The Premier League spent over £1 billion in the summer transfer window, but some clubs were left happier than others. Arsenal waited until the final days of the window to finally splash the cash while the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool chose to get the bulk of their business early. But the question is: did your side do enough this summer? ESPN FC’s club bloggers rate their window out of 10 and discuss whether they addressed the key areas they needed to. MAN UNITED: 9/10 What they needed: Someone to boss the middle of the park, a…
Author: David Folami
Bastian Schweinsteiger received an emotional Germany farewell on Wednesday night, with the Manchester United midfielder brought to tears in his final match for his nation. Schweinsteiger, 32, was cheered by 30,121 fans at the Borussia Park whenever he picked up possession, before being withdrawn in the 68th minute and replaced by Julian Weigl, as Germany beat Finland 2-0 thanks to goals from Maximilian Meyer and Paulus Arajuuri. The former Bayern Munich player won his 121st and final cap for Germany, bringing to an end his 12-year international career. “I will miss him, not only as a footballer,” national team coach…
Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will succeed Bastian Schweinsteiger as the new Germany captain. Neuer, who made his Germany debut in 2009, has made 71 appearances for the senior national side, conceding only 52 goals, and was a key part of the 2014 World Cup-winning side. He faced competition from several players for the captaincy, with Bayern teammate Jerome Boateng saying on several occasions that he had hoped to take the armband. Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos and Sami Khedira were also mentioned as possibilities, but Joachim Low has selected 30-year-old Neuer to lead the side ahead of the 2018 World…
Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was among a number of top coaches who discussed the possibility of scrapping extra time in UEFA competitions. Currently, knockout matches that are level after 90 minutes go to 30 minutes of extra time, before being decided on penalties if a stalemate remains. At the 18th UEFA Elite Club Coaches Forum on Wednesday, the proposal to abolish extra time and go straight to penalties was discussed, in a meeting chaired by UEFA Coaching Ambassador Ferguson. Current United boss Jose Mourinho, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique and Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane…
Barcelona are concerned that the Premier League’s spending power is leaving the rest of Europe behind and have suggested UEFA’s financial fair play (FFP) regulations should be adapted to account for the influx of money into English football. The transfer window closed on Wednesday with Premier League clubs having invested a reported £1.165 billion (€1.38bn) on new signings. In comparison, Serie A clubs spent around €708 million, Bundesliga clubs spent €548m, and the total expenditure for La Liga sides was €488m. UEFA’s FFP regulations were agreed in principle in September 2009 and clubs as big as Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester…
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is to contest a charge of alleged violent conduct and possible three-match ban, PA Sport reports. Aguero was charged with violent conduct by the FA after his elbow on West Ham defender Winston Reid in Sunday’s win. The incident, after which Reid was seen holding his neck, was missed by referee Andre Marriner and his fellow officials during the match. Aguero had been given until 6 p.m. local time on Thursday to respond to the charge, which was issued after a review panel felt he should have been sent off. A date for a disciplinary…
Out-of-favour Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has joined Italian club Torino on a season-long loan, the two clubs announced on Wednesday. The England international, 29, arrives in Turin after being frozen out at City by new manager Pep Guardiola. Hart had been City’s first-choice goalkeeper since 2010, winning two Premier League titles, two League Cups and one FA Cup, but Guardiola signed Chile’s Claudio Bravo to replace him. “Suddenly (in) my career has been an important turning: it was a sign. Torino’s offer came in the right moment, with the right manner,” Hart said in a statement on Torino’s English-language…
La Liga champions Barcelona and Qatar Airways are in talks to extend their current shirt sponsorship deal until 2020, the boss of the Gulf carrier said on Wednesday. Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways’ CEO, said the two parties were in fresh negotiations to extend the current one year deal, which was announced in July, by a further three years. “We didn’t have enough time to negotiate a proper agreement with them, this is why we extended it for one year and we are in negotiations with them,” said Al Baker. But, he added: “This is all depends on what kind…
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez insists the European champions’ squad is “impossible to improve” after an uncharacteristically quiet transfer window. Perez, known for splashing hundreds of millions of euros in previous years on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez, has limited his spending to just a 30-million-euro ($33.5 million) buyback of Alvaro Morata from Juventus. “We have won the European Super Cup and the first two games in La Liga,” Perez said of Real’s 100 percent start to the season. “We have a spectacular squad and it is impossible to improve.” Madrid appealed a one-year transfer…
<img src="https://www.theinfostride.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Jack-Wilshere-vs.-Liverpool-300×188.jpg" alt="Jack Wilshere" width="300" height="188" class="size-medium wp-image-91669" /Bournemouth's season-long loan signing of England midfielder Jack Wilshere from Arsenal represents uncharted territory for the club, said manager Eddie Howe. The Premier League side completed one of the more unexpected deals of deadline day when they moved for the 24-year-old Wilshere on Wednesday. The transfer represents a major step in Bournemouth's evolution, coming just over three years after they were promoted from the third tier, and one year after they reached the Premier League for the first time. "It's a step into the unknown in the respect that I think Jack's…
Brazil defender David Luiz is overjoyed to be back for a second spell at Chelsea after leaving Paris St Germain on transfer deadline day. The 29-year-old, who quit Stamford Bridge for Paris two years ago, has returned for a fee that media reports put at £34 million. Luiz won the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup in his three years at Chelsea after joining from Benfica in 2011. “It’s fantastic to have this second opportunity to play for this club. I love this club, that’s why I am here,” Luiz told www.chelseafc.com. “It will be an amazing opportunity to…
In the light of general complaints in the polity over the biting hardship occasioned by a depressed economy, a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN) has called on Nigerians to endure and give President Muhammadu Buhari time to fix the country. In this interview, he urged Nigerians to desist from antagonising the administration. He also revealed how some Nigerians took the campaign against his election into the International Court of Justice to the international arena and brought the country to ridicule at that time. His take on the anti-corruption campaign and whether corruption…
Chief Charles Idahosa is a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State and Political Adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomhole. In this interview, he says the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) knows the Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s governorship bid will not fly. How has your campaign been and, from what you’ve seen so far, how positive are you of victory? Talking about victory, I’m 100 percent sure of victory. Our campaign is on course, we are doing very well. Government Adams Oshiomole, like I said earlier, is leading the campaign of Godwin Obaseki and I asked who…
Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, wife of the APC candidate, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has expressed optimism that her husband would transform the lives of the citizenry through his unique capacity to draw investors to the state. Addressing the Archdiocesan Catholic Women Organization (CWO), in Benin City, she said her husband is passionate about making life more meaningful for the people of the state, asserting that the opposition PDP lacks what it takes to improve the lives of the people of the state from their antecedents. According to her,” my husband has been in the investment industry for many years and he is…
PDP candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu has cautioned the Edo state government against selling off the assets of Edo LINE, the state-owned transport company. He spoke weekend in his continuation of his campaign which took to some communities in Igueben, Esan South- East and Owan West local government areas of the state. Edo people will resist any move by the Oshiomhole led the administration to sell off their inheritance which he said took the visionary leadership of elder statesman, Dr. Osaigbovo Ogbemudia to build. The governorship candidate said, “the assets of Edo Line are more than its liabilities and are located…
Chairman of the PDP in the state, Chief Dan Orbih has cautioned voters against selling their votes for a paltry N2000 which he claimed was being dangled by the ruling APC. Orbih spoke at a campaign rally in Gelegelegene in Ovia North East local government area where he advised voters to wait for the results after casting their votes on Election Day. He assured Ijaw communities in the state that the PDP will keep faith with its promises once it assumes office. The campaign team had earlier visited Ughoton community, birthplace of Osagie Ize-Iyamu’s grandmother, Igbinoghene Ize-Iyamu (nee Ogiemwanre Obazuwaye)…
Mr Luke Mmamel, Enugu State Commissioner for Transport, says his Ministry will put in place measures to keep commercial motorcyclists off dual carriage ways in the state capital. Mmamel told newsmen at the weekend in Enugu that measures planned included installation of road traffic signs in prohibited areas. “We will install signs that will indicate where to park because vehicles are not expected to park on pavements or double-park on major streets. There is a distinction between parking, waiting and stopping. When they are fully installed, motorists and commercial motorcyclists will not feign ignorance of prohibited areas,†he said. He…
Minister of Transportation, Mr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, yesterday, disclosed that the Federal Government has concluded plans to award the contract for the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan railway project. Amaechi, who said this at the one year memorial lecture in honour of former General Secretary of Alliance for Credible Election, ACE-Nigeria, late Comrade Emma Ezeazu, in Abuja, said contracts for Kano-Kaduna and Calabar-Port Harcourt railway projects would also be signed before the end of this week. The memorial lecture with theme: ‘Advancing the Frontiers of Progressive Governance’, was organised by Emma Ezeazu Mandate Group. The former governor of Rivers State, explained…
The leadership of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, yesterday, stated that Biafra is not negotiable and cannot be renounced as it is pivotal to the existence and future of the Igbo people. This came as the group condemned the inclusion of Comrade Uchenna Madu as one of the trusted persons to negotiate for Biafra on behalf of Re-IPOB with Federal Government. In a statement issued by MASSOB in Abakaliki, National Director of Information of the group, Comrade Samuel Edeson warned the Re-IPOB to stop its unguided exhibitions in the name of Biafra, threatening…
The Presidency, yesterday, refuted social media reports that the tenures of Lamido Sanusi and Charles Soludo, as Central Bank Governors, would soon be probed by the Federal Government. The social media reports, published on Sunday and Monday, alleged that the Federal Government had concluded arrangements to probe the tenures of the two former CBN governors over their views on the state of the nation’s economy. The reports further alleged that Messrs. Sanusi and Soludo had been put on “the watch list of the government for some alleged anomalies that occurred during their tenures as head of the Nigeria’s apex bank.”…