Football
Shanghai Shenhua ready to allow Odion Ighalo remain with Manchester United on one condition
Shanghai Shenhua are reportedly considering Odion Ighalo to stay at Manchester United beyond May, provided he sign a new contract with them. Ighalo’s currently six-month loan is set to expire in the next few days and the Premier League side are keen to keep the for another six months following his impressive performances. The Chinese side initially was only interested in discussing 20 million pounds of permanent transfer for the player, a price tag that United considered too excessive. However, the latest reports claimed Shanghai Shenhua is now ready to allow the player remain in England for the next six months but must sign a new deal that will tie him to the club for the next four years. Ighalo’s current deal in China is up in December 2022. The offer on the table is reportedly worth £40...
Leicester not interested in Celtic defender
Leicester City are not interested in signing Kristoffer Ajer from Celtic. The centre-back was a key figure for Neil Lennon’s team as they won their ninth successive Scottish Premiership this season. He was linked to the Foxes after Harry Maguire went to Manchester United last summer. But Caglar Soyuncu’s great form means Leicester’s need is not as great. While Leicestershire Live reports that the club do want to sign a defender, the source claims that 22-year-old Ajer is not their primary target. The player’s agent had previously suggested he was likely to leave in the summer, but Celtic boss Lennon is not eager to lose such an important player ahead of next season. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined ...
FIFA, WHO, EU launch campaign to help domestic violence victims amid coronavirus lockdown
FIFA, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Commission have announced the #SafeHome campaign designed to support women and children at risk of domestic violence during the coronavirus pandemic. With many families all over the world quarantined during the pandemic, there have been spikes in recent reports of domestic violence as at-risk women and children are forced into dangerous situations at home. The three organisations have launched a five-part video campaign designed to raise awareness, with several past and present footballing stars taking part. Among the players featured are Alvaro Arbeloa, Rosana Augusto, Vítor Baia, Khalilou Fadiga, Matthias Ginter, David James, Annike Krahn, Marco Materazzi, Milagros Menendez, Noemi Pascotto, Graham Potter, Mikael Silvestre, Kelly ...
Ex-Super Eagles defender urges footballers not to live a ‘fake life’
Former Super Eagles and West Brom defender Ifeanyi Udeze has again called on Nigerian footballers to always live within their means. The ex-PAOK skipper reasserted the posit to Brila FM while speaking on football finances. Udeze opined that the flamboyant lifestyles of soccer stars make them easily distracted, stating that some accrue wealth and spend it incessantly without remembering they’ll retire. “The chasm is big. Very wide vacuum between when you play and when you retire,’ Udeze said. Our players must wake up to this reality on time so they don’t end up helpless after retirement or when uncertainties like injuries happen”, He concluded. Udeze was a marauding left-back in his days and had his promising career not attain seismic height due to injuries. Get more stories like this on Tw...
Arsenal sanction sensational Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang swap deal
Arsenal have been linked with a sensational swap deal involving Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, while Mikel Arteta is intent on signing Philippe Coutinho, all in the Euro papers. Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo report that Arsenal will let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to Barcelona in a swap deal for Ousmane Dembele. Barca are willing to cut their losses on Dembele this summer and sell the forward for €50m, while the LaLiga club’s interest in Aubameyang is well documented. The Gabon striker’s contract expires next summer and Arsenal do not want to lose him for free and so are considering an exchange deal for Dembele. Arsenal have been tracking the injury-hit Dembele for some time and Mikel Arteta wants to get the former Borussia Dortmund man a chance in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Spanish outlet ...
Ademola Lookman concedes penalty as Hertha Berlin hold Leipzig
RB Leipzig missed the chance to secure second position in the Bundesliga after they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Hertha Berlin. Marko Grujic put Hertha ahead in the ninth minute of the thrilling encounter. The hosts rallied back and got the equaliser in the 24th minute through Lukas Klostermann. Leipzig defender Marcel Halstenberg was sent off for two bookable offences midway through the second half. Leipzig took the lead for the first time in the game when Patrick Schick fired home in the 68th minute following a howler from Hertha goalkeeper Rune Jarstein. Hertha made the numerical advantage count as Matheus Cunha was brought down in the box by Ademola Lookman, allowing Krzysztof Piatek to equalise eight minutes from time. Leipzig remain third in the table, while Hertha stay 11th af...
Odion Ighalo close to extending Manchester United loan deal – agent
Odion Ighalo’s representative Ladi Salami has revealed that his client could remain at Manchester United beyond next week. Ighalo joined Manchester United from Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua on a six-month loan in January. The temporary deal is set to expire at the end of this month with the former Watford player expected to return to China on Monday for the start of the new season. Salami however states that United are in talks with Shanghai Shenhua over an extension. “The Super Eagles feels very good in Manchester with whom he is very close to a salary agreement. Negotiations with the Chinese are ongoing and are going well,” Salami told Foot Mercato. Ighalo has scored four goals in eight league appearances for the Old Trafford outfit. Get more stories like this on Twitter You...
Cameroon’s Jean-Charles Castelletto joins Nantes as free agent
Cameroon international Jean-Charles Castelletto has signed for Nantes as a free agent, the Ligue 1 club announced on Tuesday after he decided to not extend his contract with Brest. “Nantes are very happy to announce the signing of Jean-Charles Castelletto … our new defender has signed until 2023,” Nantes said in a statement. Born in the suburbs of Paris, 25-year-old Castelletto played for France’s youth teams but chose to play senior international football for Cameroon, so far winning one cap. He played nearly a 100 times over three seasons at Brest, a club which he helped get promoted to Ligue 1 for the curtailed 2019-20 season. Nantes and Brest finished 12th and 13th in respectively following the French Football League’s decision at the end of April to end the season. Get more stories li...
La Liga clubs offer free 2020/21 season tickets to fans
Espanyol and Leganes fans, holding current season tickets, will be handed free passes for the entire 2020-2021 campaign to compensate for missing matches due to the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the two La Liga clubs said on Tuesday. The Spanish top-flight is set to resume in June after being provisionally suspended in March with 11 rounds of matches remaining but, as in Germany’s Bundesliga, fans cannot attend the games in order to prevent further spread of the virus. It is unclear when fans will be able to return to stadiums, with medical experts saying mass gatherings should be avoided until there is a vaccine, which is unlikely to be available until 2021. With the two teams struggling at the bottom of the standings, it is possible that one or both sides could be playing ...
Wilfred Ndidi: Why Leicester City move was very scary for me
Wilfred Ndidi claimed he saw his move to Premier League side Leicester City as an opportunity rather than getting carried away with pressure. After three seasons at Belgian top-flight side Genk, the Nigeria international joined the Foxes in a transfer deal worth £17 million. At that time, the King Power Stadium giants were reigning English champions, plus they needed a replacement for N’Golo Kante who had joined Chelsea on a five-year deal. The Frenchman played a starring role in Leicester’s English top-flight-winning campaign where he made 40 appearances while helping France reach the final of Euro 2016. Despite adapting to life quickly at the Luminus Arena after his move from Nigeria’s Nath Boys Academy, Ndidi said he saw an opportunity to ‘develop’, thus, embraced the burden of expectat...
Manchester United manager gives update on Odion Ighalo’s future
Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said no agreement has been reached between United and Shanghai Shenhua over Odion Ighalo’s loan extension. He gave the update in an article published on the official website of Manchester United on Tuesday. Solskjaer’s reaction is coming amidst the suspense that surrounds the extension of Ighalo’s loan, which expires on Sunday, May 31. The coach said he hopes that Ighalo would be allowed to complete the season with United and also win a cup for his childhood club. He told MUTV, “The loan deal went until the end of May now, so obviously he’s supposed to be going back. “We’re in dialogue. They’ve been great towards us, his club, and allowed him to play for his dream club. “It’s been a dream for him and hopefully he can finish off what he start...
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer counts on Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford for EPL restart
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Tuesday he is confident of having Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford fit should the Premier League season restart next month. Pogba has missed the majority of the campaign with an ongoing ankle injury, while Rashford seemed set to miss the rest of the season when he suffered a double stress fracture in his back in January. United returned to training in small groups last week and preparations are expected to be ramped up further for a return to action when Premier League clubs vote on resuming contact training on Wednesday. “Hopefully now we’ve proved we can do this safely and we can move to the next step. It’s been really enjoyable being on the training ground again,” said Solskjaer. “They (Pogba and Rashford) are looking good, they’ve jo...
