Football transfer news

Fulham have appointed Marco Silva as their new manager, following the departure of Scott Parker to Bournemouth.

The former Everton, Hull and Watford boss has penned a three-year deal at Craven Cottage, and will be tasked with returning the Cottagers to the Premier League at the first time of asking following their relegation to the Championship in 2020/21.

The club took to its official Twitter account to confirm the news of Silva’s appointment on Thursday evening.

His predecessor Parker was named Bournemouth manager on Monday, joining Fulham’s Championship rivals following the deterioration of his relationship with the west London club’s board after the relegation campaign.

In his first season, Parker achieved promotion to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs in 2019/20 but oversaw a disappointing campaign during 2020/21, eventually leading the Cottagers to an 18th-placed finish in the top flight, 11 points off safety.

Speaking to his new club’s official website, Silva said: “I’m really pleased and proud to be appointed Head Coach of such a historic football club. I want to thank the owner, Mr Khan, Tony Khan and the entire football structure of Fulham Football Club, for the trust shown in us.

Incoming: ????? ?????!#FFC

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) July 1, 2021

“I’m excited to get started and my message for our fans ahead of this big challenge is we will all be working very hard together to be successful so they can feel proud at the end of the season.”

The Fulham job will be the Silva’s fourth in English football. The Portuguese has been out of work since December 2019, after being sacked by Everton with the Toffees languishing in the Premier League relegation zone at the time.

He has also managed Hull City in 2017 – not being able to save the club from relegation – and Watford during the 2017/18 season, overseeing a promising start. However, Silva eventually lost his job as results suffered amid talk of him taking the vacant Everton job.

Silva will oversee his first match as Fulham boss in the afternoon of Sunday 8 August, as the Cottagers host Middlesbrough to kick off their 2021/22 Championship campaign.

Incoming Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo has been informed he will have the final say on whether or not Harry Kane is allowed to leave the club this summer.

Kane has been involved in a saga with Spurs over his future for some time now. Spurs’ talisman has previously revealed his desire to move away from the club this summer – even if that means going abroad – and has likely not changed his mind following the announcement of Espirito Santo’s appointment.

However, it is believed that the England captain has not been in talks with his club in recent weeks, with his full concentration going into his country’s Euro 2020 campaign. He will captain the Three Lions in their quarter-final tie with Ukraine on Saturday.

The Telegraph report that Levy insists his talisman will not be sold without new manager Espirito Santo’s consultation. Should the former Wolves boss advise that the club cash in and use the money for a suitable squad reboot, Kane will be allowed to leave – although Levy is determined to keep Kane at the club for another year at least.

But it is thought that, following England’s European Championship campaign this summer, Kane will meet face-to-face with his chairman to discuss the issue, and state his case for leaving Tottenham. The striker believes the pair have a gentleman’s agreement over the issue, although it’s reported that Levy may not see it that way, meaning Kane could have a struggle to get his own way.

Levy will reportedly only take cash for Kane and values him at around £150m, but will only sell if Espirito Santo or managing director of football Fabio Paratici confirms that the revenue can be used to invest properly in the squad.

Manchester City have shown the most interest in the 2020/21 Premier League golden boot winner this window, already making a £100m bid for the striker. Names like Aymeric Laporte and particularly Raheem Sterling have been talked about as potential makeweights in deals, although Levy doesn’t consider a swap deal suitable. In any case, Sterling is not interested in such a move and his wages wouldn’t be affordable for Spurs.

2018 was a glorious year for French football – and for Didier Deschamps.

20 years after captaining France to World Cup glory on home soil, the Frenchman lifted the Jules Rimet trophy as manager, joining Mario Zagallo and Franz Beckenbauer as the only men to have achieved such a feat.

It was the undebatable pinnacle of Deschamps’ managerial career. He oversaw a well-spirited and passionate group of players, drilled with stunning tactical precision and sent them out to dominate the 2018 World Cup.

He was even an innovator. Playing Blaise Matuidi on the left of his lopsided midfield allowed him to get the most out of Paul Pogba’s creativity and a wide-eyed, keen-to-impress Kylain Mbappe’s pace around the ominous Antoine Griezmann and target man Olivier Giroud.

It was perfection, and it won.

But three years on, and the story is different. The squad’s mentality has shifted, as have Deschamps’ tactical ideas.

In the three years since that triumphant summer, France have tinkered with systems and shapes as their opposition have learned how to deal with Deschamps’ once unplayable game plan. Results like a 2-0 loss to Turkey in June 2019, a 2-0 defeat to Finland in November 2020, and uninspiring and sluggish wins against teams like Moldova and Kazakhstan have continuously demonstrated a lack of ideas – and the problem simply hasn’t been solved.

Deschamps also has a squad in a different mindset to three years ago. They’re now champions, not chasers.

Mbappe is no longer a future star, but rather already a global sensation. Even before a ball was kicked at Euro 2020, it was clear that the Paris Saint-Germain forward’s ego was a lot bigger than it was in Russia and was causing some disharmony among the camp.

France’s lack of tempo and imagination in most fixtures they’d played for the year previous to this summer’s European Championship had also led Deschamps to make a big call: Karim Benzema was reintroduced to the camp. Let’s not get it twisted, the Real Madrid star clearly wanted to inspire his teammates to victory and was thrilled to be involved, but it certainly didn’t help the harmony within the squad.

A melting pot of bad omens prior to Euro 2020 culminated in their round of 16 tie with Switzerland. In the absence of both Lucas Hernandez and Lucas Digne, Deschamps made one of the costliest decisions of his managerial career.

Rather than playing a natural right-footed full-back on the left and staying with the formation his squad had prepared for, the France boss decided to switch system completely – playing centre-back turned right-back Benjamin Pavard at right wing-back and central midfielder Adrein Rabiot on the opposite flank, while also putting Clement Lenglet – who hadn’t featured for Les Bleus since March – straight into the heart of defence.

The France boss had decided to switch to a shape that had not worked for the team on the three previous times they’d attempted it since 2018, against a Swiss side who use it as their primary system, in a major tournament knockout game.

It was a move that showed Deschamps’ lack of ideas and connectivity with his group. It was a move that left the French players looking even more lost, dejected, and without direction or collective purpose than they had previously. It was a move that spurred Switzerland on to eventually record a massive shock result.

After a 3-3 draw over the course of 120 minutes, Yann Sommer secured a 5-4 penalty shootout win by saving Mbappe’s spot-kick – seems ironic, right?

As Gary Neville put it in the ITV studio, France’s whole Euro 2020 campaign was an ’embarrassment’.

And it’s time for change. With Zinedine Zidane waiting for a next challenge and having previously revealed his desire to manage his country, there’s an obvious successor. A successor who has already led star-studded and ego-filled squads to glory (notably three successive Champions League titles at Real Madrid) and a successor who also knows what it is to win major tournaments for France.

The general consensus among French fans is that Zizou would be welcomed with open arms – and a big kiss on either cheek – but, for Deschamps, it could, and should, be…

La fin.

Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles is ‘unhurt and at home’ after being involved in a major road traffic accident.

The 23-year-old is due back at the Emirates Stadium this summer after spending the second half of the 2020/21 campaign on loan at West Brom, who were relegated back to the Championship at the first time of asking.

Highways England reported on Wednesday morning that an accident had taken place on the M25 motorway, between junctions 24 and 25. Emergency services were called to the scene, and there were soon images circulating on social media that appeared to show Maitland-Niles involved in a crash with another vehicle.

That has now been confirmed, with Metropolitan Police releasing a statement that revealed officers had attended the crash site at around 06:10 BST. “Officers and London Ambulance Service attended. There are no reports of any injuries. Enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing,” it read.

The BBC report Arsenal have confirmed their player is unhurt and at home.

Maitland-Niles’ Arsenal future remains up in the air. He was sent out on loan after failing to convince Mikel Arteta that he was worthy of a place in his preferred position of central midfield, despite forcing his way to Gareth Southgate’s England setup at the beginning of the season.

His inability to do so ended up costing him a place in the Three Lions’ squad for Euro 2020, and he’s currently in limbo after his move to The Hawthorns on a temporary basis resulted in relegation. Speaking in June, Maitland-Niles told the Telegraph that he wasn’t yet sure whether Arsenal wanted him back, revealing his desire to know where he stands so he can plot his next career move – if needed.

“If I was to get a phone call from someone at Arsenal and they said they’d like a meeting tomorrow, then it would be easier that way,” he said. “They can tell me whether they’ve got plans to play me in the future or if they want to sell me.

“I’ve heard they want to make some space [in the squad] and some money so I’m not sure. I want a decision. I want some clarity. And then hopefully I can get to work with whoever I need to get to work with. Whether that is finding a new club or whether that is carrying on with my training.

#AFC | Per @jamesmcnicholas, Arsenal’s Ainsley Maitland-Niles was involved in a road traffic accident in the early hours of this morning.

I understand the 23-year-old was pulled out of his vehicle by another driver and is unhurt. pic.twitter.com/oK07Ihrv2Y

— Chris Davison (@cdavison_afc) June 30, 2021

“I would like some kind of indication of what is happening.”

If Arsenal’s transfer activity is anything to go by, it’s unlikely Maitland-Niles will get another chance in north London. The club are actively pursuing players who operate in the heart of midfield, including Lille’s Renato Sanches, Sassuolo’s Manuel Locatelli and Brighton’s Yves Bissouma among others.

Juventus are willing to sell Cristiano Ronaldo for just £25m this summer as they look to move the Portuguese forward on.

The 36-year-old swapped Madrid for Turin back in 2018 as he looked to make it big in another league, having succeeded in England and Spain.

While his personal goal contributions have remained excellent, scoring 101 goals for La Vecchia Signora in 133 appearances, Juve have declined and haven’t shown any signs of winning the Champions League title he was brought in to help them obtain.

As a result, Gazzetta dello Sport report Juve are willing to let the Portugal legend leave for a relative pittance. Ronaldo’s departure would also help the Serie A side save as much as £75m in wages should an exit materialise this summer.

Former clubs Manchester United and Real Madrid as well as French giants Paris Saint-Germain have all been linked with moves for the forward, though Juve’s director of football Federico Cherubini recently said he does not anticipate an exit this summer.

“There has been no sign from Ronaldo about a possible move, and no sign from Juve,” Cherubini said, as quoted by Sky Sports.

“We are very happy that Ronaldo will rejoin the team once the rest period after the European Championship is over.

“Let me reaffirm I’ll be happy if he stays.”

Juve did manage to salvage an otherwise poor season by finishing fourth in Serie A to qualify for the Champions League. They also won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did name Ronaldo as a legend he would re-sign for the Red Devils.

Back in March, he said: “There’s a few players I’ve played with that I’d love to have in my team, of course.

“I’d love the player Roy Keane, I’m not sure if I could manage him though. I’d sign him every day of the week, Roy was so influential but then again, I played with Cristiano [Ronaldo] and he’s been the best player in the world alongside Messi for the past 10-15 years now, so Cristiano. You’d take him in your team, for sure.”

However, it appears United are embracing a new era and backing their current attacking talent for the time being. Stars like Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood are expected to be key figures for years to come, while it was also announced on Thursday that a deal had been agreed in principle to sign Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho, bringing the biggest transfer saga of the last two years to an end.