Man of the week
Bayern CEO Karl Heinz Rummenigge. 9 Aug: Attacks PSG’s Qatari financial doping for “alienating fans … FC Bayern must have a different philosophy.” 15 Aug: Signs a seven-year Bayern sleeve deal with Qatar’s state-owned Hamad Airport.
• PSG president Nasser Al Khelaifi’s view on the critics of their fair play ethos: “We’re fine on that, transparent from day one. For people worried about financial fair play, go have a coffee. For what the media says – honestly, we don’t care.”
Meanwhile
Neymar on what first attracted him to €45m a year: “My heart made this decision, and this is why I’m here. I always ask my heart, and it told me to go to PSG.”
• Also making changes:
1) Philippe Coutinho, Jan 2017: “My football is here. My heart is here. I don’t think about any other club. Not at all. I live it, I smell it, I see the ambition of Liverpool, of my team-mates, of the manager. I understand what Liverpool means. We can say Dalglish, Rush, Hansen, Souness, Suárez, Gerrard. My goal is one day to be thought of in the same way. You define the success of a player by his loyalty or his titles. Or both. I have much work to do.” Aug: Requests transfer.
2) Virgil van Dijk, May 2016, signing a new six-year Southampton deal. “This has just been the best time of my career: the city, the lifestyle, so many positives – it was so easy to sign. The club is growing. I definitely want to grow with it.” Aug: Requests transfer; trains with the reserves.
3) Nikola Kalinic, Jan 2017, on why he snubbed China: “I never wanted to go, I think only about Fiorentina, about my coach, my colleagues. And I love the relationship I have with the Florentine people, it’s a beautiful thing. In Florence, I am home.” Aug: Milan make a bid; Kalinic goes on strike.
4) Ousmane Dembélé, May 2016, signing for Dortmund - with CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke hailing his focus: “He only ever wanted to play our special football, in our unique stadium, for this special club. It really says everything about his character.” Aug: Barcelona bid; Dembélé goes on strike.
Plus: spare a thought for
Diego Costa, on strike against his will in Brazil. “It’s not my fault that I’m not at the club. If it was down to me I’d be playing. It’s already been one month of this. Holidays are good, but it gets tiresome.”
Fifa’s summer: best move
Brazil FA head Marco Polo del Nero – still wanted in the US for racketeering – launching his new in-house Brazil FA Integrity Department to “defeat despicable integrity attacks on football”. Del Nero: “Integrity is my commitment.” He denies wrongdoing.
Also keeping busy:
• Moses Magogo, Fifa Security and Integrity Committee member, winning a new term as Uganda FA head while denying alleged ethics violations.
• Carlo Tavecchio - Italy FA head, convicted five times since 1970 for forgery and tax evasion – urging Serie A referees to uphold the FA’s “moral and professional standards” this season: “You’re the key to legitimacy. I wish you all the best.”
• And Marco Peredo, resigning as Bolivia’s FA and League head, complaining his anti-corruption agenda was blocked by “bad scoundrels”: “I’ve had it, I’m just a man, not Superman. It was like paddling in a desert.”
Plus: tribute of the summer
Sepp Blatter, defending the late Chuck Blazer in the New York Times. “He was an impresario, an entrepreneur, a man who knew football. Do not judge. Otherwise, you will one day be convicted.”
Other news: best comeback
Italy: Maurizio Zamparini, 76, back running Palermo after cancelling last season’s takeover by nude model Paul Baccaglini on “credibility” grounds. “I am forced through my love and my competence to resume my work.” First job: pledging to give new coach Tedino “patience ... I trust in his work.”
Most up against it
US: Real Salt Lake coach Mike Petke – fined $3,000 for a July press conference where he handed out photos to prove his player was fouled: “He’s in a headlock, a freaking headlock... Look at these two pictures... I’ve got two more but the freaking printer didn’t work, so I couldn’t print it up.”
Peace latest
2014: Diego Maradona signs up as the Pope’s “special soldier” to deliver world peace. “I will fight by his side.” 2017: Signs up “until death” for Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. “When Maduro orders, I dress as a soldier.”
Most put out
Ghanaian forward Mohammed Sumaila, using Instagram to deny reports that he signed a contract with Turkish club Yorukalispor for 10kg of olive oil. “I do not sign for oil. My fans in Ghana my fans in Turkey I’m sorry and my fans in the world it’s not real I love you bye.”
Most progressive
Ecuador: Serie A El Nacional, offering fans the chance to pay $100 for dinner with new official club model Larissa Riquelme as part of an “engagement strategy”. Riquelme: “I’m very happy. I will sign autographs and encourage new members. It’s a passion of mine.”
And most upbeat
Paraguay: Second-tier Resistencia president Roberto Damián Garcete, marking the club’s centenary by giving honorary life membership to a tree growing out of one of their stands. “The tree is eternal. Wherever I go everyone says: ‘What about your tree?’ Sometimes we are vilified, but now I know the tree will bloom. I hope it’s as heavenly as our shirt.”
