17-year-old phenom Martin Odegaard’s standing with the Real Madrid first team just became that much more confusing. The latest reports from the Santiago Bernabeu allege that Real Madrid club president Florentino Perez has forced manager Zinedine Zidane to include Odegaard in the club’s pre-season tour against Zidane’s wishes.
I love center back highlight videos. I am not sure why this is, but I can't get enough.
This one is perhaps my favorite. It depicts Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho as a pair of warrior gods who defend Liverpool's goal and honor against all comers and defeat them with ease.
In hindsight, Leicester City’s €15.5 million purchase of French defensive midfielder Nampalys Mendy was an exact like-for-like replacement for the eventual sale of breakthrough star N’Golo Kante.
Not that Leicester City supporters will be okay with seeing Kante leave, especially to EPL rival Chelsea.
(Extremely The Wire voice) Look out, NASL. Omar's comin'. Mexican striker Omar Bravo, formerly of Chivas, has joined the NASL's Carolina RailHawks.
Bravo will join the seventh-place RailHawks in hopes of bolstering their attack. Having scored more than 150 goals in his professional career, we like his chances.
Graziano Pelle, who scored 11 Premier League goals in 30 appearances for Southampton last season, is about to make as much money as Zlatan Ibrahimovic after accepting a transfer to Chinese side Shandong Luneng.
The Italian international had been wanted by the likes of Chelsea and Everton, but he’s decided to leave Southampton in a £13 million transfer while signing a contract that will pay him £13.6 million per year for two years.
Jorge Sampaoli has just arrived in Sevilla after leading Chile to their 2015 Copa America title, but his plans for the club’s upcoming season are already running full steam ahead.
The former Chile manager, he resigned in January of 2016, watched with pride as La Roja once again captured the Copa this June. Now, he will be looking to match their success with his own at Sevilla.
Managing Sevilla will be the biggest club test of Sampaoli’s coaching career, and it’s an excellent opportunity to prove that he’s one of the finer managers in the world.
20-year-old Mexican phenom Hirving Lozano is reportedly on the verge of joining Manchester United.
Lozano enjoyed a breakout season with Pachuca. Photo: @101greatgoals | Twitter
Henrikh Mkhitaryan should not be blamed for moving to Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund. He gets to play for a larger club, be more famous and reportedly triple his wages. That's a no-brainer for just about anybody.
His former club doesn't see it that way though.
Borussia Dortmund announced on their Facebook page that Mkhitaryan was leaving the club, and they couldn't resist throwing a little jab at the departing midfielder.
Here's the post in full (bolding mine):
Tim Howard’s presence in MLS was clearly felt during his return on Monday as the American goalkeeper registered a shutout in the 0-0 draw between Colorado Rapids, Howard’s new club, and the reigning MLS champion Portland Timbers.
Howard’s debut electrified Colorado’s fanbase — the club typically averages 14,978 spectators per match but had a season-best 18,759 attend Monday’s July 4th matchup.
Rapids fans were keen to see Howard and Jermaine Jones, both returning from Copa America action with the United States, take the field together for the first time for the club.
And here I thought today was going to be a slow news day. Zlatan Ibrahimovic announced Thursday his next destination will be Manchester United, where he will be reunited with his coach at Inter Milan, Jose Mourinho.
The move has been speculated for quite a while, basically since he announced he was leaving PSG, but Zlatan made it official Thursday on Instagram. Premier League center-backs are on notice.