Bayern Munich announced the signing of 16-year-old Luxembourd youth midfielder Ryan Johansson to a long-term contract that is set to begin this upcoming summer.
Before his signing with Bayern Munich, Johansson was playing in France, representing the FC Metz U-17 squad.
Carli Lloyd just signed for a short-term stint with Manchester City. Rising star Crystal Dunn is leaving for Chelsea. And soccer rock star Alex Morgan is (temporarily) at French Club Lyon. While these might seem like isolated incidents, it's actually a pattern. More and more U.S. women's soccer stars are leaving the states, at least in the short term for Europe.
Citing a desire to not be the coach that’s guilty of retiring Francesco Totti, Roma’s Luciano Spalletti has threatened to quit if Totti is not offered another one-year contract extension this summer.
The 40-year-old Roman has neither confirmed nor denied a desire to play next season, but the future of the personal embodiment of the club trumps all other focuses, according to Spalletti.
Neymar will stand trial on corruption charges after losing his appeal. The Barcelona star is in hot water over financial details regarding his transfer from Santos to Barcelona four years ago.
Brazilian investment group DIS launched a complaint against Neymar, Barcelona, Santos and the company run by Neymar's parents, all of whom lost their appeals and will stand trial.
From ESPNFC:
Apart from eventually winning promotion back to the Premier League, the greatest memory of Newcastle United's 2016-17 season will be selling Moussa Sissoko to Tottenham for £30 million. After acquiring him from Toulouse for next to nothing, Sissoko briefly impressed before playing a massive role in Newcastle’s relegation last season. His lone goal of the campaign didn’t arrive until April, a return of one from 37 matches.
Mark Clattenburg, England's most famous referee, is leaving England to become the head of refereeing for the Saudi Arabian FA, where he will replace his countryman Howard Webb.
Clattenburg will be remembered for being a pretty good referee, England's go-to man for big matches and also UEFA's go-to man, possibly because no English teams seem to play in big European matches anymore (ha ha! I jest). Mostly, though, Clattenburg will be remembered for doing a weird tongue thing while an Atletico Madrid player was writhing on the ground in the 2016 Champions League final.
Christian Bassogog, the Cameroonian international who was just named the MVP of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations after helping his side to the title, has just completed a transfer from Denmark’s Aalborg BK to Henan Jianye in the Chinese Super League for a reported €6 million.
The signs have continued to add up for Hope Solo to miss the Seattle Reign season opener. Even with the regular season kick-off still two months away, it appears as though the team has moved on from the iconic keeper.
First, the club announced the acquisition and signing of Madalyn Schiffel from Europe. The club made moves with another NWSL club to be able to bring her in, signalling that she would, at a minimum, challenge for the starting spot.
Carli Lloyd has announced that she will join Manchester City Women’s Football Club on a short-term deal that could run as long as June 1, 2017. The captain of the USWNT will reportedly join the English club after participating in the SheBelieves Cup from March 1-7.