There were some big stories in world football yesterday, the main one of which was Matthijs De Ligt’s confirmed move to Juventus from Ajax. Also, Christopher Nkunku joined RB Leipzig and Tottenham reportedly stepped up their interest in Giovani Lo Celso. There are plenty more to get your teeth into today, as well! Here is the biggest news from world football today…
Paul Pogba has been a target for Real Madrid throughout the summer, but it now appears that Los Merengues president Florentino Perez is having a change of heart. It is being reported that he has told the La Liga club’s manager Zinedine Zidane to drop his interest in the France international and concentrate instead on bringing Gareth Bale back into the first-team set-up. The 13-time European Champions are apparently struggling to sell the Wales international.
It is a testament to the quality and strength in depth of Manchester City’s squad that Leroy Sane is not a guaranteed starter for the Citizens. The Germany international started just 21 Premier League games last season, despite scoring 10 goals and assisting 11. This summer has seen speculation over a move to Bayern Munich, but Pep Guardiola has confirmed that the Bavarian outfit are yet to make contact with the English champions. The former Barcelona boss also wants the 23-year-old to stay at the Etihad Stadium, saying, “Leroy is our player and hopefully he can stay next season and next season and next season.”
Inter are certainly looking to make an impression next season. They have so far brought in eight new faces for their playing squad and have also named a new manager in Antonio Conte. There is yet to be a big money signing, however, but Romelu Lukaku could fill that void. He has been linked with a move to the San Siro during this transfer window, and it seems that Antonio Conte is keen to add the Belgium international to his forward line. He told reporters, “Lukaku is a United player and this is the reality. You know very well that I like this player, but also in the past when I was Chelsea’s coach and I tried to bring him to Chelsea.”
Danny Rose has been linked with a transfer away from Tottenham this summer, and his departure seems all but confirmed following Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to leave the left-back out of his pre-season tour squad of Asia. As such, the former Leeds man will be looking for a move this summer, and the England international has reportedly set his sights on a move to Barcelona. He has apparently offered himself to the Catalan club, where he would most likely be a back-up to Jordi Alba. However, the La Liga champions have decided to turn down the chance to sign the 29-year-old as they believe it would not make sense financially.
There will be plenty of people who were shocked this morning when they woke up to the news that Kilmarnock had been defeated by semi-professional side Connagh’s Quay Nomads last night in the Europa League first qualifying round. The Welsh club beat the Scottish side 2-0 last night to overturn a 2-1 deficit from the first leg, which means they will progress to the next round. The victors will now face Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade as they continue their European run. For the Scottish Premier League outfit, this will come as a bitter disappointment.
With Barcelona linked to a huge move for Neymar, they will need to balance the books if they are to bring the Brazil international back to the Camp Nou. To do so, it is being reported that they will sell Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Rakitic this summer. The Blaugrana hierarchy believe they can bring in €150m for the pair.
The commercial and marketing side of football is gaining an ever-increasing importance in today’s football world. The summer sees clubs announce new signings with fancy videos, and fresh kits are eagerly anticipated. Huddersfield Town fans will have been disappointed, therefore, to see their shirt for the 2019/20 campaign plastered with Paddy Power branding. Fortunately for the Terriers, it was nothing other than another campaign that appears to have done exactly what the betting company and the Championship club wanted: it got people talking. It has actually been revealed that the new shirt will actual feature no branding at all, although Paddy Power will still be in partnership with Huddersfield. It is part of the #SaveOurShirt initiative, which aims at stopping football tops being covered in an obscene amount of branding.
Despite already having one of the world’s best left-backs in Jordi Alba, Barcelona are reportedly looking to bring in Bayern Munich’s David Alaba. The Blaugrana want competition for the Spain international, and the 27-year-old is their number one target. He currently leads the way ahead of Augsburg’s Philipp Max and Real Betis’ Junior Firpo. The Austria star has apparently already told the Camp Nou outfit via his representatives that he wants to make the move, but that does not mean that it will be an easy switch.
England have already had to play a game behind closed doors in recent times due to sanctions on their opponents, and when they face Bulgaria, they will once again come up against a team that is under a stadium sanction. The Eastern European team will face Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions at the the Vasil Levski National Stadium on October 14th and will be forced to block off 5,000 seats for the match. This is because some of their fans were found guilty of racist behaviour in their fixtures against the Czech Republic and Kosovo last month.
After almost a month of football involving Africa’s best, there are just two teams left. Tonight, Senegal and Algeria will face off in the African Cup of Nations Final in Cairo. And it could be a historic night for Sadio Mane and co. The Lions of Teranga have never won the trophy and have only reached the final on one other occasion. Riyadh Mahrez’s Fennecs, meanwhile, will be looking to triumph in the competition for the second time in their history after their victory in 1990.