Essential further reading
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Thanks for your company. To recap, Manchester City expect Kevin De Bruyne to miss up to three months of action owing to that knee injury, José Mourinho has been waxing lyrical about Paul Pogba and Claudio Marchisio has exited Juventus after 25 years at his boyhood club. On the final day of the transfer window in Italy, Gervinho has joined Parma, while Stephy Mavididi has joined Juventus and Diego Laxalt’s signed for Milan.
Have a good weekend, and, to tee up Cardiff v Newcastle nicely, take with you some reading for the commute home:
Tite seems intent on ushering in a new Brazilian era. Wholesale changes mean his latest squad includes Manchester United’s Andreas Pereira and Barcelona’s Artur. Brazil face the United States and El Salvador in upcoming friendlies. Marcelo, of Real Madrid, plus Paulinho, Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus have all been omitted. Another Manchester City player, Ederson, was left out for personal reasons and replaced by Hugo:
Goalkeepers: Alisson (Liverpool), Hugo (Flamengo), Neto (Valencia)
Defenders: Alex Sandro (Juventus), Dede (Cruzeiro), Fabinho (Liverpool), Fagner (Corinthians), Felipe (Porto), Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid), Marquinhos (Paris St Germain), Thiago Silva (PSG)
Midfielders: Andreas Pereira (Manchester United), Arthur,(Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Fred (Manchester United), Lucas Paqueta (Flamengo), Phillipe Coutinho (Barcelona), Renato Augusto (Beijing Guoan)
Forwards: Douglas Costa (Juventus), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Neymar (PSG), Pedro (Fluminense), Willian (Chelsea), Everton (Gremio)
In England, Gareth Southgate has his eyes on Alex McCarthy:
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Benvenuto Gervinho! The 31-year-old former Arsenal forward completes a free transfer to Parma as he returns to European football on a three-year deal.
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And get yer hands on today’s red-hot Fiver:
Italian deadline day feat. Laxalt in and Bacca out at Milan:
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No holding back. The former referees’ chief, Keith Hackett, has questioned his successor Mike Riley and pondered whether the Premier League may need to look abroad for official enforcements. Hackett was speaking in the wake of the departure of Bobby Madley and questioned Riley’s role. PGMOL is responsible for overseeing all Premier League matches, with Riley operating as its managing director. The body announced the departure of Madley on Thursday evening, despite the 32-year-old recently being promoted to the list of Fifa officials. Hackett said: “It’s on him (Riley). And I’ve got to ask why did (Mark) Clattenburg leave? Why did (Howard) Webb leave? Why did Mark Halsey leave? All early.” The PGMOL on Thursday said Madley had “decided to relocate due to a change in his personal circumstances”.
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Pep Guardiola is considering dropping Sergio Agüero ... he scored both of City’s goals in the 2-0 Community Shield victory over Chelsea at Wembley. This took the club record scorer to 201 strikes – yet after failing to register in last weekend’s 2-0 win at Arsenal Guardiola is minded to replace him with Gabriel Jesus.
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Brendan Rodgers hopped on the phone to woo Daniel Arzani to Celtic Park, the on-loan Manchester City midfielder has revealed. “I had a phone call from the gaffer Brendan Rodgers and he swayed my decision and convinced me to come here,” the 19-year-old Australia international said. “It wasn’t so much about the football, he was talking about the club, the tradition and the fan base. I got along with him, he is a really nice guy.”
Done deal klaxon! England youth international Stephy Mavididi has left Arsenal to join Juventus, the Premier League club have announced. Mavididi, who did not make a single first-team appearance after coming through the ranks, will now look to make the grade with the Italian champions. The 20-year-old, who has previously spent time on loan at Charlton Athletic and Preston North End, will initially join Juve’s B team.
Time for Torreira. Arsenal’s summer motto:
Lucas Torreira does not obviously come from that lineage. One of the smallest players in the Premier League – he is the same size as the much-loved little marvel Santi Cazorla – he is more in the mould of intelligent screening midfielders Chelsea have specialised in, initially with Claude Makelele and currently with N’Golo Kanté. Torreira has a similar mix of instinctive knowhow to quickly get into the right places to intercept danger, with an accuracy of pass as the cherry on top
Roll up! Roll up! Get yer match previews:
More from Guardiola, who insists the Amazon documentary on his Manchester City side will not reveal any of his secrets. “Tactics is football players not the ideas of a manager,” he says. “I think the people is going to see how a football team lives behind the scenes. Every game is completely different to another.”
Done deal klaxon! There are a couple of new faces in the Championship; Cuco Martina has joined Stoke City on loan from Everton and Jem Karacan, once of Reading, has joined Millwall, managed by former team-mate, Neil Harris, on a short-term deal. In Italy, Nigeria defender William Troost-Ekong has joined Udinese.
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Pep Guardiola has suggested Manchester City would be reluctant to swap venues for their two Premier League fixtures against Tottenham this season. There is uncertainty over where City’s scheduled away clash with Spurs on 28 October will take place because the club’s new stadium may not be open and Wembley is booked for an NFL game. “This can happen because they build an amazing stadium for Tottenham Hotspur, sometimes there are delays,” Guardiola said. “We are going to adapt if we can adapt but of course we are going to think of ourselves as well.”
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Some early Liverpool team news ... Jürgen Klopp could call Joël Matip and Fabinho into his lineup for Monday’s trip to Crystal Palace. Matip has not played for the club since March but is back in training after hip trouble and may feature on the bench, with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez in place. Fabinho is also pressing for his debut after failing to make the season opener against West Ham. Dejan Lovren and Cagliari-bound Ragnar Klavan are out.
How many of Newcastle’s five new signings will get the nod in south Wales? Salomón Rondón and Yoshinori Muto came off the bench in the defeat to Tottenham on the opening day, while fellow new recruits Fabian Schar, Ki Sung-yueng and Federico Fernández are all yet to feature. “When I say that I am happy with our players who came in, it is because some of them know the Premier League and can give us something from day one,” Rafael Benítez said. “The squad for me is stronger (than last season), we had some gaps we needed to fill - the team is better but we will see, we don’t have too many new faces in the starting XI. What we have is more experience, players who know the Premier League. Still we have some gaps that we know we will need to be lucky with injuries.”
Feast your eyes on all things Chelsea v Arsenal:
The Spanish club were unimpressed with Inter’s advances ...
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Dedryck Boyata’s stand-off with Celtic continues, with the Belgium international’s future still up in the air. The 27-year-old has been left out of the squad to play Partick Thistle on Saturday, with assistant manager Chris Davies attempting, at least to clear up a muddy situation. “We can’t say he will be leaving the club,” he says. “If the manager [Brendan Rodgers] sees fit, he may well remain a Celtic player.”
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Gladly. Huddersfield Town are happy to frustrate Manchester City if it means they do not return from the Etihad Stadium empty-handed. “If it means we collect points by parking the bus, let’s do it,” says manager David Wagner.
Watford are not getting carried away after an impressive opening-day win. Javi Gracia knows the task at hand, with Burnley next up on Sunday. “We know it’s only the beginning, to look forward we need to create something to not only look at the end of the road but improve day-by-day,” he says. “We need to keep this level to try to get more points in the future. I’m happy with the players we have in this moment.”
Neil Warnock’s not sold on Newcastle United supporters giving owner Mike Ashley a hard time. “I think that’s a little bit of hot air, really. If you look at their investment in their players, I think they’ve improved the squad compared to last year. I think Mike Ashley’s an easy target, really. ‘Let’s all blame him’.”
It’s Roy Hodgson, speaking about Wilfried Zaha. Here’s some more from his press conference, where he was asked for a reaction to Zaha’s new contract:
I think it’s very, very good that a player of his ability has committed his long-term future to the club. We think very highly of him both as a person and a player, and he’s got even a talismanic quality, being from this part of the world and starting his career at Crystal Palace. All of those things need to be factored in and we’re delighted that he’s decided now that this is where he wants to be. Because when you sign a contract of that length and magnitude, that’s where you intend to be for the coming years.
Talking of Premier League managers gushing about their players, one of them has said this today:
He’s very, very good; all players have got qualities of course, and there aren’t many players who can literally do every single thing. But he scores top marks in so many aspects of the game, and when it comes to dribbling and manipulating the ball and going past opponents, I put him up there with the very best.
Jamie Jackson has written about Jose Mourinho’s Pogba-based gushing:
Tottenham are without Son Heung-min because of the player’s participation in the Asian Games. It’s not going well for him there: he’s on the bench for South Korea against Malaysia today, and his side are 2-0 down with 20 minutes to play. The Koreans have had 68% of possession but only one shot on target; Johor Darul Ta’zim’s Safawi Rasid has scored a brace.
Mauricio Sarri has admitted Alvaro Morata is still suffering from a crisis of confidence, even if the Spain forward is likely to start tomorrow’s London derby against Arsenal.
Morata, who was Chelsea’s record signing when he joined from Real Madrid for around £58m last summer, has scored only once in the top flight since Boxing Day. He began last weekend’s 3-0 victory at Huddersfield with Olivier Giroud not yet deemed match fit following his late return after the World Cup.
Morata, prolific in his first few months at Stamford Bridge, had suffered back problems over the second half of last season, but is now fully fit and, apparently, simply in need of a goal to restore his form. “I’m not worried about Morata,” said Sarri. “He is a very great player. I think that, in this moment, he needs only to gain confidence. But he is a great player.
“Maybe, maybe [his confidence is low]. He needs to score. As all the strikers in the world do, I think. He needs to gain confidence, but he’s improving so I’m not really worried about him.”
Chelsea will be without the injured Cesc Fabregas against Arsenal, while Mateo Kovacic - signed on loan from Real Madrid - will only be able to feature from the bench. “He’s a very technical player but, in this moment, he has to work,” added Sarri. “I think he’s not ready now for 90 minutes, but maybe he could be used for the last 30 minutes. I expect a lot from him because, for me, he’s a very great player.”
Tony Pulis appears to have taken Cuco Martina’s decision to join Stoke instead of his Middlesbrough side badly, and is now demanding players, and sharpish:
We’ve started well but we still need to strengthen. We have got expectation of being the top of the table. To do that you can’t afford to lose the players we have lost and not replace them. Over 46 games in this league the depth and quality have to be there or otherwise I’m convinced we will fall away. That’s not just me shouting we need players in. The lads in the dressing room know we need players in. They’re not stupid.
Internazionale’s pursuit of Luka Modric looks set to end not just in disappointment, but in potential punishment: the Press Association are reporting that Real Madrid have reported Inter to Fifa over their pursuit of the Croatian midfielder. A Fifa spokesperson confirmed that they had received a complaint from the Spanish club regarding the Serie A side’s attempt to sign the player. Given that the Italian transfer window closes this evening, it appears certain that Inter will not succeed in their mission to lure Modric away from the Bernabeu.
An update now from Everton: New arrivals Kurt Zouma and Bernard could make their Everton debuts against Southampton tomorrow, manager Marco Silva has confirmed, but Yerry Mina is unavailable due to a slight foot injury. With Phil Jagielka starting a three-match suspension for his dismissal at Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend the on-loan Chelsea defender is the more likely of the two to feature against Mark Hughes’ side at Goodison Park. It will be Zouma or Mason Holgate who partners Michael Keane in defence. Andre Gomes, another of the deadline day recruits, is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury picked up on Barcelona’s pre-season tour of the USA. Cuco Martina has joined Stoke City on a season-long loan - “We have three right-backs with Coleman and Kenny as well so we had to make a decision,” Silva explained – and Mohamed Besic and Yannick Bolasie are also expected to depart before the end of the month.
A final chunk of Mourinho on Pogba. He’s asked if he is confident that Pogba will continue to play as well as he did against Leicester on the opening day:
I am very confident, but if he doesn’t, that’s football. If his objective is to perform for the team and for the fans, he has the right to have a bad match. Everybody has a bad day. Everybody has little ups and downs in their performance level. Is he the captain? No, the captain is Antonio Valencia. He has the conditions to be a captain in the future. But with no Antonio in the team he was the captain, and for the next match he will be captain again, but one day when Antonio comes back, he will be captain.
More from Mourinho on Pogba:
Write what you want about him. Write what you want about me. Please don’t say lies. Please don’t put him in the situation where people can think that he’s not a polite, educated guy, which he is. He’s very polite. He’s very educated. He’s never had a fight with me, never had a hard change of words. Everything is respected. I have no problems at all.
Mourinho 'never been so happy' with Pogba
Jose Mourinho has been speaking about Paul Pogba:
The truth is we are together for two years and a couple of weeks, and I’ve never been so happy with him as I am now. That’s the truth. I cannot demand more from him, I cannot ask more from him. He came here on Monday, he trained three days. I asked for his support, for his contribution in an important match for us when the team had difficulties. He did it better and for more time than we could expect. When he says he did it for the fans and for the team, it’s exactly what I want. Exactly what I demand from my players is what he is giving me. He is working well, he is playing well. I repeat, I couldn’t be happier than what I am.
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News of the former Crystal Palace defender Fan Zhiyi, who is in hot water in his native China:
Due to slapping, vilifying and threatening the referee in a CSL reserve team match, Fan Zhiyi, the former Crystal Palace player now as an official of Shanghai Shenhua, was suspended by CFA for 1 year and fined for ¥200k($29k). As a player Fan Zhiyi had a poor disciplinary record. pic.twitter.com/FgiATZqtcA
— Titan Sports Plus (@titan_plus) August 17, 2018
Done deals:
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Joel Campbell has left Arsenal to join Frosinone.
- Villarreal forward Samuel Castillejo and Genoa midfielder Diego Laxalt have joined Milan.
Milan say those deals “completed its incoming transfers for this summer transfer campaign”, so the rumours about a big-money loan deal for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic appear to be untrue. Meanwhile Carlos Bacca and Gianluca Lapadula have left Milan to join Villarreal and Genoa respectively, both on a permanent basis.
Maurizio Sarri has dismissed talk of Eden Hazard moving to Madrid in this window. “I have spoken with him very often in the last 10 days,” Sarri said. “He has never said anything to me about this. I am sure Eden will be with us for this season.”
Pep Guardiola has been speaking about Kevin de Bruyne:
Whether he’s coming back in November or December, the team will be there. The team is not happy. We were not happy two seasons ago with Gundogan. We’re going to handle it, support him. My advice to him is to rest, to take the holidays he didn’t get in these two or three weeks, then he will come back to train individually.
Earlier today, Cuco Martina was being linked with a move to either Middlesbrough or Stoke. Looks like he’s made up his mind:
Cuco Martina has joined Stoke City on a season-long loan from Everton.
— Andy Hunter (@AHunterGuardian) August 17, 2018
Paolo Baldini has penned a preview of the Serie A season, which gets under way this weekend:
This was supposed to be a grim summer for Italian football supporters. For the first time in six decades a World Cup was taking place without their national team present. As the tournament in Russia got under way, the outgoing sports minister, Luca Lotti, portrayed the moment as calcio’s “Year Zero”.
The fans themselves, though, did not seem so troubled by the prospect of a World Cup without the Azzurri. Mediaset recorded a cumulative TV audience of 297 million across this summer’s 64 games – 49 million more than the previous rights holders, Rai and Sky, had achieved between them in 2014.
Two-thirds of Italian televisions were tuned into the final on 15 July. That distraction provided Cristiano Ronaldo with the perfect window in which to arrive unmolested at Turin’s Caselle airport and complete a €100m transfer from Real Madrid to Juventus.
Year Zero? From the moment the Portuguese forward touched down in his private jet, this has started to feel more like YeaR7 for Serie A.
More here:
Fifa announced today that Atletico Madrid have been fined for breaching third-party ownership rules. This is what they said:
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the club Atletico de Madrid, Spain, with a fine of CHF 52,500 and a warning for breaching art. 18bis of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (2014 edition), as well as Annexe 3 of said regulations. The club was found to be liable for entering into a contract that enabled a third party to influence the club’s independence in employment and transfer-related matters and entering incorrect information in the International Transfer Matching System (ITMS).
Lunchtime reading dept: here’s a thing by Gwilym Mumford about football documentaries:
On Sky, Darren Bent predicts that Wolves “are going to be closer to the top half of the table than the bottom half” come the end of the campaign. I’m currently mulling this over. Obviously the only way to be close to the top half is by being in the bottom half.
Carlisle have signed the striker Ashley Nadesan on a six-month loan from Fleetwood. It’s a second spell at Brunton Park for the 23-year-old, who spent the second half of last season in Cumbria, and he will now link up with former Fleetwood boss John Sheridan until January.
Done deal! Allan Nyom has left West Brom to join Leganes on a season-long loan. The Spanish side will pay “an undisclosed conditional loan fee”.
The first of our match previews has landed:
Before Chelsea v Arsenal, the defender Shkodran Mustafi has been waxing lyrical about his manager, Unai Emery. Mustafi started the opening-weekend 2-0 defeat to Manchester City at the heart of defence alongside new recruit Sokratis Papastathopoulos, and admits he has been impressed with Emery since he took charge.
“When I first met him, he had this aura that he knew exactly what he wants to do, what he wants to be working on, what are is priorities and he was very detailed,” the Germany international said. “He was not trying to show us new football but he was trying to put one idea into the team which is the same for everyone and we work for the same things. Every manager is managing the team in a different way – with Unai, a few things changed and I quite like the things that have changed.” Arsenal will be without Ainsley Maitland-Niles after he suffered a minor leg fracture – but Nacho Monreal is likely to return at left-back while Lucas Torreira will be pushing to make his full debut.
Marchisio exits Juve after 25 years
In Turin, Juventus have bid farewell to Claudio Marchisio. After 25 years at the club, the 32-year-old has left the club by mutual consent. Marchisio, capped 55 times by Italy, progressed through Juve’s youth ranks and only played for one other club, spending a year on loan at Empoli in the 2007-08 season. “Having had the opportunity to accompany him on this path, to discover a homegrown champion, day by day, was quite simply a privilege and an honour,” Juve said in a statement. Marchisio made a total of 389 appearances in all competitions, scoring 37 goals, and won seven Serie A titles as well as four Italian cups with the club.
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City’s opponents on Sunday, Huddersfield Town, will be without centre-back Mathias Jorgensen. He sustained a muscle injury during training this week and will play no part at the Etihad Stadium, head coach David Wagner has confirmed. Jon Stanković could come in to the team but Terriers midfielder, Jonathan Hogg, is doubtful due to a hip problem. “At the start of the week all 23 players were healthy and available,” Wagner said. “But then ‘Zanka’ got a muscle injury in training, so he will miss the game. Jonathan Hogg is doubtful with a slight hip problem.”
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De Bruyne set to miss up to three months of action
News out of Manchester City ... they confirm Kevin De Bruyne has suffered a lateral collateral ligament (LCL) lesion in his right knee. “No surgery is required, and the midfielder is expected to be out for around three months,” City say.
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Wolves could hand a debut to club-record £18m signing Adama Traoré when they make the short trip to Leicester for their Premier League clash on Saturday. The former Middlesbrough winger came in on the eve of the transfer deadline and did not feature in the 2-2 draw with Everton last weekend. Leander Dendoncker was in a similar position and could also make his Wolves bow at the King Power Stadium, although Ivan Cavaleiro (back) will be missing.
Cardiff take on Newcastle in the early kick-off tomorrow, with Neil Warnock in search of his first Premier League win since 23 November 2014, when he was in charge of Crystal Palace. Rickie Lambert opened the scoring that day for Liverpool at Selhurst Park. “The one person Newcastle can’t afford to lose is Rafa, I think they can get away with any player,” Warnock said. “Everything’s been said about what happened and we’ve met a few times since. Life’s too short and I’ve got to enjoy this now with a full house.” Deadline-day loan signing Harry Arter is set to make his Cardiff debut after being ineligible against parent club Bournemouth on the opening day of the season.
Cardiff meanwhile will give Harry Arter his debut against Newcastle. Arter was unable to play last weekend as Cardiff’s top-flight return came at his parent club Bournemouth. Kenneth Zohore (groin) faces a late fitness test, but Aron Gunnarsson (knee) definitely misses out.
Provisional squad: Etheridge, Smithies, Peltier, Richards, Cunningham, Morrison, Bamba, Manga, Bennett, Arter, Damour, Ralls, Camarasa, Paterson, Mendez-Laing, Hoilett, Murphy, Reid, Zohore, Ward, Madine.
Some West Ham team news: Lucas Perez and Carlos Sanchez, the two deadline-day signings who missed last week’s thumping at Liverpool, will be in the squad for the visit of Bournemouth. Andy Carroll, Winston Reid and Manuel Lanzini all continue their rehabilitation from long-term injuries, but otherwise everyone is available. Provisional squad: Fabianski, Adrian, Fredericks, Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Diop, Balbuena, Rice, Cresswell, Masuaku, Noble, Obiang, Wilshere, Sanchez, Antonio, Yarmolenko, Snodgrass, Arnautovic, Perez, Hernandez, Anderson.
And some (relatively) good news for Manchester City on Kevin de Bruyne’s injury:
Here’s our news story on Gus Poyet and the goings-on at Bordeaux:
Meanwhile Sean Dyche says Burnley are really, really fit. “The fitness here is unbelievable,” he said. “The players’ mental and physical fitness is absolutely fantastic. Statistically, it has been very high since I have been here. I’ll be going into Sunday believing these players will go again. They will run hard, they will play hard and they will do what they need to do to try and win a game.” But Robbie Brady, Steven Defour, Nick Pope and Tom Heaton are not fit, and won’t be in the squad to play Watford on Sunday. Neither will £11m striker Matej Vydra, formerly of Watford, who isn’t considered in peak condition. Provisional squad: Hart, Legzdins, Lowton, Taylor, Tarkowski, Mee, Gibson, Ward, Bardsley, Long, Cork, Hendrick, Westwood, Lennon, Gudmundsson, Vokes, Wood, Barnes, Walters.
Celtic sign Arzani from Manchester City
Celtic have signed midfielder Daniel Arzani from Manchester City on a two-year loan deal, the Scottish champions have announced.
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Leicester meanwhile are without Shinji Okazaki and Matty James, while Caglar Soyuncu isn’t in the squad. Jamie Vardy has a “good chance” of starting the game at home to Wolves, according to Claude Puel. Provisional squad: Schmeichel, Ward, Jakupovic, Simpson, Chilwell, Morgan, Evans, Pereira, Maguire, Benkovic, Fuchs, Benalouane, Gray, Maddison, Albrighton, Amartey, Iborra, Silva, Mendy, Ndidi, Ghezzal, Kapustka, King, Choudhury, Iheanacho, Vardy, Diabate.
And here’s Southampton’s provisional squad for tomorrow’s trip to Everton. Mohamed Elyounoussi has a hamstring injury and is unlikely to be risked, but otherwise they have a clean bill of health. Provisional squad: McCarthy, Gunn, Forster, Soares, Stephens, Yoshida, Vestergaard, Hoedt, Bertrand, Bednarek, McQueen, Targett, Hojbjerg, Davis, Romeu, Lemina, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong, Elyounoussi, Redmond, Sims, Gallagher, Long, Gabbiadini, Austin, Ings.
Mark Hughes has reassured Steven Davis and Shane Long that they have a part to play this season, even though they didn’t feature in the opening weekend:
I think players, unfortunately - and it happened in my day - when they are not in the first 11 for the first game of the season all of a sudden they get a little bit anxious and think maybe my future lies elsewhere and agents are telling them they’ve got to move. And that’s not the case with Shane and the likes of Steven Davis. They’re very much part of what we’re going to do this year and I just said to them: ‘At the end of the year, you’ll look back on the season and you’ll find that you’ve played many, many games so bear with me’.
L’Equipe has a reporter on the scene. Apparently training has finally got under way, after a lengthy stand-off.
Info @lequipe Prévue a 9h30, l’entraînement des @girondins n a pas commencé. Plusieurs joueurs refuseraient de s entraîner suite à la mise à pied de Poyet. Le président est tjrs ds le vestiaire
— Emery Taisne (@EmeryTaisne) August 17, 2018
Après plus d une heure de palabres, la séance devrait enfin débuter pic.twitter.com/15bQOoygdZ
— Emery Taisne (@EmeryTaisne) August 17, 2018
Extraordinary goings-on at Bordeaux. First Gus Poyet blasts the board for selling the striker Gaetan Laborde to Montpellier without telling him - “It’s a disgrace what the club has done today. We arrived at the hotel and Laborde was not there. We called him and he was in Montpellier. Nobody told me anything” - then the board suspend Poyet for his insolence, and now apparently the players are refusing to train in protest at the decision. Chaos!
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True fact: today is Black Cat Appreciation Day. So, any favourite Sunderland goals? Or any other black cat/football intersectional stories?
Transfer news! Liverpool and Cagliari have agreed a £2m fee for Ragnar Klavan, who has a shade under nine and a half hours to agree personal terms and pass a medical if the move is to happen.
And here’s some early Fulham team news for the same game. Tim Ream and Alfie Mawson are injured and Denis Odoi is suspended, but Joe Bryan has recovered from the ankle problem picked up in the defeat by Crystal Palace, and record signing Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa could make his debut. Fulham’s provisional squad: Fabri, Chambers, Le Marchand, Christie, Bryan, Sessegnon, McDonald, Cairney, Schurrle, Seri, Mitrovic, Rico, Fosu-Mensah, Kebano, Johansen, Cisse, Vietto, Kamara, Zambo Anguissa.
The Press Association will helpfully send me Premier League team news as they get it. Here’s their provisional Spurs squad for the game against Fulham. Victor Wanyama has a knee injury, Erik Lamela and Harry Winks are in training but not fit, and Son Heung-min is at the Asian Games with South Korea, whose crucial Group E match against Malaysia kicks off at 1pm BST today. So Tottenham’s provisional squad looks like this: Lloris, Vorm, Gazzaniga, Trippier, Walker-Peters, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Sanchez, Davies, Dier, Dembele, Eriksen, Sissoko, Alli, Lamela, Winks, Moura, Llorente, Kane.
It’s transfer deadline day in Italy, which as we know from England’s experience last week promises all sorts of excitement (and very occasionally also delivers it). So there should be some actual transfers to report on as the day unfolds, but until then there’s the Rumour Mill:
And we start with this somewhat mysterious story about the unexpected disappearance of the referee Bobby Madley, who “has decided to relocate due to a change in his personal circumstances”. It all sounds extremely curious, and with nothing further to report on the reasons behind his decision I can only hope that Madley is happy and well.
Hello world!
So it is Friday, and that means we enter a world of almost-football; we are not yet at that point when talk stops and action starts, but certainly the time for talking is running short. So, we’d better get on with it, then. The week’s last dregs of conversation and conjecture will certainly find a happy home here.
The weekend’s significant action starts tonight, with the Spanish top-flight campaign getting off to a somewhat unspectacular start when Real Valladolid visit Girona, with Real Betis hosting Levante a little later. Barcelona’s campaign starts against Alaves tomorrow, with the Madrid sides joining the fray on Sunday.
In the Championship Swansea take their 100% start to Garry Monk’s Birmingham while tonight’s League Two match pits two of the four teams which after two outings are stuck together in joint 17th place, having played two, lost one, drawn one, scored two and conceded three, in the shape of Notts County and Yeovil.
Before then there will be all sorts of press-conferential action to report, any amount of match-previewage, perhaps a sprinkling of transfer-gossipmongering and a seasoning of injury-updaterment. So welcome, let’s get this show on the road.
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