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* Winger has denied allegations of violence against women * Ten Hag wishes Sancho good luck and declines to elaborate Erik ten Hag has claimed off-field issues are to blame for Antony’s underwhelming form. The Manchester United winger has been accused of more than one act of violence against women, all of which he denies. Antony is yet to score or make an assist in 21 appearances this season, the Brazilian’s form causing the manager to drop him on more than one occasion. Continue reading...

The towering defender is back at ease in the Australia camp for their Asian Cup campaign following a difficult period at club level Harry Souttar stands out in Australian football. Not just because he’s more than 2 metres tall, either. Ever since scoring a brace on debut in a World Cup qualifier against Nepal, the towering Scottish-born defender has become just as much a constant in the hearts and minds of Australian fans as he has the starting XI of coach Graham Arnold. That’s to say nothing of an internet culture that gives him insight into this growing affection. Continue reading...

The tournament kicks off again this weekend – test your knowledge with our Africa Cup of Nations teasers By Richard Foster for The Football Mine Continue reading...

One of the few teams not affiliated to a men’s side can sense momentum building as they prepare for Shaw, Hemp and co The Women’s FA Cup fourth round brings in the Women’s Super League clubs and among the nine ties that feature top-flight teams, one stands out as different. Manchester City face a trip on Sunday to Durham, a rare team in the game’s upper echelons without any affiliation to a men’s side. A second-tier club since their formation in 2014, Durham are known for a cult-like fan following and the ability to pull off cup shocks, including against Manchester United and Everton. Since the recent boom in popularity of women’s football, Durham have struggled to keep pace with some Championship rivals who benefit from an association with a men’s team. But they have never faced a relegation battle and continue to punch above their weight, often being competitive against WSL opponents in the FA Cup and Continental Cup. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Football Daily is a broad church with 1,057 readers scattered around various parts the world. Many to be will be fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with the name or work of Jonathan Gullis, the Conservative member of parliament for Stoke-on-Trent North and human equivalent of that viral clip starring an irate chimpanzee flinging lumps of its own excrement at curious zoo-goers standing outside its enclosure. Despite being a lowly backbench MP, this former teacher first entered the national consciousness when a clip of him behaving at his most simian in his designated House of Commons seat during Prime Minister’s Questions became a symbol for Tory arrogance, cruelty and indifference towards poverty. With a majority of 6,286 to defend at the next election, it’s a seat Gullis is fully expected to lose, due in no small part to a series of often barely coherent and ill-conceived pronouncements opposing immigration, free school meals, the B

* Forward has not played for Manchester United since September * Borussia Dortmund to pay part of salary on €4m loan fee Jadon Sancho has said he is looking forward to play with “a smile on his face” after joining Borussia Dortmund on loan from Manchester United for the remainder of the season. The 23-year-old has been banished from the United first team since publicly hitting out at the manager, Erik ten Hag, after not being included in the squad for the loss at Arsenal in September. The Bundesliga club are set to pay a loan fee of €4m (£3.4m) and part of Sancho’s salary. The winger, who spent four seasons with Dortmund from 2017 before joining United, said: “When I walked into the changing room today, it felt like coming home. I know the club inside out, I’ve always been very close to the fans here and I’ve never lost contact with the people in charge. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Simon Burnton and Jonathan Fadugba discuss the first legs of the League Cup semis as Liverpool fight back against Fulham, transfer news and the ‘winter break’ Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today: Middlesbrough beat Chelsea 1-0 in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final. Will they get a positive result at Stamford Bridge and how much of a disaster is it for Mauricio Pochettino if they go out? Continue reading...

Shamrock centre-back is looking forward to testing himself against Mo Salah at the Africa Cup of Nations When Cape Verde kick off their Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Ghana on Sunday, Roberto Lopes will become the third League of Ireland player to participate in more than one edition of the tournament. “It’s a fantastic feeling to represent the league at the Africa Cup of Nations,” he says. “It also feels like I am representing Ireland as well as Cape Verde. It is a real nice boost that people from back home take an interest.” Continue reading...

* Dier in Munich to complete switch and play under Tuchel * Tottenham close to signing Radu Dragusin Tottenham are putting the final touches on a £25m deal to sign Radu Dragusin from Genoa, with Ange Postecoglou primed to complete a central defensive reshuffle by selling Eric Dier to Bayern Munich for £3.5m. Dragusin has been Postecoglou’s No 1 January target and Spurs are close to completing the transfer for an initial £21.5m after beating off late competition from Bayern. Spurs will loan Djed Spence to Genoa until the end of the season as a part of the package and pay all of the full-back’s wages. There will be an option for Genoa to buy Spence, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Leeds, for £8.5m in the summer. Continue reading...

A double substitution led to Liverpool’s 2-1 win yet the visitors can draw on spirit of 2010 before the Carabao Cup second leg How do you replace 204 goals in 332 games? The Jürgen Klopp way was to wait until the 56th minute and throw on Cody Gakpo and Darwin Núñez to fill the void left by Mohamed Salah. It worked. A quarter of an hour later Liverpool had transformed a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 victory, the Gakpo‑Núñez combo crafting the winner. Yet until their introduction this semi-final first leg against Fulham was the oddest of tales. Continue reading...

Eintracht Frankfurt forward hopes to deliver for the Pharaohs, who have struggled for goals at the Africa Cup of Nations Egypt’s period of success during the late 2000s at the Africa Cup of Nations can be defined by forward-thinking attackers who seemed to only have one instruction on their mind when taking the pitch: go for goal. In 2006, the duo of Ahmed Hassan and Emad Moteab scored eight of Egypt’s 12 goals. Two years later the triumvirate of Hosny Abd Rabo, Mohamed Aboutrika and Amr Zaki netted four each. In 2010, it was Hassan again, alongside super-sub Gedo, who averaged a goal every 35 minutes. The country now boasts their best-ever goalscorer in Mohamed Salah. But the mentality has changed somewhat and he has scored only six goals in three Afcon editions, two in each. Combining that with the fact that he is relied on as Egypt’s primary creator makes one thing abundantly clear: he needs help. Continue reading...

Australia head to Qatar looking to rediscover the form that took them to the round of 16 in 2022 as they hunt a second continental title As Australia prepares to compete in its fifth Asian Cup, commencing against India on Saturday evening, so too arrive the inevitable questions that come with these tournaments. Just how far can they go once the action begins in Qatar? And at what point will they have met a reasonable level of expectations? The goal of all 24 competing nations is to win. But even with the progress they have made in recent years, narratives associated with the likes of Petar Šegrt’s Tajikis or Kim Pan-gon’s Malaysians not standing triumphant at the Lusail Stadium come 10 February will sharply contrast with those that will be spun if Jürgen Klinsmann’s South Korea or Hajime Moriyasu’s Japan aren’t doing so. Continue reading...

Famous club will hopefully kick on with Riquelme as new president but the women’s game needs much more investment Boca Juniors is undoubtably one of the most iconic clubs in South American football, whether on the men’s or the women’s side. Based in Buenos Aires, the women’s team have dominated domestically in the semi-professional era and won their fourth consecutive Argentinian end-of-year title in December. However, all is not rosy. There are many challenges for women’s football in Argentina and that ends up having an effect on Boca’s results internationally. “Boca have made history, especially recently,” the Argentinian journalist Sofia Jaimez Bertazzo points out. “The level they have achieved individually and collectively is incredible and is not only reflected in the titles won but also in the players that go abroad from them.” One such example is Yamila Rodríguez, who was signed by the Brazilian side Palmeiras after the two clubs had played in the Libertadores final in 2022.

* West Ham fear calf injury will sideline Paquetá for two months * They are urgently chasing attacking signings but budget is tight West Ham have revised their transfer plans and are urgently chasing attacking signings after further tests on Lucas Paquetá’s calf injury raised fears the midfielder will be sidelined for two months. David Moyes has a selection crisis in attack, with Michail Antonio out for up to six weeks with a knee injury, Jarrod Bowen out for at least a fortnight with an ankle injury, Paquetá unavailable and Mohammed Kudus representing Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations. Continue reading...

* Germany forward joins until end of season with option to buy * Spurs could face competition for Genoa’s Radu Dragusin Tottenham have signed the RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner on loan until the end of the season. Spurs have the option to make the deal permanent in the summer. Werner returns to the Premier League having scored 23 goals in 89 appearances for Chelsea between 2020 and 2022. Continue reading...

Germany and Bayern Munich could not quite fathom where to play the young Beckenbauer, so he effectively invented a role for himself “For me,” Helmut Schön said of Franz Beckenbauer in February 1965 after calling him up to the West Germany team for the first time, “he is the player of the future. Maybe not in midfield, perhaps up front.” People were always looking at Beckenbauer and seeing in him a being from another age, and that meant that, for a long time, nobody really knew what to make of him. He was handsome, charismatic and languid, a player of effortless elegance guaranteed to enrage those who believed the game was about industry, sweat and graft. He was technically gifted. He saw things others didn’t. He had grace and intelligence. Continue reading...

* Vice-captain out with knee injury sustained in FA Cup victory * Virgil van Dijk back in squad for Carabao tie against Fulham Liverpool’s lengthy absentee list got a little longer on Tuesday after assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders confirmed that Trent Alexander-Arnold will be sidelined for “a few weeks” with a knee injury. The club’s vice-captain sustained the setback during Sunday’s 2-0 victory at Arsenal FA Cup, leaving manager Jürgen Klopp with another selection headache before his team’s two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham, which gets under way at Anfield on Wednesday night. Lijnders indicated a three-week absence was likely for Alexander-Arnold. Continue reading...

* Midfielder to see specialist for further assessment on calf injury * Antonio and Bowen also injury concerns for David Moyes Lucas Paquetá will see a specialist for further assessment on a calf injury that will keep the West Ham midfielder out for four weeks. David Moyes is dealing with a selection crisis in attack after Michail Antonio suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury and Jarrod Bowen and Paqueta limped off during West Ham’s 1-1 draw with Bristol City in the FA Cup. Mohammed Kudus, who has a hamstring injury, is due to represent Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Sid Lowe, Nicky Bandini, Lars Sivertsen and Archie Rhind-Tutt to pay tribute to Franz Beckenbauer and round up the latest stories in Spain and Italy Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today: Franz Beckenbauer has passed away at the age of 78; he won the World Cup as both a player and a manager and laid the foundations for Bayern Munich’s dominance of German football. The panel talk about his legacy and another legend lost. Continue reading...

Shaun Maloney had wanted to know whether the team he supported as a boy could outfight and outplay the side he coaches in adulthood. The answer was a resounding yes, unfortunately for the Wigan Athletic manager, as Manchester United avoided a third round upset and further torment for Erik ten Hag with a professional job at the DW Stadium. A fine finish from Diogo Dalot and the softest of penalties for Bruno Fernandes secured United a fourth round trip to either League Two Newport County or Eastleigh of the National League. The visitors dominated Wigan, who were hoping for another FA Cup scalp in front of their biggest home attendance for a decade but only seriously threatened one from their first attack. The gulf between the Premier League and League One told, though Wigan were spared greater punishment by United’s profligacy in front of goal. Continue reading...

Leading coaches, former players and journalists from the women’s game are among the 112 judges for this year’s list * Subscribe to our free women’s football newsletter It is time for our sixth edition of the best 100 female footballers in the world and here are the judges who took part in this year’s jury. Our panel includes some of the most respected and influential women and men within the game, including the NWSL championship-winning coach Juan Carlos Amorós, Champions League-winning coach Jonatan Giráldez, Serie A-winning coach Alessandra Spugna, USWNT interim head coach Twila Kilgore and many more. Continue reading...

Last year’s runaway Serie A champions are ninth and their new signing’s debut lasted four minutes during the defeat at Torino Pasquale Mazzocchi spent a lifetime building up to this moment. One of six kids born to his parents in Barra, a suburb of Naples, he could easily have gone down a dangerous path. “In some neighbourhoods on the edge of the city, when you struggle to make it to the end of the month [financially], with a big family, unfortunately you might do the wrong thing,” the defender told La Repubblica in 2022. “Young people tend to go this way.” Football offered him a different direction, a road that would take him far from home. By nine years old, he had started working for a fruit stand after school to save up for boots. At 11, he joined Benevento’s academy system, moving an hour’s drive from home and seeing his parents just once a month. His next club was Hellas Verona, 440 miles away to the north. Continue reading...

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, John Brewin and Will Unwin as the FA Cup Third Round takes place Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today; Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-0 as the Gunners once again fail to make their chances count, while Maidstone United earned the result of the round as they beat Stevenage FC. Continue reading...

* Out-of-form squad have embarked on warm-weather break * ‘We can regroup and come back fighting’ says Nelson Reiss Nelson insists Arsenal’s players will embrace the opportunity to regroup during a warm-weather break in Dubai after a terrible run which has seen them drop to fourth in the Premier League and exit the FA Cup. Arsenal do not play again until Saturday week when they entertain Crystal Palace and they are taking the chance to get away from it all. The idea behind the week-long trip to Dubai is to train in the sunshine while bonding as a group. The players have been encouraged to take their partners and children. Continue reading...

Brazilian footballer with an unrivalled record of success in the World Cup as both player and manager Mário Zagallo, who has died aged 92, was the most successful footballer in the history of the World Cup. Many players who were more talented and managers who were more tactically astute have won the tournament, but none can equal the Brazilian’s record of four triumphs: two as a player, in 1958 and 1962, one as manager, in 1970, and another as assistant manager, in 1994. He looked destined to win a fifth World Cup in 1998, again as Brazil’s manager, before Ronaldo, the star of his team, suffered a seizure on the morning of the final, shattering the team’s morale. Zagallo was also the first of only three men (Germany’s Franz Beckenbauer and France’s Didier Deschamps followed him) to win the tournament both as a player and as a manager; and he won with the two teams, of 1958 and 1970, that are widely regarded as the best ever to land the trophy. Yet in his home country he never recei

* Martinique-based club make epic journey to face Lille * Hopes of an upset fade fast as two players hit hat-tricks The Martinique-based club Golden Lion suffered a humbling 12-0 defeat at Lille in the French Cup midway through an 8,600-mile round trip to play the match. Golden Lion, the champions of Martinique and one of several overseas teams from the French territories to enter the Coupe de France, were drawn against the Ligue 1 side Lille in the last 64, and their journey began on Wednesday with a direct flight to Paris. Continue reading...

In the seasonal flurry, the process is over-prioritised and as the Liverpool manager points out, players’ emotions count more In March 2019, Manchester United went to Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League trailing 2-0 from the first leg. By half-time, they led 2-1. Needing another goal to go through on away goals, their manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, pulled a counterintuitive masterstroke: he sat back. For half an hour, almost nothing happened. PSG pushed tentatively, first baffled and then anxious. And then Solskjær unleashed his assault on panicking opponents, United won a penalty – a silly, modern, European handball, but a penalty nonetheless – and went through. That was Solskjær at his zenith, the result that prompted Gary Neville to ask where he wanted his statue. Solskjær’s record at that point read P17 W14 D2 L1; he was still soaring on the euphoria of not being José Mourinho. His struggles to implement attacking structures had not yet been exposed. But w

Nobody should interpret one fine goal against limited Championship opposition as proof that Armando Broja has a place in Chelsea’s great rebuild. When the talk turns to the club’s financial fair play position, it is always pointed out that money received for academy products goes down as pure profit. Accountancy matters and Chelsea are still thinking about sharpening their attack with a new striker this month. But supporters want to see homegrown talents thrive, even after a splurge of more than £1bn in the transfer market. Conor Gallagher, another whose future is up in the air, was given a hero’s reception when he came on towards the end of this 4-0 win over Preston North End. It makes sense to have Mauricio Pochettino developing all these young talents. It was interesting to hear Chelsea’s manager say Broja has to smile more after the forward scored his second goal of a stop-start campaign. Continue reading...

The sprinkle of smartphone lights waved through the air across the stands of the Riverside Stadium suggested a special night in the making as the clock ticked down. Middlesbrough never really looked quite like forcing a shock win over high-flying Aston Villa but the fact that squeezing out a draw would have felt like an achievement, when it would have been just a solid Premier League result in years gone by, says a lot for the Birmingham club’s current stature. Matty Cash’s late winner, a shot from range wickedly deflected home off the substitute Emmanuel Latte Lath, also spoke of Villa’s pomp. It had the scent of a big side finding a way to get it done, someway, somehow, when Unai Emery’s team selection had suggested a dilemma in how to approach a tricky tie – in a round that had become a bugbear for a club with such history in the competition, with this Villa’s first progression from the third round since 2016 – and increasing weekly demands. Continue reading...

* Manager reflects on ‘frustrating time’ for the club * Sunderland’s Michael Beale admits ‘experience gap’ Eddie Howe suggested that his team’s reacquaintance with patience helped Newcastle secure their first win against Sunderland since 2011. “We were on the right side of the fine balance between patience and trying to score,” he said after Newcastle ended a run of seven defeats in their previous eight games courtesy of two goals from Alexander Isak in a 3-0 victory at the Stadium of Light. Continue reading...

Most failures have a pattern but, as the winger nears a return to Dortmund, this feels like a fault in the way things should work Never go back. Don’t do it. Never, ever, ever go back. On the other hand, well, you could just go back. Particularly when the business of going away is panning out quite as badly as this. Here’s a good new way to mark the chill passing of time as the lights come on at four and the rain drills against your window. It is now two and half years since Jadon Sancho moved to Manchester United. United have had three managers in that time. Sancho has earned £40m. And yet he still barely seems to have pulled on the shirt, or got past his moody online announcement clip. This timeline has simply stalled. Wait. Can we restart this thing? Continue reading...

Upstarts began 2024 with a bang to draw level with ‘winter champions’ Madrid and prove they are genuine contenders When the board went up with four minutes on it at the end of Atlético Madrid’s visit to Montilivi, the same thought crossed pretty much everyone’s mind: oh come on, is that all? It was way after 11pm on a cold, misty Wednesday night in January, the first time fans had ventured out since Christmas, but they would have carried on until the morning if they could have. Once in a while a game comes along you wish would never end – once in a while or every other week if you’re Girona, purveyors of partidazos, serving up a 5-3, a 5-2, and three 4-2s – and this was it. A bit special, even for them. Continue reading...

* Ange Postecoglou angry at questions over Dier’s absence * ‘Don’t question my integrity, he’s injured’ Eric Dier is close to a dream January move to Bayern Munich, with an agreement in place over his personal terms. Tottenham maintain there has been no direct contact between them and the Bundesliga champions; they would want a fee if Dier was to move now. But the wheels are turning on a deal for the centre-half, who is out of favour under Ange Postecoglou and out of contract at the end of the season. Continue reading...

* Reds begin FA Cup campaign against Arsenal on Sunday * Klopp’s side reached three cup finals, winning two, in 2022 Jürgen Klopp has said he would relish challenging for four trophies again this season despite the hangover that Liverpool suffered after pursuing the quadruple in 2022. Liverpool start their FA Cup campaign with a difficult assignment at Arsenal on Sunday before hosting Fulham in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday. Klopp’s team are also setting the pace in the Premier League title race and into the last 16 of the Europa League, a competition they are favourites to win. Continue reading...

It had been possible to feel the demons circling from Tottenham’s previous cup tie; their only one before this under Ange Postecoglou. Back in August, the manager had made sweeping changes at Fulham in the Carabao Cup and watched his team exit on penalties. Postecoglou knew that he could ill afford a repeat. The second half of the season might have come to look rather stripped back, especially with no European football. Continue reading...

The Glazers blazed a trail for US money in European soccer. Now they’re innovating again with a non-sale ‘sale’ that gives them all the spoils of ownership with none of the accountability So, a new era for Manchester United? Not quite: amid all the hullabaloo about a “restructuring” at the club following Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 25% stake – all that talk of job cuts and belt tightening, squad turnover, comings and goings in the executive suite, meetings between Ratcliffe and Erik Ten Hag, a fresh energy both on and off the pitch – it’s been easy to forget that commercial control of the club remains firmly in the hands of the Glazer family. Manchester United’s corporate structure splits ownership into Class A and Class B shares. Real control of the club lies with the owners of the Class B shares, which are worth 10 times the voting rights of Class A shares. Ratcliffe has spent around $1.6bn for a quarter of the club’s Class A and B shares. But even once the deal is approved, the

About 700 supporters will head to Fulham for FA Cup tie hoping for upset, including one called ‘crazy’ in his own home A laudable act of unwavering loyalty, or the definition of insanity? Following any football club on away trips up and down the country can be a test of perseverance at the best of times, but spare a thought for the Rotherham fans who did not see their team win on the road at all in 2023. The last time Rotherham, rock bottom of the Championship, won an away game in any competition was 8 November 2022 – a hard-fought 1-0 derby victory at Sheffield United. Since then it has been 28 consecutive away matches and 14 miserable months without success. Continue reading...

The Argentinian star went into the season way down the pecking order but has tenaciously come to the fore By Ben McAleer for WhoScored In pre-season, Tanguy Ndombele was the Tottenham player tipped to be handed another chance by Ange Postecoglou. The Frenchman is blessed with ample talent but his application is found wanting. Mauricio Pochettino, José Mourinho and Antonio Conte have all failed to manage the midfielder. Nothing changed under Postecoglou, and Spurs’ club-record signing was shipped off to Galatasaray on loan. Tottenham have an incredibly bloated squad that needs trimming. Ndombele, Japhet Tanganga and Sergio Reguilón all departed on loan last summer, though the latter has returned to the club. Hugo Lloris left for LAFC last weekhaving dropped down the goalkeeping pecking order while Eric Dier is unlikely to be on the books for much longer as the club pursues the services of Genoa’s Radu Dragusin. Giovani Lo Celso could have fallen into the same bracket but the Argen

Maidstone chase history against Stevenage, Jack Clarke set for Tyne-Wear duel and Armando Broja spots chance Ange Postecoglou did not want to say who would captain Tottenham in Friday night’s tie against Burnley. The usual choice, Son Heung-min, is away on Asian Cup duty while the vice-captains, Cristian Romero and James Maddison, are injured. Yet to Postecoglou, it will not be “really that significant” because the pecking order is established and the stopgap will be exactly that. It was striking to hear how gutted the manager was over Son’s absence – within the context of wishing him well with South Korea. Postecoglou lavished praise on a “generational” talent and “outstanding leader,” adding: “If you name a team of the year at the moment, he’s in it.” Son, he said, would be a “significant absence … a big loss.” Ben Davies is the most senior candidate to step in but, as Postecoglou stressed, every player must step up. David Hytner Tottenham v Burnley, Friday 8pm (all times GMT)

* Barça battle back in feisty win at Las Palmas * Athletic Bilbao beat Sevilla 2-0 to go fourth Ilkay Gündogan’s stoppage-time penalty earned Barcelona a 2-1 comeback win at Las Palmas in an ill-tempered La Liga match on Thursday. Las Palmas opened the scoring in the 12th minute when the former Barcelona midfielder Sandro Ramírez set up the former Barça forward Munir El Haddadi to fire home from close range and the hosts dominated the first half. Continue reading...

* RAJ Sports buys three-time NWSL champs for reported $63m * Merritt Paulson put Thorns up for sale amid 2022 scandals * New owners plan to keep club at Portland’s Providence Park The Portland Thorns have been acquired by the Bhathal family, investors in the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, the National Women’s Soccer League team announced Wednesday. RAJ Sports purchased the team for $63m, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter. Continue reading...

* Midfielder believed to have left on loan to Turkey in September * Forest had exceeded loan limits and deal now seems permanent Nottingham Forest terminated the contract of Jonjo Shelvey before he joined Turkish club Caykur Rizespor on a free transfer, contrary to their original statement that he left the club on loan. Forest announced via their official channels that Shelvey had departed to Turkey on loan eight months after signing a two-and-a-half-year contract at the City Ground, but the move was in fact permanent. In a post from September, which Forest subsequently deleted last month, the club claimed: “Jonjo Shelvey has completed a season-long loan move to Turkish Super Lig side Caykur Rizespor.” The transfer is also listed on the Premier League’s official website as a loan. Continue reading...

* Goalkeeper’s release for Africa Cup of Nations delayed * Casemiro and Martínez return to training after injuries Manchester United’s goalkeeper André Onana will be available for the Premier League game against Tottenham on 14 January, 24 hours before Cameroon start their Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Guinea. United and Onana have reached an agreement with the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot) to delay his release for the tournament. The compromise will allow the 27-year-old to be involved in the FA Cup third round tie at Wigan on Monday and Spurs’ visit to Old Trafford before flying immediately after that game to the Ivory Coast. Continue reading...

* Former Croatia striker returns for third spell as free agent * He describes it as the ‘easiest deal’ he has signed with the club The former Croatia international Nikola Kalinic has signed for Hajduk Split until the end of the season on a deal that will pay him €1 (86p). Kalinic started his career with Hajduk, making his debut in the 2005-06 season, and has gone back for a third spell just over five months after he departed at the end of his contract. He will be 36 on Friday and was a free agent after taking a break. The striker described it as the “easiest deal” he had signed with the club and confirmed his salary. Continue reading...

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! For most of Sir Alex Ferguson’s time at Manchester United, one bit of wisdom was repeated throughout football. No, not “youse are all effing idiots”, but, “when you leave Old Trafford, the only way is down”. Gerard Piqué was the first to inadvertently challenge it when he took an unlikely shortcut from Manchester United reserves to probably the greatest club side of all time. Then, when Ferguson retired in 2013, the cliché was properly flipped on its head. In 2024, the only way is down when you enter Old Trafford – down into the Bermuda Triangle where careers are lost forever. From Morgan Schneiderlin to Mason Mount via Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho, potentially world-class footballers have become victims of football’s version of Squid Game. Then again, given United’s transfer policy and wage structure, it should probably – yes, we really are going to go there – be called Quid Game. Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. I’m a simple

* Matt O’Riley inspires 3-0 victory over 10-man St Mirren * Rangers see off Kilmarnock; Hearts tighten grip on third Matt O’Riley provided a goal and assist inside the first six minutes as Celtic cruised to a 3-0 victory over 10-man St Mirren. Daizen Maeda and Greg Taylor were also on target in Paisley as Celtic went into the Premiership winter break eight points clear of Rangers, who have two games in hand. St Mirren’s Toyosi Olusanya was sent off in first-half stoppage-time after catching the Celtic goalkeeper, Joe Hart, in the face with a high boot. Continue reading...

This was a game that made it hard not to wonder if there is such a thing as too much football. West Ham and Brighton were two tired, injury-hit teams trying their best and giving their all without ever really suggesting they had the wit or energy to score a goal. At the end the biggest takeaway was it will be tough for both to remain above richer rivals as the season wears on. While West Ham ended 2023 with fine wins over Arsenal and Manchester United, the limitations of their squad were exposed by the absence of Lucas Paquetá and Mohammed Kudus. They remain sixth, three points above Brighton after a dogged defensive display, but it was not a surprise to hear David Moyes admit he would love to bring in reinforcements if money is available this month. Continue reading...

* Loan fee and salary coverage under discussion for winger * Sancho keen on Dortmund return after falling out with Ten Hag Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund are in negotiations over a deal for Jadon Sancho to return to the Bundesliga club on loan. The winger is keen on the move after more than four months without a game. Talks centre on a loan fee and salary coverage, with only a temporary transfer feasible for Dortmund, who sold Sancho to United for an initial £73m in July 2021. Sancho has not played since he effectively called Erik ten Hag a liar in early September. United’s manager has demanded an apology from the 23-year-old and ostracised him from the first-team squad. Continue reading...

After being sacked by Birmingham, the former England captain may need to bear Groucho Marx’s famous declaration in mind Is Wayne Rooney a good manager? There is an obvious answer to this, three jobs, three years and three abrupt departures into his career as a head coach, the latest that unremittingly disastrous 15-game spell at Birmingham City. And that answer is quite clearly: no. Nothing to see here. Move along please. On the other hand, any assessment of Rooney’s capacity as a manager has one key flaw, what we might call a Wayne-22 situation, which states that Wayne Rooney has only ever been employed as a manager by the kind of board that thinks it’s a good idea to employ Wayne Rooney as a manager. Continue reading...

* German club in talks with Chelsea who want £30m for defender * Conor Gallagher and Trevoh Chalobah may also leave Borussia Dortmund have held talks over a deal to sign the Chelsea left-back Ian Maatsen, who is up for sale. Maatsen has only made one start in the Premier League this season, even though Mauricio Pochettino has been dealing with an injury crisis. The Dutchman, who spent last season on loan at Burnley, is a candidate to leave as Chelsea look to raise funds for potential signings. Continue reading...