to have a training session tomorrow and Tuesday and to talk about it, but the boys go back off to international duty. Hopefully they come back healthy and we use the two days to prepare for Everton.”

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith hailed the effort from his side, as they made it three wins from three in extraordinary fashion, to move up to second in the table, ahead of Liverpool in fifth.

“It was just sheer hard work and effort,” Smith said. “The work ethic, when Jurgen Klopp says ‘wow’ to you you know you’ve done something right. The lads were superb, they executed the game plan perfectly. We were at our best today.

“It’s a good start, an exceptional result and a really good start. We won’t get complacent but we’ll enjoy tonight because results like that don’t come around too often. We’ve got a lot of pride and confidence going into the international break.”