The writing has been on the wall for Javier Mascherano at Barcelona for some time, and now it's official: Barcelona announced Tuesday that Mascherano would be leaving the club, with a ceremony planned for Wednesday. Mascherano has been at Barcelona for seven and a half seasons and has made more than 300 appearances.
Lost in the Alexis Sanchez-Henrikh Mkhitaryan-Arsenal-Manchester United shuffle was the fact that Manchester City made the best personnel move of the day, locking up Belgian midfielder Kevin de Bruyne until at least 2023. The club announced de Bruyne's extension literally minutes after Arsenal and Manchester United dropped their big news.
GET EXCITED! @DeBruyneKev has today signed a new contract at the Club!
It feels like Arsenal and Alexis Sanchez and Manchester United and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have been dancing around each other for ages. Really, it has only been a week or two. Still. What a drain.
Well, today the dance came to an end and Arsenal and Manchester United ended up with different partners than they had when they started.
Manchester United ended up with Sanchez, a dynamic 29-year-old Chilean who has been Arsenal's best player for quite some time.
It's official: there will be a Robin Van Persie Feyenoord homecoming. The 34-year-old will rejoin his youth club from Fenerbahçe.
Feyenoord fans have plenty to celebrate as one of the club's prodigal sons returns home. The team made it official by sharing this emotional video on social media stating "RVP is back".
Welcome home, Robin!
Last week, Tottenham Hotspur recalled Cameron Carter-Vickers from his season-long loan with Sheffield United. This week Tottenham sent the 20-year-old U.S. international back out on loan to another English Championship club: Ipswich Town. It’s an odd scenario, but this Carter-Vickers loan is actually a good thing for all three clubs involved.
In 29-year-old Mexican midfielder/right back Efrain Juarez, the Vancouver Whitecaps have acquired one of the greatest prospective films of all-time. Like any great movie, Juarez’s story starts at the beginning.
The native of Mexico City won the 2005 U-17 World Championship with El Tri (alongside the likes of Giovani dos Santos and Carlos Vela) while on the books at Pumas, facilitating an ill-fated stint with Barcelona’s B team. He then resurrected his young career by returning to Mexico to play for Pumas, helping his club to the 2009 Clausura championship.
Crystal Dunn is one of America’s brightest stars. The 2015 NWSL MVP scored 15 goals in 21 matches that season and is an entrenched member of Jill Ellis’ national team. So why did Washington trade away her rights to North Carolina when she decided to return from a year abroad in England? The Crystal Dunn trade explains a lot about how the Spirit are planning to rebuild.
Landon Donovan has arrived in Mexico. The 35-year-old attacker (who’ll turn 36 on March 4) was officially unveiled at Club Leon’s Estadio Leon Monday night with 7,000 supporters on hand to watch the unveiling of the USMNT legend, who'll wear the No. 20 shirt for the club.
Speaking fluent Spanish, the Californian addressed the crowd in a defiant matter with regards to questions surrounding his own ability to make a difference in Liga MX.
Landon Donovan is back. Landon Donovan is back. Wake up Lost Boys, like the Pan, the Golden Boy is back. He’s 35 now and this might be a jersey selling gimmick, but IDGAF. What was once dismissed as a hoax is now reality: Club Leon are saying it. Landon Donovan is saying it.