Football transfer news

Former Sheffield United defender George Baldock has died at the age of 31.

Baldock, who spent seven years at Bramall Lane before joining Greek giants Panathinaikos this summer, was found dead in the swimming pool of his home in Glyfada, southern Athens.

“We can confirm that George has sadly passed away,” a family statement said. “As a family we are in shock at this terrible loss.”

Panathinaikos released their own statement late on Wednesday, posting on social media: “We are shocked, we are shocked by the loss of our George.

“The family of Panathinaikos mourns his untimely death. We stand with the family and loved ones of George Baldock.”

Baldock was born in England but represented Greece on the international stage – he qualified through his maternal grandmother – making 12 appearances following his debut in June 2022.

He forged a successful Premier League career with Sheffield United, having joined from the club from MK Dons in 2017, and played every single game of the Blades’ maiden campaign back in the top flight – the 2019/20 season that saw Chris Wilder’s side survive relegation.

In total, he played 205 times for Sheffield United in the Premier League and Championship before joining Panathinaikos on a free transfer after penning a three-year contract.

Expressing their sadness at Baldock’s passing, Sheffield United wrote in a post on social media: “The defender left the club in the summer after seven years at Bramall Lane and was extremely popular with supporters, staff and team-mates who pulled on a red and white shirt alongside him.

“The sincere condolences of everyone associated with Sheffield United are extended to George’s family and friends.”

The Greek national team also released a statement reading: “With profound sadness and sorrow, the national team and the Greek Football Federation bid farewell to George Baldock.

“There are no words to describe the human pain caused by the news of the unexpected loss of one of our own, young, man. The moment forces silence. Condolences to his family. Condolences from his second family.”

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Raul will leave his position as Real Madrid Castilla manager at the end of the season but the Spanish giants still plan to keep the legendary striker at the club in some capacity.

The former Spain international has been in charge of Los Blancos’ reserve team since 2019 and has taken charge of 178 games, picking up victories in 71 of them. They just missed out on promotion to the Segunda Division under his watch in 2022/23, narrowly losing the promotion play-off final against Eldense.

Raul has previously spoken about the possibility of replacing current first-team boss Carlo Ancelotti, calling himself a “club man” while stating his dedication for the side for which he played 741 matches and scored 323 goals.

Marca now claim the decision for Raul to leave at the end of the season has been made and communicated, with fellow former first-team star Alvaro Arbeloa set to take over having led the Juvenil A side.

Their report adds that it isn’t the end for Raul at Madrid, however. Both sides hope to reach an agreement on his next role at the club soon, with a promotion to Ancelotti’s coaching staff a possibility.

The 47-year-old could also remain in an academy role that doesn’t involve coaching, perhaps working more closely with director of football Santiago Solari.

Raul has been linked with roles in Germany, most notably former side Schalke. The former striker made 98 appearances for the Die Konigsblauen, scoring 40 goals in the twilight of his career after leaving Madrid.

They currently play in the 2. Bundesliga, having been relegated from Germany’s top flight in 2022/23.

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September was a tough month for Manchester United. A thrashing of third-tier Barnsley in the Carabao Cup offered brief respite from humbling results in the Premier League and Europa League.

A particularly concerning display against Tottenham Hotspur at the end of September reopened the ceaseless debate surrounding Erik ten Hag’s future. The Dutchman is expected to retain his position at the helm of a listing ship, although hasn’t been helped by many of his underperforming players.

Not every member of United’s squad has been weighed down during a sequence of results which were bookended by 3-0 defeats to Liverpool and Spurs.

Based upon a poll 90min conducted in our dedicated Manchester United fan WhatsApp channel (link to follow down below), more than 46,000 fans have made their candidate for September’s player of the month abundantly clear.

Seven of the 11 goals which Manchester United scored in September came at home to Barnsley in a third-round Carabao Cup tie. Marcus Rashford scored twice in that walkover win and, more significantly, had opened his account in the Premier League against Southampton three days earlier.

United’s divisive academy graduate had not scored in any of his previous 12 club appearances across all competitions, but enjoyed himself against the newly promoted Saints. Despite going off with 20 minutes remaining, Rashford racked up three shots on target – his highest tally in a Premier League game since May 2023.

That burst of form was cut short when Ten Hag dropped Rashford to the bench for United’s very next league game. The Dutchman cited “rotation”, but United’s fans were clearly more impressed with the England international, as roughly 4,500 of them voted him as the month’s top performer.

Centre-backs Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt both received around 2,000 nominations. But the defensive duo’s stock was undoubtedly hit by a chastening 3-3 Europa League draw with Porto once October began as Ten Hag hooked both of them in the 78th minute. The unfashionable pairing of Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans who were subbed into the continental tie retained their position for United’s final league game before the October international break. Rather damningly, the bruising British partnership kept a clean sheet against high-flying Aston Villa.

Andre Onana’s popularity has violently fluctuated during an eventful 14 months in England, swinging from futuristic messiah to flapping mess. It has been far more the former than the latter of late. Almost three-quarters of the 46,000 fans that completed the survey selected the goalkeeper as United’s best player.

Onana’s reputation has enjoyed an upward surge despite the downward trending results. The Cameroon international produced a pivotal penalty save to swing the momentum of United’s trip to Southampton in the middle of the month, getting down to deny Cameron Archer’s tame effort before springing back up to stop the rebound as well.

Even while United dropped points, Onana managed to improve his standing among the fans. United’s enigmatic shot-stopper was rested for the cup tie against Barnsley but was repeatedly called into action at the end of a goalless stalemate with Crystal Palace. Onana couldn’t preserve a clean sheet when Tottenham travelled to Old Trafford despite making seven saves – the most he has recorded in a league game since February.

Rarely is it a good sign when the goalkeeper is a team’s best player during a single game. That Onana has clearly been the standout individual over the last month says a lot about their recent struggles. Sadly for United, they’ve also been in this position before, when David de Gea was voted Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year for three seasons in row.

Andre Onana’s Man Utd stats in September

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Halfway through his final season in charge of Liverpool, the grind of day-to-day management had clearly begun to take its toll on Jurgen Klopp.

“It’s not to do with coaching any more,” the German manager sighed. “It’s just recovery and then meetings, that’s how it is.” Three weeks later, Klopp confirmed that he would step down as Liverpool boss at the end of the 2023/24 campaign. After a summer spent enjoying his longest break from management since taking over Mainz in 2001, Red Bull unveiled Klopp as their new ‘Head of Global Soccer’.

Here’s what that grand and vague title means for a former manager who has plenty more meetings to navigate when he takes on the role at the start of 2025.

Looks like he’s got a fresh burst of energy! ??

Jürgen Klopp is set to become the new Global Head of Soccer at Red Bull. pic.twitter.com/OazqxSZZ84

— 90min (@90min_Football) October 9, 2024

Klopp’s brief is broad but relatively straightforward. The former manager of Borussia Dortmund – a club which has routinely and vehemently protested Red Bull’s investment throughout the world of football – will oversee every club under the energy drink’s umbrella.

Red Bull’s press release explained that Klopp “will not be involved in the clubs’ day-to-day operations, but will provide strategic vision, supporting individual sporting directors in advancing the Red Bull philosophy”. The German’s sphere of influence will also extend to scouting, player training and coaching development.

Ralf Rangnick was formerly Red Bull’s global soccer head before he embarked upon a disastrous interim spell as Manchester United manager. The studious tactician first took on a sporting director role at RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg in 2012, installing a high-energy style of football with young players scouted from undervalued areas, particularly in Africa.

“The playing style should be highly recognisable,” Rangnick told the Coaches’ Voice, “so much so that, even on a bad day, you can still recognise the kind of football that the team wants to play.”

This is not the first time that Klopp has followed in the footsteps of Rangnick. The “heavy metal” pressing which the former Liverpool boss has based his philosophy around was introduced to the German footballing public by Rangnick. The former Hoffenheim boss first came across the benefits of working against the ball when his sixth-tier side, FC Viktoria Backnang, played a friendly against Valeriy Lobanovskyi’s Dynamo Kyiv in 1983. “A few minutes in,” Rangnick recalled, “I had to stop and count their players. Something was wrong. Did they have 13 or 14 men on the pitch?”

Klopp had said that he was “running out of energy” when he left Liverpool and has come under criticism from fans who were taken aback by this unforeseen career move. The 57-year-old explained his decision: “By joining Red Bull at a global level, I want to develop, improve and support the incredible football talent that we have at our disposal.”

On the specifics of his duties, Klopp said: “I see my role primarily as a mentor for the coaches and management of the Red Bull clubs but ultimately I am one part of an organisation that is unique, innovative and forward looking.”

CEO of Corporate Projects and Investments at Red Bull, Oliver Mintzlaff, called Klopp “a game changer”, citing his managerial record as well as his “extraordinary skills and charisma”.

It’s easy to spot a club owned by Red Bull. The name, shirt sponsor and colour scheme of each franchise all take their inspiration from the energy drink company founded by Dietrich Mateschitz and Chaleo Yoovidhya in 1984. Three of RB’s four top-flight clubs play in stadiums called Red Bull Arena.

Salzburg was the first footballing investment Mateschitz made in 2005. The club had previously been known as Austria Salzburg – and even carried the prefix ‘Casino’ at one point – but fans did not take kindly to the sweeping changes Red Bull made, most notably ditching the traditional purple strip in favour of red and white. Salzburg had won three league titles in their 72-year history pre-RB and have claimed 14 in the subsequent two decades. However, the club’s ten-year stranglehold of the top-flight crown was broken in 2023/24 by Sturm Graz.

Red Bull branched out to the US in 2006, but have had nowhere near the same success. New York Red Bulls have only reached MLS Cup once since the takeover and are still waiting for their first piece of major silverware. The Brazilian branch of the multi-club project, consisting of Red Bull Bragantino and the club’s secondary team which operates in the third tier, was only launched in 2019.

Bundesliga contenders RB Leipzig are the most high profile and controversial branch of the Red Bull dynasty. The side from East Germany was reborn in 2009. Red Bull circumvented the nation’s famous 50+1 rule – which theoretically prevents corporations or wealthy individuals from owning the majority of shares in a club – by ensuring that most of the club’s members were Red Bull employees.

Brand names are prohibited in the Bundesliga so the ‘RB’ in RB Leipzig doesn’t stand for the fizzy drink empire. Instead, Leipzig’s prefix is ‘RasenBallsport’, which literally translates to ‘lawn ball sports’ but was only applied so that it shares the same initials.

After taking the Bundesliga by surprise with an impressive second-place finish during their debut season in German top flight in 2016/17, while Rangnick was in charge, the project stalled until Julian Nagelsmann was appointed, leading Leipzig to the 2020 Champions League semi-final and another runners-up position in the Bundesliga the following year.

Leipzig have evolved beyond the blistering pressing football which underscored their rise up the footballing pyramid to develop a proficiency in possession. The two-time DFB Pokal winners have finished in the Bundesliga’s top four at the end of each of the last six seasons – a feat only Bayern Munich have also achieved. Part of Klopp’s brief will no doubt revolve around helping Leipzig finally win their first Bundesliga title.

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Chelsea midfielder Cesare Casadei has admitted that he “wasn’t very happy” under manager Mauricio Pochettino in the second half of last season.

Casadei joined Leicester on a year’s loan in the summer of 2023 and impressed as the Foxes, coached by Enzo Maresca, initially ran away with the Championship title race. But he was recalled to Stamford Bridge early, only to be given sporadic minutes by Pochettino.

“I was doing very well on loan,” the 21-year-old Tuttosport, looking back at the situation.

“However, in mid-January, Chelsea, who own my contract until 2028, called me home. And with Pochettino it was quite difficult for me. I only played bits and pieces, 11 appearances but a total of just 71 minutes on the pitch, at most in the last quarter of an hour and above all as substitutes.

“I wasn’t very happy. Everyone would like to play a bit more.”

Casadei, reunited with Maresca in the summer, stayed with Chelsea this season but is still waiting for his chance. The Italian talent is yet to get on the pitch in the Premier League, although he did play 90 minutes in the Carabao Cup against Barrow and in the Conference League against Gent.

Maresca hasn’t been an automatic ticket into the team, but Casadei appears optimistic about working with his fellow countryman and what the coach is doing for a now resurgent Chelsea.

“When I saw Maresca arrive at Stamford Bridge in the summer I was excited,” he said.

“We already knew each other because he was my coach in the first six months of last season at Leicester City. However, I’m not the only one who has already worked with him: [Kiernan] Dewsbury-Hall also comes from Leicester while [Cole] Palmer and [Romeo] Lavia played at Manchester City when Maresca was [Pep] Guardiola’s technical assistant.

“The coach was very clear from day one: everyone understood his ideas and how he wanted to play. The fact that we are compatriots only helps me from a language point of view, in the sense that I can immediately understand. For the rest, I’m one of the squad like everyone else: no privileges.

“I like the way he thinks and sees football. We are working well under his guidance. I think he is a great coach because he is able to bring out the best in everyone. He is demanding, but that is how it should be. We are at Chelsea, we have high expectations.”

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