Tag: Football

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Manchester United striker Joe Hugill is withdrawing from the pre-season tour ahead of loan move to League One side.

The 20-year-old had a tremendous game vs Rangers, scoring the second goal in United’s 2-0 win.

Hugill was one of two academy graduates alongside Radek Vitek who have had a number of clubs looking to take the stars on loan.

Hugill set to leave on loan

Now, Manchester Evening News have announced that the striker is already preparing for a loan spell in League One.

Hugill is set to join Wigan Athletic for the season to gain more experience of first team football.

Whilst the striker is yet to make his competitive debut for United, his performances for Burton Albion and in this pre-season will have definitely made Erik ten Hag take note of the youngster.

With his contract running until 2026, Hugill still has plenty of time to get on the pitch at Old Trafford.

The 20-year-old has signed a new contract with Manchester United, extending his stay until 2026, with an option for an additional year, as part of his loan deal to Burton.

Despite being named on the bench four times by manager Erik ten Hag last season, he has yet to make his competitive debut for United.

United initially signed the young striker from Sunderland at age 16 in 2020, and he was part of the FA Youth Cup-winning squad in 2022.

The signing of Joshua Zirkzee and the development of Ethan Wheatley have led to another loan move for Hugill to gain more experience.

Meanwhile, United are exploring the possibility of adding another striker to their academy. Recently, The Peoples Person relayed a report claiming the Mancunian giants are interested in signing Arsenal’s sensation Chido Obi-Martin.

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Manchester United are currently showing their appreciation to a number of squad members by extending current contracts.

Earlier this week, Ethan Ennis, a highly rated academy graduate had his contract extended beyond next summer.

Now, another one of ten Hag’s men is being rewarded with a new contract seeing him remain at Old Trafford for years to come.

Manchester United’s new long term contract

Sports journalist Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that United have now awarded Samuel Mather with a long-term contract at the club. The details of the contract are unknown, however the deal will see the winger at Old Trafford until June 2027. United do however have an option to extend the contract by a further season.

The 19-year-old winger spent the second half of last season on loan to Rochdale where he got two goals in ten appearances.

Featuring in the second half of United’s pre-season friendly with Rangers, Mathers had a strong showing, helping the team secure a 2-0 win.

 

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The pre-season is a great opportunity for young talent to show off their skills, especially this summer with international duties causing a number of players to still be on leave.

The Copa America and Euro 2024 only wrapped up last week, with Fifpro, the international players union, recommending a rest period of three weeks over the summer, with two weeks for pre-season training.

This means that a lot of first-team players are still on break, with squads relying on their academy graduates and reserves for the pre-season fixtures.

Already we’ve seen Radek Vitek and Joe Hugill shine against Rosenborg and Rangers respectively, with both stars set to go out on loan after returning from the States on tour. United are due to start their tour of the United States on 27th July, taking on Arsenal at SoFi Stadium, home to the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams.

However, already one young star has shone enough for United to offer the player a new contract ahead of the American tour.

Ethan Ennis’ new contract

19-year-old Ethan Ennis has been named by Erik ten Hag in the squad for the USA tour after some great performances this pre-season. Coming on at half time in both the Rosenborg and Rangers games, Ennis tested the keepers with a range of shots keeping them on their toes.

The star joined the United Academy from rivals Liverpool back in 2021, joining the Under-18s side. While playing in the youth division, Ennis has scored ten goals with three assists in 21 games, also showing off his versatility. The natural right-winger has been used across both wings, as well as striker, left and right midfield, showing his adaptability to play across the pitch.

Signing his first professional contract the moment he turned 17, Ennis is one of few players to be awarded pro contract so young, showing the potential the winger holds.

Ennis’ previous contract with United is set to expire next summer in June 2025. However, Manchester Evening News report that the winger has signed fresh terms, extending his Old Trafford stay beyond next summer.

 

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The most recent example of the ‘United tax’ has come to light in the transfer window, with one of United’s most recent targets shooting up in value dramatically.

United are used to being asked extensive figures for their targets, with it being a key area to focus on since Sir Jim Ratcliffe took over that Old Trafford. As part of the new team, Dan Ashworth has been instructed to ensure that no deals are done for over the real value of any transfer target.

Now, whilst looking for the new class of United midfielders, Ashworth may need to heavily negotiate a deal if they wish to sign one of their most recent targets.

United’s interest in Palmeiras midfielder

The target in question is 24-year-old Palmeiras midfielder Richard Ríos.

Sports journalist Eduardo Rodrigues has reported that after shinning with Colombia at the Copa America, Rios has attracted a whole host of admirers. These include a range of top European clubs including AC Milan, Juventus and Manchester United.

Now, the Brazilian club are keen for the star’s release clause of €90 million to be triggered rather than negotiate lower than this figure.

A recent report suggested that United were planning a bid of around €17 million for the 24-year-old, with other reports confirming the valuation at around €20 million.

In the report, Rodrigues states: “Palmeiras does not need money now and wants Richard for the 2025 Club World Cup,” going on to explain that the release clause will be the only form of negotiation that will take place for the midfielder.

It’s interesting that when Everton were looking at the star, a valuation of €20 million seemed to be enough to engage conversations. However, after United’s declared interest, with big money spent on Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro, the Brazilian club appear to be holding the player as ransom for a big fee.

It’s unsure at this time if Untied will agree to the extortionate fee considering the appeared step away from Joao Neves with a valuation of €70 million.

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Manchester United fans made the most of an opportunity to poke fun at Phil Foden of Manchester City following an Instagram post from Alejandro Garnacho.

The Argentine winger has been enjoying some much deserved time off after winning the Copa America with his national squad. Argentina have now won their third consecutive tournament, after the 2022 World Cup and 2020/21 Copa America.

Currently in Greece, Garnacho is enjoying the summer with his girlfriend Eva Garcia and son Enzo before returning to pre-season training. Whilst at the Greek island of Mykonos, the 20-year-old shared a photo of the family on a James Bond clad yacht, decorated with the famous 007 logo.

However, United supporters have impressively quickly used this as an opportunity to mock Foden’s performances at Euro 2024.

Despite being a key member of Gareth Southgate’s starting XI, Foden failed to contribute to any of England’s eight goals at the tournament. Conveniently, this left the winger with 0 goals and 0 assists in 7 games.

With the bitter rivalry between the two Manchester clubs, Red Devils fans took no time in using this to mock the Citizen, claiming Garnacho and Foden were enjoying a holiday together.

The pair will in fact be linking up however when United take on City in the Community Shield at Wembley on 10th August.

 

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With Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of 27% of Manchester United, the INEOS owner is making an active play to restore the United of yesteryear. Ratcliffe is doing whatever he can to take United back to the top of European football and improve everyone’s experience at the club.

Already United’s sporting directors have been completely refreshed, seeing Dan Asworth, Jason Wilcox, Christopher Vivell and Omar Berrada join the Red Devils senior team.

The coaching staff have been restructured with Rene Hake, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jelle ten Rouwelaar joining Erik ten Hag’s team.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s changes to Old Trafford and the Stretford End tunnel

Now, plans are ongoing around the refurbishment of Old Trafford, with the decision to be made of knocking down the stadium to rebuild a new home for United, or to jut upgrade the existing infrastructure.

Whilst these decisions are being made, the club are beginning to modernise parts of the stadium. Already the club have renovated parts of the stadium, particularly the area for players and staff to rest before matches.

Now, leaks of the next part in renovations have been released.

The club appear to be overhauling the famous player tunnel in the Stretford End corner of the ground.

A quick video clip shows the new design of what looks likes the tunnel at the 77,000 seater stadium with lights lining the roof and either side of the walkway.

See the quick clip of the tunnel below;

 

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— Follow BeyondUTD1 (@FolowBeyondutd1) July 23, 2024

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Earlier this summer, on the back of their transfer budget being unveiled as £50 million, United realised the need to part ways with some of their top assets.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Dan Ashworth identified seven players to sell, hoping to generate £200 million for transfers.

Since then, the Red Devils have signed Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna and Leny Yoro from LOSC Lille, beating AC Milan and Real Madrid respectively to the stars.

Departing the club we’ve seen United part ways with academy graduate Mason Greenwood who, after along road, has joined Ligue 1 side Marseille.

So, how has the original list changed?

United’s original cull list

In order to generate more transfer funds, Ratcliffe’s list of seven consisted of Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood.

With Greenwood already sold, bringing £26.7 million to the club, United are well on their way to getting the finances to pursue their other targets.

As for the remaining six, previously we’ve seen interest in Jadon Sancho from Juventus, with the Italian club trying to scrounge the money to sign the winger through other sales.

Casemiro saw a lot of interest from Saudi Arabia, with former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo trying to convince the star to join Al-Nassr.

The only other known interest in this group falls on Victor Lindelof, with Turkish outfit Fenerbahce calling on the Swedish centre-back.

How do the two lists compare?

Well, on the whole, the lists are vastly the same, with five of the remaining six still featuring on the list. However, now in Greenwood’s place sits Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Casemiro being replaced by Scott McTominay.

Wan-Bissaka has already generated a lot of interest from West Ham United, AC Milan and Inter Milan. The right-back has been second choice in the position to Diogo Dalot, so United are open to offers, looking at potential replacements for the 26-year-old.

McTominay is being looked at by a number of Premier League clubs like Spurs, with United having already rejected an initial bid from Fulham.

Perhaps the most interesting in the list is Jadon Sancho. The winger has been highly expected to leave the club this summer, now with PSG looking to sign the 24-year-old. However this has come as a shock after Erik ten Hag and Sancho appeared to make up after their falling out, with United seemingly less likely to sell the star.

Erik ten Hag recently spoke about the squad and the need to release stars in order to sign new talent. The Dutch manager said: “Competition, yes, we need quality players. But you also need quantity because the season is even tougher than last season so we have to be ready for that.”

He continued: “That [we need to sell] is also obvious but we want to have a strong squad, as strong as possible. I think at the moment the football leadership is very on the front foot. I think that’s what clubs like Manchester United should do.

“We’re very pleased we’ve done business – we have Yoro in, we have Zirkzee in – two high potential assets for the future. But when I say future, the future also starts today. The next game is always the most important, next season is always the most important.”

 

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European Leagues and the FIFPRO Europe players union are taking legal action against FIFA over the calendar of international matches.

The organisation is accused of neglecting their responsibilities as a governing body, favouring their own commercial interests over the wellbeing of players and national leagues.

Next year, in 2025, FIFA are set to hold its first edition of the redesigned Club World Cup, now made up of 32 teams, lasting four weeks across next June and July. The previous version of the Club World Cup will now be replaced by the FIFA Intercontinental Cup to be competed in each December.

The lawsuit claims FIFA is guilty of breaching EU competition law and abused its power as both a regulator and organiser.

The official statement explaining the legal complaint against FIFA

A statement from FIFPro read: “Following decisions by their respective executive bodies, European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe will jointly file a formal complaint to the European Commission on competition law grounds against FIFA regarding the international match calendar,”

It continues: “For several years, the leagues and player unions have repeatedly urged FIFA to develop a clear, transparent, and fair process regarding the international match calendar. The latest formal request was sent ahead of the FIFA Congress and Council in May 2024. Regretfully, FIFA has consistently refused to include national leagues and player unions in its decision-making process.

“The international match calendar is now beyond saturation and has become unsustainable for national leagues and a risk for the health of players. FIFA’s decisions over the last years have repeatedly favoured its own competitions and commercial interests, neglected its responsibilities as a governing body, and harmed the economic interests of national leagues and the welfare of players.

“National leagues and player unions, which represent the interests of all clubs and all players at the national level, and regulate labour relations through collectively agreed solutions, cannot accept that global regulations are decided unilaterally.

“Legal action is now the only responsible step for European leagues and player unions to protect football, its ecosystem and its workforce from FIFA’s unilateral decisions.

“The complaint will explain that FIFA’s conduct infringes EU competition law and notably constitutes an abuse of dominance: FIFA holds a dual role as both the global regulator of football and a competition organiser. This creates a conflict of interest, which, consistent with recent case law of the EU courts, requires FIFA to exercise its regulatory functions in a way that is transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate. FIFA’s conduct in respect of the international match calendar falls well short of these requirements.

“This complaint, that will be formally filed by European Leagues, LaLiga, and FIFPRO Europe will run in parallel to separate actions initiated by individual leagues and player unions at national level. The English, French and Italian player unions brought an action with the Brussels commercial court in June.

“European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe have already informed the European Commission of their decision and look forward to working closely with the Commission, relevant public institutions and football stakeholders throughout the investigation process.”

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Manchester United owners, The Glazer family, are being joined by Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds and RedBull in a new sporting investment.

The Glazer family bought Manchester United back in 2005 and remain majority owners following Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group bought 27.7% of the club. Ratcliffe’s stake in the club bought the section which controls football operations, leading to the INEOS owner being very hands on with a redesign of the club, both on the pitch and with its sporting directors.

Alongside United, the Glazers also own NFL side Tampa Bay Buccaneers which they bought in 1995, and cricket team Desert Vipers who play in UAE’s ILT20 competition.

Meanwhile, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney completed their purchase of Wrexham back in February 2021. Since their purchase, the acting pair have catapulted the Welsh club to being a global brand thanks to their Welcome to Wrexham documentary on Disney+.

Now though, both parties as well as a host of other potential investors are lining up for a new sporting opportunity.

A new sporting opportunity for Reynolds and the Glazers

As of September 2024, the England and Welsh Cricket Board are looking to sell stakes in eight different teams across the Hundred franchise. The sale will run as a three-month auction-style process ending in December 2024. The aim of the sale is to generate funds to reboot the competition in 2025.

The ECB have said they’ve spoken to the 10 team owners in the Indian Premier League, as well as approaching NFL team owners in America to try and build an interest in the investments.

However, The Telegraph has released a list of potential investors that are still interested in the venture.

Who’s looking to invest in the Hundred?

Firstly we have the Glazer family. With three sporting teams already in their portfolio, it’s no surprise that the Glazers are still interested, looking to pick up another cricket team alongside the Desert Vipers.

We also have Reynolds and McElhenney looking specifically at Cardiff-based club, Welsh Fire, adding to their collection of sporting clubs based in Wales. Welsh Fire is expected to draw the lowest value bids of the eight teams, with the ECB trying to invite the acting pair to a Welsh Fire game in the upcoming Hundred tournament.

Satya Nadella, the CEO and chairman of Microsoft, is also interested, being a co-owner of an American cricket team, the Seattle Orca’s who play in the USA’s Major League Cricket.

Tom Brady and Knighthead Capital who own Birmingham City are also looking at extending their Midlands collection of clubs, looking at investing in Birmingham Phoenix, attending their sell out opener vs Oval Invincibles.

RedBull who own Salzburg and Leipzig are also interesting in investing after entering into a small commercial deal with ECB, sponsoring England’s Ben Stokes and Alice Capsey.

Comments from ECB’s Head of Strategy

The proceeds of the sales are going to be used across the 19 first-class counties, with ECB hoping for it to provide “seed funding for the financial sustainability of the whole sport.”

The head of strategy Vikram Bannerjee recently commented: “We must continue to maintain best v best of players, both English and from around the world,”

He continued: “We must continue to turbo-charge the women’s game. The Hundred has done brilliant things for women’s sport but we can’t rest on our laurels.

“We also want to move into more of a tribalism. Football is the example. Everyone talks about their favourite team. I’m an Aston Villa fan for my sins and have travelled up to Middlesborough, down to Bournemouth and wherever else to watch them. That is where we want to get the Hundred to, with fans of London Spirit travelling across the country rather than seeing it as just a day out.”

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Manchester United’s need to strengthen their midfield has led them across Europe in search of reinforcements.

The Premier League club have looked close to home in the form of Adam Wharton from Crystal Palace and across France with PSG’s Manuel Ugarte and AS Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana. Moving South, United’s journey has even included Portugal with Benfica’s wonderkid Joao Neves, and Italy with former Red Devil Sofyan Amrabat. The Red devils have even scoured the free agents, with recent Juventus departure Adrien Rabiot having conversations with the club.

Now, one of United’s targets may be slipping away from them amid heavy interest from Serie A.

Italian giants set sights on Youssouf Fofana

Reports from Gazzetta dello Sport claim that AC Milan are edging closer to agreeing a deal for Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana. United have had the France international on their radar for some time now, however may be close to missing out on the star.

The French international has been vital for Monaco since he arrived from Strasbourg in 2020 for €15 million. Now, four years and 175 club appearances later, Fofana is ready to part ways with Monaco, feeling he wants to take a step forward in his career.

The report explains that Milan and Monaco are negotiating a deal worth €14 million plus add-ons. The 25-year-old has agreed personal terms with the Serie A club, seeing him move to San Siro for four years. During this time the midfielder will be earning double his salary than he was earning at the Ligue 1 side.

Although this is a setback for United, it wont be a plan-effecting one, with Fofana lower down on their priority list. Currently all focus appears to be on Manuel Ugarte who is reportedly very close to an Old Trafford move. Personal terms have been agreed with the Uruguayan so now Untied and PSG need to agree a transfer fee. Once in place, Ugarte can book his plane to Manchester for his medical before officially becoming a Red Devil.

 

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