Luton winger Chiedozie Ogbene has completed a move to Premier League newcomers Ipswich for an undisclosed fee.
The 27-year-old Republic of Ireland international, who scored four times in 30 appearances for the Hatters in last season’s top flight, has signed a four-year contract.
Ogbene told Town TV: “I’m very excited and feel lucky to have this opportunity to play in the Premier League again.
“It’s an opportunity I had to grab with both hands and I can’t wait to be involved as soon as possible.”
Ogbene began his career in Ireland with Cork City and Limerick before spells at Brentford, Rotherham and Luton.
Burnley have continued their squad overhaul by signing Hannibal Mejbri on a four-year deal from Manchester United.
The Tunisia attacking midfielder, 21, joins for an undisclosed fee and is the eighth new arrival at Turf Moor this summer.
“I’m very excited. Very happy to be here and I can’t wait to see the fans,” he said.
“After speaking to the coach (Scott Parker), the project sounded good to me and hopefully we can make it a success.”
Mejbri joined United in 2021 – the same year he made his Tunisia debut – and spent loan spells at Birmingham and Sevilla.
Manchester City full-back Joao Cancelo has joined Al Hilal on a permanent deal.
Manchester City’s Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (C) speaks to Manchester City’s Portuguese defender Joao Cancelo (R) during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on August 13, 2022. -. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
It is understood Cancelo moves to the Saudi Pro League in a deal worth 25million euros (£21.1m), ending the Portugal international’s five-year stay with City after arriving at the club in a £60m move from Juventus.
“I would like to wish everyone at City continued success in the future,” Cancelo, 30, was quoted as saying on the Premier League club’s website.
“I had many very special moments during my time here at this great club.
“I would like to thank my team-mates, the coaches, all the staff at City and the fans for everything during my time here.”
Cancelo made 154 appearances for City and was part of three Premier League title-winning sides at the Etihad Stadium.
He went out on loan to Bayern Munich in January 2023 and spent last season at Barcelona.
Cancelo represented Portugal at this summer’s European Championship in Germany.
But he did not feature in City’s first two Premier League games this season, against Chelsea and Ipswich.
City director of football Txiki Begiristain said: “I would like to thank Joao for his contribution during a remarkable period at City.
“He made a big impact in title-winning campaigns and was a huge influence on the pitch.”
Chelsea have completed the signing of Danish goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen from Villarreal on a seven-year deal.
Jorgensen, a Denmark Under-21 international, is the Blues’ eighth summer signing under new boss Enzo Maresca and will provide competition for current goalkeepers Robert Sanchez and Djordje Petrovic.
Chelsea said on their official website: “The 22-year-old has signed a seven-year contract with the Blues and joins up with his new team-mates during our summer tour of the USA.”
Filip Jorgensen in action for Villareal
Jorgensen, born in Sweden, progressed through Villarreal’s youth set up and made 37 appearances for the Spanish club in all competitions last season after making his LaLiga debut in January 2023.
He added: “This move is a dream come true. I am very excited to have signed for Chelsea, one of the biggest clubs in the world
“I can’t wait to get to know everyone and to start playing with all my new team-mates.”
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Marc Guiu, Omari Kellyman, Tosin Adarabioyo, Renato Veiga, Caleb Wiley and Estevao Willian have all arrived at Stamford Bridge since the end of last season.
Former Leicester boss Maresca was appointed as Chelsea’s head coach in June following the departure by mutual consent of Mauricio Pochettino.
Arsenal have completed the signing of Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna as Emile Smith Rowe appears set to depart the Emirates Stadium.
Calafiori, 22, was highlighted as a priority target for the Gunners this season and they have landed their man for a fee of £42million.
Calafiori has signed a five-year deal at the Emirates having played for Italy during their Euro 2024 campaign.
“We welcome Riccardo and his family to Arsenal. He is a great signing and gives us huge strength to reinforce our defence,” said manager Mikel Arteta.
“Riccardo is a big personality and character, with specific skills which will make us stronger as we push to win major trophies.
“He has already shown great development in recent seasons with his performances for both Bologna and Italy, with his progression and development in the past year being really impressive.
“We’re looking forward to working with Riccardo, integrating him into the squad, and supporting him in the years to come.”
Calafiori, who can also operate at left-back, becomes Arsenal’s second major summer acquisition after David Raya’s loan move from Brentford was made permanent.
FIFA’s disciplinary committee has opened proceedings against Canada Soccer and several individuals, including head coach Bev Priestman, amid claims a drone was used to spy on Olympic rivals New Zealand.
Bev Priestman
Assistant coach Jasmine Mander and Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer, have been sent home in connection with what the Canadian Olympic Committee has said it believes to be two separate instances of a drone being used to record Football Ferns training sessions.
Priestman, once the assistant to former Lionesses boss Phil Neville, has announced she will not take charge of the defending Olympic champions for Thursday’s New Zealand clash, their tournament opener, with ex-Everton manager Andy Spence filling in.
A statement read: “The FIFA disciplinary committee has opened proceedings against Canada Soccer, Ms Beverly Priestman, Mr Joseph Lombardi and Ms Jasmine Mander due to the potential breach of article 13 of the FIFA disciplinary code and article 6.1 of the regulations Olympic football tournaments games of the XXXIII Olympiad Paris 2024 – final competition, following incidents involving a non-accredited member of the Canadian delegation at the Women’s Olympic football tournament, who is believed to have used a drone to record the New Zealand women’s football team.
“The matter will be submitted for the consideration of the disciplinary committee in the next days.”
Canada Soccer president Peter Augruso and CEO/general secretary Kevin Blue also expressed their “unequivocal disapproval” in a joint statement announcing that their organisation would be conducting its own independent investigation.
It read: “On behalf of our federation, we offer our sincere apologies to the impacted players, coaches, and officials.
“Canada Soccer has always sought to prioritise integrity and fair competition, and we understand that competing with honesty is a baseline expectation for all Canadians. We failed to meet those expectations in this case, and for that, we apologise.
“As an immediate next step, Canada Soccer will proceed with an independent external review. This review will address the circumstances of the current matter, and more broadly, will seek to understand the historical culture of competitive ethics within all of our programs.
“The outcome of this review will be shared publicly and corrective actions, if necessary, will be taken. We will maintain prompt and transparent communication on this matter.”
A statement from the COC said Mander and Lombardi would be sent home immediately and Canada Soccer staff would undergo “mandatory ethics training”.
Priestman said: “On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologise to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada,” Priestman said.
“This does not represent the values that our team stands for. I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our programme. Accordingly, to emphasise our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday.
“In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld.”
The COC said it was told a non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team had been detained by French authorities in St Etienne following a complaint by New Zealand Football on July 22.
Following the COC’s review of that incident it said it had learned of a “second drone incident” on July 19.
St Patrick’s Athletic have put themselves in a commanding position in their Europa Conference League tie against Vaduz with a 2-1 win at Richmond Park.
Jake Mulraney scored twice in the first 17 minutes to give Stephen Kenny’s side the advantage in the first half.
The Liechtenstein side pulled a goal back, before Joe Redmond restored the two goal advantage in the 77th minute.
By contrast, Shelbourne’s second round qualifier with Zurich looks to be over after this evening’s first leg.
Damien Duff’s side were beaten 3-0 in Switzerland, having conceded inside 28 seconds.
Shelbourne will need a miracle ahead of the second leg in Tolka Park.
Argentina’s match against Morocco at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard was suspended for over an hour following a reaction from the crowd when Cristian Medina scored a late equaliser.
Morocco led the Group B clash 2-1 and in the final stages of the game Argentina hit the frame of the goal twice before midfielder Medina struck in the 16th minute of stoppage time to level the match.
However, his equaliser sparked objects being thrown onto the pitch and players were taken off for their safety.
Fans were then asked to leave the stadium with a message being projected on screens that read: “Your session has been suspended, please leave the stadium.”
After over an hour without play, the game resumed behind closed doors with three minutes left on the clock and Medina’s 106th-minute leveller was chalked off for an offside in the build-up.
The game finished 2-1 to Morocco thanks to Soufiane Rahimi’s brace.
Uefa has started disciplinary proceedings against Spanish players Alvaro Morata and Rodri over their behaviour during a Euro 2024 presentation in Madrid this month, European soccer’s governing body confirmed on Tuesday.
The players sang ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’ on July 15th, the day after they won the European Championship with a 2-1 victory over England in Berlin, during a public celebration in the Spanish capital.
Alvaro Morata wears the captain armband for Rodri at the 2024 Euros in Germany
Gibraltar is a British territory located at the southern tip of Spain.
Gibraltar’s Football Association filed a formal complaint to Uefa about the chant, and Uefa appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector to evaluate whether it violated regulations.
The charges against Rodri and Morata include violating the basic rules of decent conduct, general principles of conduct, using sporting events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and bringing the sport of football into disrepute.
Leon Bailey fired Aston Villa to a 1-0 win over Manchester City which equalled a club record with a 14th consecutive home victory and lifted them above the stuttering champions into third place in the Premier League.
Bailey’s 74th-minute strike came thanks to a deflection off Ruben Dias but few inside Villa Park cared amid jubilant celebrations.
Unai Emery’s first career win over Pep Guardiola in 14 attempts came in his 50th match in charge of Villa, a side he has transformed from relegation battlers to top-four contenders in the space of a year.
For City it was yet another sign of their over-reliance on the suspended Rodri. They are unbeaten in their last 43 matches in which the Spain midfielder has played, but their four defeats this season have all come when he has been serving a ban.
With Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku also missing through suspension and injury respectively, Guardiola was forced into a midfield that included two defenders, John Stones and Rico Lewis, with another, Manuel Akanji, pushing forward.
Villa knew they could get at such an imbalanced City side and did so from the start.
City’s lack of fluidity only encouraged a Villa side already high on confidence in front of their own fans and they were all over the champions in the first half, beating the high line with regularity as Ederson was forced into early saves to deny Bailey and Pau Torres.
At the other end, Erling Haaland was denied twice in quick succession by Emiliano Martinez in the 11th minute. Villa’s World Cup winner pushed his low shot to one side and then, when Bernardo Silva picked up the rebound to cross, recovered to palm his close-range header to safety.
But that was a rare foray forward for City, who struggled to get out of their own half as Villa repeatedly picked off the ball, having 13 shots at goal in the first half alone.
They thought they had their reward on the stroke of half time. After Ederson pushed Ollie Watkins’ shot to the side, Lucas Digne stretched to cross and Douglas Luiz headed in, but the flag went in with the ball narrowly out of play.
Stones dropped back into a more conventional position to start the second half and City began to pop the ball around with something approaching their usual confidence, but without getting a sight of goal.
Instead it was Villa who threatened just after the hour mark. Bailey pounced on a loose pass from Silva and played a sweeping ball to John McGinn, who cut inside but saw his shot bounce the wrong side of the post.
City were once again struggling to get out of their own half, and Guardiola responded by sending on midfield reinforcements in Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes for Lewis and Julian Alvarez, with Oscar Bobb replacing Foden soon after.
But Bobb had barely come on to the pitch when Villa took the lead. Bailey cut inside and left Josko Gvardiol behind far too easily, then checked his run on the edge of the box to hit a right-footed shot which deflected off Dias to beat Ederson.
Five minutes later, Luiz almost scored against his former club as Watkins’ shot was deflected up in the air and he pounced on the rebound to force a fine save from Ederson.
Luiz was denied again in the 86th minute when his curling shot bounced back off the post, but City had no response as their winless league run stretched to four, something which last happened in 2017.
For Villa it was a 23rd home win of the calendar year. They can match a top-flight club record that dates back to 1931 when Arsenal visit on Saturday.
