Bayern Munich fans and coach Carlo Ancelotti might be experiencing some heart palpitations right about now. The German side’s much-anticipated loan signing, James Rodriguez, has been diagnosed with a leg muscle injury that threatens to keep him out for several weeks. The injury occurred in Bayern’s 3-0 Audi Cup loss to Liverpool yesterday.
Meet Amine Harit, a French U-20 attacking midfielder who just arrived at Schalke 04 via Nantes for $9.5 million. He's not a global sponsor for Nike, Gillette, Panasonic or Beats by Dre, he's never had his own custom Air Jordan sneakers or been featured on the cover of Pro Evolution Soccer, but he remains one of the brightest attacking talents in world football today.
So, Neymar to PSG is really heating up now. After Barcelona admitted Neymar said he wanted to leave and Messi said goodbye on Instagram, the Brazilian forward is reportedly in Porto to undergo a medical. The big story right now (read: for like the next 15 minutes until something else insane happens) is Neymar's PSG contract, which, according to Sky Sports, is a whopper.
No one knows more about parking the bus than Jose Mourinho. Though in England he’s often credited with coining the phrase as a derisory comment about Tottenham playing defensively in 2004, Mourinho is a manager who is not afraid to go all-out defense to get a result.
On Wednesday, someone parked Mourinho’s bus.
This morning Barcelona announced that Neymar had announced to them his intention to leave the club, presumably for Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona also announced that they informed Neymar his release clause, a cool 263.2 million, would still have to be met.
PSG have yet to actually meet this release clause, which would terminate Neymar's contract with Barcelona and allow him to sign a new one with PSG, but they certainly have the means. Messi has already said goodbye.
The transfer saga embroiling Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Neymar reached a crescendo on Wednesday, although only the most ardent of Neymar and Blaugrana supporters wouldn’t have seen it coming. Barca released a statement confirming Neymar’s desire to leave the club for around $263 million, and Neymar informed his teammates of his decision before missing the day’s training session.
Chicharito has finally made an appearance in an actual West Ham game. The Hammers' new number 17 took the field for the last 20 minutes or so of their friendly against German fifth-tier side Altona 93, which ended in a 3-3 draw.
Hopefully Chicharito can gain full fitness before West Ham's first league match, against Manchester United on August 13.
At Chivas, Chicharito wore number 14. At Manchester United, he wore number 14. At Real Madrid, he wore number 14. At Bayer Leverkusen, he wore number seven. For the Mexico National Team, he wears number 14. For West Ham, Pedro Obian wears number 14 and Sofiane Feghouli wears number seven, so Chicharito will wear number 17.
At the very least, it gives West Ham a clever little hashtag they can use.
Cue a thousand corny jokes about swiping right on transfers and Manchester United fans finally getting a decent match: Tinder has reportedly offered a deal to become Manchester United’s sleeve sponsor.
Leave it to Sandecja Nowy Sacz coach Radoslaw Mroczkowski to produce one of the most damning statements of Freddy Adu’s absurd career.
“What is the point of having such a player?” Mroczkowski asked rhetorically.
Ouch.