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SCOTT PARKER APPOINTED NEW BOURNEMOUTH BOSS

Scott Parker has been appointed head coach of Sky Bet Championship side Bournemouth on a three-year deal.

Fulham announced earlier on Monday that the 40-year-old had left the west London club, and less than four hours later he was confirmed as the new Cherries boss.

Parker replaces Jonathan Woodgate, who was told earlier this week that his short-term contract would not be renewed.

“I believe this is the perfect fit for both parties,” Parker told afcbTV. “I’m familiar with Bournemouth because of my relationship with Harry Arter.

“It’s a football club I know well from watching him over the years.

“The ethos, the reputation, the journey and the challenge here is something that’s very exciting for me and my staff.

“We want to build a team the fans can be proud of and one they feel represents them. We can’t wait to get started.”

Parker is bringing Matt Wells (assistant head coach), Rob Burch (first-team goalkeeping coach), Alastair Harris (head of performance), Charlie Moore (lead physical performance coach) and Jonathan Hill (first-team head analyst) with him to the Vitality Stadium.

Bournemouth’s chief executive Neill Blake said: “It has been a long process but I am delighted to finally get our man.

“Scott has always been our number one choice for this role and someone whose coaching career we have taken a keen interest in since his first steps in Tottenham Hotspur’s academy.

“Over a period of time he has proven himself as one of the best young head coaches in the country; someone who has a clear philosophy on how he wants to play and knows what it takes to win promotion from the Championship.

“Scott is fully invested in the long-term project in front of us here, and this is the start of an exciting new period for this club.”

Parker took caretaker charge of Fulham – his first senior managerial role – in February 2019 on a temporary basis, but was unable to keep the club out of the Premier League’s relegation zone.

After being appointed manager on a permanent basis in May that year, the Cottagers secured promotion back to the top flight after beating Brentford in the play-off final.

However, their Premier League return lasted less than a year as their relegation was confirmed following a 2-0 home defeat to Burnley last month.

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NIGERIAN FORWARD, EMMANUEL DENNIS JOINS WATFORD

Newly-promoted English Premier League club Watford FC made an official announcement on Monday that they have reached an agreement with Belgian side, Club Brugge for the transfer of Nigerian striker, Emmanuel Dennis.

Other details around the length of the contract and the financial implication are yet to be fully disclosed by the two parties.

The statement on Watford website Monday night read: “An agreement with Club Brugges has been reached for the transfer of exciting young forward Emmanuel Dennis, Watford FC is delighted to confirm.”

Dennis, 23, spent part of last season on loan in Germany’s Bundesliga with FC Köln but he failed to impress

The Nigerian forward first joined the Belgian top-flight side in the summer of 2017.

A scorer of 27 goals in less than 100 club appearances for Brugges, Dennis has featured in both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League where he scored some famous goals; including against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.

According to Watford, they are currently finalising ‘personal terms’ with the pacy striker – so far capped twice by Nigeria.

Born in the Northern Nigerian town of Yola, Dennis began his footballing quest in the country’s capital city with the Abuja Football Academy.

It was from the Abuja Academy that Dennis headed out to Europe for a professional football career in 201a 6 as he settled for the modest Ukrainian side, Zorya Luhansk despite the reported interest from a handful of othasclubs.

Watford have a rich history of Nigerian players with the likes of William Troost-Ekong and Isaac Success presently playing for the Hornets while Odion Ighalo can pass for a club legend at Vicarage Road.

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DANNY ROSE SIGNS FOR WATFORD ON A FREE TRANSFER

Tottenham defender, Danny Rose has moved to premier league returnee side, Watford on a free transfer. The North london club has released a statement to confirm this on Wednesday.

“We’ve said our goodbyes to Danny Rose already, so this is mostly just a confirmation of what we already know: Rose has left Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer and has now officially signed for Watford.”
the statement read.

This is actually the second time Danny’s gone to Watford — he spent the second half of the 2008-09 season there on loan in the Championship, where he played in seven matches as a midfielder under then-manager Brendan Rodgers. Amazing how the more things change the more the same names keep popping up in conversation.

Now that he’s on the wrong side of 30 I don’t know if he’ll be a lock-down starter at left back for Watford in the Premier League, but he’ll absolutely be in the rotation. Spurs play home to Watford on August 28, and away on New Year’s Day 2022.

Good luck to Danny, and for god’s sake please don’t score a worldly against us in August because that would both be thrilling and would make me very sad.

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COPA AMERICA: NEYMAR STARS AS BRAZIL OPEN CUP DEFENCE WITH CONVINCING WIN OVER VENEZUELA

Neymar was on target as Brazil opened their Copa America defence with a 3-0 win over Venezuela at Estadio Nacional on Monday.

Hosting the tournament after it had been moved from Colombia and Argentina amid political unrest in the former and a spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the latter, Brazil were never troubled by a Venezuela side that had reported 12 positive coronavirus tests amongst their ranks earlier this week.

Marquinhos got them on their way midway through the first half with his third international goal before Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Neymar doubled their advantage from the penalty spot in the 64th minute.

Brazil – who finished with 18 shots to Venezuela’s three – added a third late on when substitute Gabriel Barbosa turned home a Neymar cross from close range.

Brazil started on the front foot and twice went close early on, Joel Graterol keeping out Richarlison and Eder Militao heading wide from a teasing Renan Lodi cross.

They were rewarded for their bright start in the 23rd minute when Marquinhos flicked home from close range after Neymar’s corner had fallen kindly to him.

Richarlison saw an effort ruled out for offside soon after, while Neymar dragged wide from a promising position as Brazil failed to extend their advantage before the interval.

Neymar was unable to steer home a Gabriel Jesus cross at the start of the second period, but he stroked home from the spot shortly after the hour mark after Danilo had been clipped in the area by Yohan Cumana.

Late on Neymar turned provider for Brazil’s third in the 89th minute, rounding Graterol and crossing for Barbosa to chest home from almost on the line.

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GIANLUNGI DONNARUMMA NEARS MOVE TO PSG

Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly close to completing the free signing of Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Donnarumma’s eight-year spell with AC Milan will come to an end this summer after the highly-rated goalkeeper failed to agree new terms with the Italian club.

And now the 22-year-old is due to join PSG as a free agent, with the Parisian side beating the likes of Chelsea, Juventus and Manchester United to his signature.

According Sky Sports, PSG have offered Donnarumma a five-year deal worth £10million (€12m) a year plus add-ons, which will see him become the French club’s new No 1.

The report goes on to claim that Donnarumma could undergo his medical while he’s away on national team duty with Italy for Euro 2020, with any medicals to be conducted at their Coverciano training base before the tournament kicks off.

Juventus abandoned talks to sign the goalkeeper after being put off by the player’s mammoth wage demands, and were unwilling to go above £8m (€10m) per season.

Jose Mourinho was also hoping to tempt Donnarumma to his new club Roma, with the Special One said to have personally contacted the Italy international about a joining him in the capital.

However, Donnarumma looks set for France with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi spearheading the move to bring him to the Parc des Princes, despite the fact that Keylor Navas recently renewed his contract with the club.

Milan have already secure Donnarumma’s replacement, with Lille’s Mike Maignan completing his move at the end of May just days after helping the French club wrap up an unlikely Ligue 1 title.

Speaking about Donnarumma’s departure last month, Maldini said: ‘Gigio was a leader and often the captain. People sometimes don’t realise what it means to be a professional, it means you must be ready to change club.

‘It’s difficult to accept, I realise, but it’s also increasingly difficult to see a career in one team. We must respect those who gave so much to Milan and remember Donnarumma did not lack respect for us.

‘It can happen that at times you have to take different paths. I can only wish him the best.’

Having arrived in 2013, the Italy international made his first-team debut in 2015, aged just 16, and went on to make 251 appearances for them across all competitions.

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EVERTON RELEASE QUARTET OF KING, WALCOTT, BOLASIR AND BESIC

Everton have confirmed the departures of out-of-contract quartet Theo Walcott, Joshua King, Yannick Bolasie and Muhamed Besic.

Walcott, 32, who arrived at Goodison Park in a £20m switch from Arsenal in 2018 is set to join Southampton.

Norway forward King, 29, only joined the Blues in February on a deal until the end of the season.

Bolasie, 32, last played for the club in May 2018, while Besic’s last appearance was in December 2017.

Bosnian midfielder Besic was the longest-serving player of the four but was restricted to just 56 appearances after joining the club from Ferencvaros in 2014.

On-loan goalkeeper Robin Olsen also leaves Merseyside to return to his parent club Roma.

The Sweden international made seven Premier League appearances last term having being brought in to provide competition for England number one Jordan Pickford.

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AC MILAN SNAP UP FRANCE INTERNATIONAL TO REPLACE DEPARTING DONNARUMMA

GOALKEEPER Mike Maignan has signed a five-year contract with AC Milan, the Serie A club have announced.

The 25-year-old, who is the third-choice goalkeeper for the French national team, will have the tough task of succeeding Italian first-choice Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose departure was made official yesterday.

Maignan helped Lille win the French league title on Sunday while AC Milan finished second in Serie A, 12 points behind their neighbours Inter. He will officially join AC Milan when the Italian transfer window opens in July.

Italian media reported that Milan will pay Lille €15million. Lille confirmed “the total agreement reached with AC Milan for the transfer of Mike Maignan”.

They called him ‘the Magic Eagle’ and said “he will leave an indelible mark on history with a championship title that no one will forget”.

They pointed out he had kept a clean sheet at the San Siro when Lille won 3-0 away to AC Milan in a Europa League group match in November.

Maignan, who was born in Cayenne in French Guyana, has one France cap and has been selected for the Euros.

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LIVERPOOL COMPLETE LOAN DEAL FOR OZAN KABAK

Liverpool have completed the transfer of Ozan Kabak from Schalke 04 on loan until the end of the season, subject to international clearance.

The 20-year-old defender will spend the remainder of 2020-21 with the Reds after he put pen to paper on the deal on deadline day.

Kabak completed the formalities of the switch in Germany and will travel to Merseyside later this week.

The Turkey international arrives at Anfield after two years in the Bundesliga, where he represented VfB Stuttgart before joining Schalke in July 2019.

Prior to moving to Germany, Kabak came through the ranks at Galatasaray, where he gained Champions League experience with four appearances in the tournament in 2018-19.

On the international front, he has earned seven caps for Turkey to date.

He will wear No.19 for Liverpool.

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ARSENAL SIGN BRIGHTON GOALKEEPER MATT RYAN ON LOAN.

Arsenal have signed Australian goalkeeper Mat Ryan on loan from Brighton for the rest of the season from Brighton.

The 28-year-old has made 124 appearances since signing for Brighton in 2017 but he’s been out of favour with Graham Potter’s side after losing his place to Robert Sanchez in December.

Brighton boss Potter says Ryan wanted to leave the club in the hope of getting more first team opportunities elsewhere.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said: “We know Mat very well through his performances with Brighton in recent seasons and he brings additional quality to our squad.

“Mat has very good Premier League experience and has played over 100 times in the league, which is something that will benefit us greatly on and off the pitch.

“We welcome Mat to Arsenal and look forward to working with him this season.”

Arsenal Technical director Edu added “Mat is an experienced goalkeeper, a proven talent in the Premier League and has also played many internationals for Australia.

“Mat will further strengthen our squad with his experience and knowledge of playing at the highest level.

“Following Matt Macey’s recent move to Hibernian, Mat will provide very good competition and positive support to all our goalkeepers and we are looking forward to him integrating quickly into the set-up here at Arsenal.”

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PSG TO DECIDE ON DELE ALLI’S SIGNING THIS WEEK.

Paris St Germain expect a decision this week on their efforts to sign Tottenham’s Dele Alli, according to the Daily Mirror. The paper report the midfielder is ready to make the loan switch with the European Championship coming up and ex-manager Mauricio Pochettino in the hotseat at the Ligue 1 club.

Derby have angered Manchester City by blocking their efforts to sign Scott Carson on a permanent deal, the Daily Mail reports. The back-up goalkeeper has spent the last two seasons on loan at the Etihad, but the Sky Bet Championship club are set to receive around £500,000 this month to cover his loan for the rest of the campaign and are unwilling to end the agreement.

Dele Alli has not been an integral part of José Mourinho’s team since the arrival of the Portuguese, and the Special One makes no secret about it.

Incessant injuries further dropped the English star down the pecking order at the London club and a move away may now be a step towards revival if the player must continue to be considered in the three lions team.