Liverpool are set to sign defender Ronald Araújo on a season-long loan deal from Barcelona, sources told ESPN. The deal includes an option for a permanent transfer. The Reds’ new head coach Andoni Iraola has been in the market for a defender to help bolster his back line, with Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni and Jérémy Jacquet all currently working their way back from injury. – Sources: Man City reject Barça’s…
Clubs in the National League System must remove brick or concrete walls around pitches or use padding to cover them following a safety review prompted by the death of Chichester City forward Billy Vigar. Former Arsenal youth striker Vigar, who was 21, died in September last year after suffering a brain injury when he collided with a concrete barrier trying to keep a ball in play during a match at…
Manchester City have rejected Barcelona‘s opening offer for Rodri, although various sources have confirmed to ESPN that talks between the clubs will continue in the coming days with the aim of reaching an agreement. The Spain international had been in negotiations with Real Madrid for weeks, but Barcelona entered the race in earnest on Thursday after reaching an agreement with the player with the remaining hurdle being convincing City to…
Barcelona have cancelled a pre-season friendly in Morocco amid and the ongoing migration crisis in Ceuta. The LaLiga champions were due to face a local team on August 15 in Tangier as part of their pre-season preparations. The Spanish government deployed armed forces to Ceuta, its territory on the north African coast, after thousands of migrants arrived by sea in a matter of hours on Thursday and Friday last week.…
Assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis is to retire from officiating after a career which she says was “beyond anything I could ever have imagined.” Massey-Ellis will start work with the Football Association as senior manager for women referees having called time on a Premier League career that began in 2010 and has seen her officiate in more than 150 matches. At the time, she was just the second female official to…
Jamie Carragher has said playing for Trabzonspor in Türkiye “feels a level too low” for Mohamed Salah, adding he was “convinced” he would sign for a top European club after leaving Liverpool in the summer. Salah’s storied Liverpool career came to an end at the end of last season after he reached an agreement to leave the team a year before his contract was due to expire. During nine years…
Argentina‘s Football Association has thrown its full support behind Gianni Infantino while praising FIFA for owning up to the mistakes made in the Forward Enterprise case. Infantino has faced backlash over his now-abandoned $20 billion proposal to sell off some of the commercial rights to the World Cup through a subsidiary called FIFA Forward Enterprise. An open letter from Argentina Football Association (AFA) president Claudio Tapia to Infantino said: “On…
Vinícius Júnior has accepted Real Madrid‘s latest contract offer, ending months of speculation by agreeing a new deal at the club until 2032, the Spanish giants confirmed on Thursday. It came a day after the star forward’s representatives held talks with club executives in a meeting that left his camp feeling optimistic about reaching an agreement, after Madrid offered improved terms. – Diomande joins Madrid in deal worth up to…
FIFA chief Gianni Infantino has been accused of a “profound abuse of presidential power” by the world players’ union over his plan to sell stakes in a World Cup company to private investors. FIFPro, which is comprised of over 70 player unions worldwide, said footballers’ confidence in FIFA had been “fundamentally broken” by the conduct of Infantino, the global governing body’s president. FIFA issued a statement saying “mistakes” had been…
UEFA has said its participating members could still boycott FIFA competitions including the World Cup despite Gianni Infantino’s apology statement. On Wednesday, FIFA apologised for its plans to sell off stakes of the World Cup, acknowleding that “mistakes were made.” Following a meeting in Rabat, Morocco of senior FIFA leadership, the governing body said it had “reaffirmed their full support” for Infantino’s presidency. UEFA’s member nations had announced their decision…