Last week, social media erupted amid news that Premier League side Arsenal had attempted to spend a huge amount of money on Serie A’s latest striking sensation, Andrea Belotti. Figures in the tens of millions were bandied about, converted from euros to pounds and back again until it seemed as though Arsenal’s penny-pinching ways had prevented their transfer business yet again.
Norwegian prodigy Martin Odegaard joined Real Madrid two years ago at the age of 16, and having failed so far to break into Madrid's first team, the 18-year-old midfielder is going on loan to Heerenveen in the Netherlands.
After only two first-team appearances in two years, Odegaard will benefit from regular action against top division professionals.
The loan is reportedly for 18 months, and Odegaard will not be 20 years old yet at the end of it. There's room to grow here.
Odegaard joins a squad that sits fourth in the Eredivisie, in line for a Europa League place.
The rumor mill has been heating up as clubs start making moves this January. One big-time rumor that might make waves in the coming weeks, should it turn into reality, is Manchester City’s reported interest in Ivan Rakitic.
The Barcelona midfielder has been warming the bench for Luis Enrique’s side since early December, and a move to play under Pep Guardiola might prove alluring to the Croatian playmaker.
Still, how well would he fit into Guardiola’s team?
Bad news first: the FA Cup fourth round will probably be a snoozer. None of the major clubs will play each other, with the best possible game being Arsenal vs. (potentially) a much more boring than usual Southampton team. Yeesh.
The good news: a couple of upsets could turn the whole thing on its head. Say Norwich City get by Southampton and then upset Arsenal, or Wycombe Wanderers beat Tottenham, or Brentford beat Chelsea, or Crystal Palace or Bolton take down Manchester City, or Wigan knock out current FA Cup champs Manchester United? That would be fun, right? RIGHT?
Claudio Ranieri, Leicerster City's twinkly-eyed Italian grandfather, er, manager, has been named the 2016 World Manager of the Year by FIFA. After leading the Foxes to the Premier League title, overcoming 5,000-1 odds, we'd have a hard time seeing anyone else getting the award.
Ranieri's 2016-17 Premier League season hasn't been as successful, with Leicester City mired in 15th, six points above the relegation zone. They are, however, in the Champions League knockout stage, where they have a good chance to advance past Sevilla to the quarterfinals.
Here’s a player to keep an eye on: 19-year-old Italian youth international Riccardo Orsolini. Orsolini plays his football for Ascoli in the Italian Serie B. According to his extremely vague Wikipedia page, the boy has got “excellent dribbling” abilities. You’re goddamn right he does.
Christian Pulisic’s 2017 is off to a fine start after the 18-year-old American scored in Borussia Dortmund’s friendly victory over PSV Eindhoven during the Bundesliga’s winter break.
Yeah, it was only a friendly, but scoring a goal against Champions League opposition still probably means more than taking it to the Colorado Rapids.
Pulisic scored off a Andre Schurrle cutback for Dortmund’s fourth goal in their 4-1 victory.
Portugal has thrown up its second ridiculous refereeing decision in the space of a week, this one taking place in a reserve match between Braga and Sporting.
Manchester City’s 5-0 demolition of West Ham at the London Stadium was a crushing experience for Hammers fans. The loudest cheer of the night was reserved for an appearance from high school student Peter Parker, better known as Spider-Man.
Spider-Man was felled in the penalty area, his tackler immediately pointing to the spot in a display of sportsmanship that’s rarely seen. But was it really a penalty, or did Spidey take a dive?
Real Madrid cruised to a 5-0 victory over Granada on Saturday, moving six points clear of Barcelona in the La Liga table. Goals from Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Casemiro and a brace from Isco condemned Granada to their tenth defeat of the season — they’re currently 19th in the table.
The Bernabeu crowd were treated to five goals within the hour, and Real Madrid made it 39 consecutive matches unbeaten, equalling the all time Spanish record.
The prematch festivities included a presentation of Cristiano Ronaldo’s fourth Ballon d’Or trophy.