LAFC's supporters' union made it clear that standing in solidarity against ICE raids in the community is rightfully more important than their rivalry with the Galaxy.
QPR’s Julien Stéphan: ‘The Championship is probably the most difficult league in the world’
New manager on the need for his team to find an identity, the challenge of the second tier and on managing Dembélé, Doué and Doku at Rennes
Julien Stéphan had been enjoying his break from football for about two months when his wife’s patience finally gave in. “She said to me: ‘I hope you will manage again quickly – and very quickly – because I want to see you on the pitch and to see you back in your own environment,’” says the new Queens Park Rangers manager.
Stéphan left Rennes for the second time last November and estimates that as well as spending precious time with his two children he watched 20 to 25 games a week as he waited for his next opportunity. That finally arrived last month when the Frenchman took over at Loftus Road from Martí Cifuentes, who has since joined Leicester. But the chance to take a breather after six years as a manager during which he guided Rennes to the Champions League for the first time and led Strasbourg to sixth in Ligue 1 – their highest position since 1980 – was most welcome.
Continue reading...Galaxy scores in final minute to force draw with LAFC in tense El Tráfico contest
Maya Yoshida scores in the final minute to help the struggling Galaxy salvage a 3-3 tie with LAFC in a wild El Tráfico rivalry match.
Socceroos star Nestory Irankunda signs five-year deal with Watford in move to Championship
Winger secures switch from Bayern Munich to Watford
Move should delight Australia coach Tony Popovic ahead of 2026 World Cup
English soccer fans can brace themselves for plenty of dazzling backflips after the young Socceroos star Nestory Irankunda secured a five-year deal with the Championship outfit Watford.
The Hornets announced the signing on their website late Friday, with the club’s sporting director Gian Luca Nani taking great pride in welcoming Irankunda.
Continue reading...Galaxy disciplines fans for rule violations while protesting team response to ICE raids
A 12-year member of the Angel City Brigade was banned indefinitely by the Galaxy for using a press credential to put up an unauthorized banner on July 4.
Manchester United agree deal to buy Bryan Mbeumo for initial £65m
Fee for forward could reach £71m with add-ons
Mbeumo wanted United despite Spurs interest
Manchester United have agreed a deal worth more than £70m to sign Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford. A fee of £65m will be paid up front and a further £6m could follow in add-ons
The Cameroonian, who scored 20 Premier League goals last season, has been a key target for Ruben Amorim. United first made an offer for Mbeumo six weeks ago and had a number of bids rejected. Mbeumo made clear he wanted to move to Old Trafford despite interest at Tottenham from his former head coach Thomas Frank, and personal terms are not thought to be an issue.
Continue reading...Dogg among the Swans: Rapper Snoop Dogg buys stake in Swansea City
Championship club under majority American ownership
Luka Modric joined as investor and co-owner in April
The American rapper Snoop Dogg has bought a minority stake in the Championship club Swansea. The deal was announced three months after the Croatia international Luka Modric joined as an investor and co-owner.
Snoop Dogg helped to launch Swansea’s new home shirt on Monday. The 53-year-old is a keen sports fan and has described Celtic as his favourite football club in Scotland. He said last month he would love to open a burger van at Celtic Park.
Continue reading...Manchester United make improved Bryan Mbeumo bid with £70m package
Offer to Brentford for forward includes guaranteed £65m
Manchester City sign 18-year-old midfielder Sverre Nypan
Manchester United have made an improved bid for the Brentford forward Bryan Mbeumo. The offer is worth up to £70m, with £65m guaranteed and the rest add-ons.
Ruben Amorim is eager to sign Mbeumo, who has indicated to Brentford he would like to join United, but Sir Jim Ratcliffe is eager not to pay over the odds. The London club have turned down at least one bid for Mbeumo from United and have demanded about £70m for a player who scored 20 Premier League goals last season.
Continue reading...Parish blames Nottingham Forest for Crystal Palace’s Europa League demotion
Palace chair ‘very hopeful’ of winning appeal to Cas
Club’s fans vow to take protest to Uefa HQ in Nyon
Steve Parish has suggested that Nottingham Forest are to blame for Crystal Palace’s demotion from the Europa League to the Conference League, and confirmed the FA Cup winners will appeal to the court of arbitration for sport over Uefa’s decision.
European football’s governing body ruled last week that Palace had breached its multiclub ownership rules, with Forest expected to be promoted to the Europa League in their place. It was revealed last month that Forest had written to Uefa to raise concerns that Palace could be in breach of regulations that bar clubs with the same owner from competing in the same competition if an individual or ownership group is considered to have a decisive influence over more than one of those teams.
Continue reading...‘It’s not fair’: Crystal Palace fans march in protest at demotion from Europa League
‘We earned the right to be there and will show support’
Palace in Conference League after ownership breach
Furious Crystal Palace supporters have demanded that Uefa reverse its decision to demote the FA Cup winners from the Europa League to the Conference League next season as they staged a protest march outside Selhurst Park on Tuesday evening.
It was confirmed last week that Uefa’s club financial control body had concluded Palace breached its multi-club ownership criteria, with the south London club expected to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport (Cas) against a decision that their chair, Steve Parish, described as “probably one of the greatest injustices that has ever happened in European football”.
Continue reading...Leicester appoint former QPR manager Martí Cifuentes on three-year contract
Spaniard left QPR last month by mutual consent
Foxes had also spoken to Gary O’Neil and Chris Wilder
Leicester have confirmed the appointment of Martí Cifuentes to fill the vacancy left by Ruud van Nistelrooy after relegation from the Premier League last season.
The Spaniard left QPR last month having been placed on gardening leave in April at the tail end of a Championship campaign that resulted in a 15th-placed finish in the 24-club division. Rangers finished seven points above the relegation places and the 43-year-old Cifuentes left by mutual consent last month.
Continue reading...Premier League fans in Asia want to feel valued – and not just as a source of revenue
Pre-season trips to Asia may not be new for English clubs, but they remain a huge global engagement opportunity
Fifty years ago, Arsenal lost 2-0 to Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, with jet-lagged players struggling to deal with frogs bouncing around the Merdeka Stadium pitch as well as the legendary local striker Mokhtar Dahari.
Since then, however, many aspects of Asian tours by English clubs have changed. They have become, mostly, slick affairs. This summer, Arsenal will visit neighbouring Singapore for games against Newcastle and Milan. Then to Hong Kong for an unusual north London derby against a Tottenham team that will also travel to South Korea to face Newcastle. Liverpool visit Japan and Hong Kong just weeks after Manchester United were in action there on a post-season tour, which they finished in Malaysia.
Continue reading...Luka Modric’s Milan move proves that a slower Serie A still has plenty of cachet | Jonathan Wilson
Ballon d’Or winner becomes the latest veteran, after Kevin De Bruyne, to be pulled in by Italian game’s leisurely pace of life
Luka Modric will turn 40 in September. He has played 930 games over the course of a career and has won seven league titles and six Champions Leagues. He even broke the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly to claim the Ballon d’Or after inspiring Croatia to the World Cup final in 2018.
He rarely lasts a full 90 minutes these days, didn’t start a game during the Club World Cup and was spared the indignity of coming on for his Madrid farewell with the semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain long since lost. He could have retired five years ago and still been one of the most respected players in the history of the game but, his eyes on next summer’s World Cup, when his contract at Real Madrid expired Modric chose to join Milan.
Continue reading...Parish plots Crystal Palace response after demotion with Uefa braced for fight
FA Cup winners feel hard done by after being banned from Europa League due to a breach of multi-club ownership rules
As an emotional Steve Parish said, it felt like “winning the lottery and going to the counter and you don’t get the prize”. Confirmation from Uefa on Friday of Crystal Palace’s demotion from the Europa League to Conference League had been expected since European football’s governing body delayed its decision to await the outcome of Lyon’s appeal against being relegated to Ligue 2.
That did not make it any easier for Parish, who has proudly overseen Palace’s rise from the brink of extinction in 2010 to a first major trophy. When the final whistle blew at Wembley to seal Palace’s FA Cup final victory against Manchester City eight weeks ago, Parish was greeted by a massive bear hug from John Textor, who at that stage was Palace’s largest shareholder, but had spectacularly fallen out with the chair over not being allowed more of an influence.
Continue reading...Morgan Gibbs-White move to Spurs on hold as Nottingham Forest consider legal action
Forest also preparing complaint to Premier League
Spurs alleged to have made illegal approach for player
Morgan Gibbs-White’s expected £60m move to Tottenham is on hold because Nottingham Forest are considering legal action over an alleged illegal approach for the player.
Forest are also preparing a complaint to the Premier League, arguing that Spurs’ conduct surrounding the proposed transfer has been inappropriate. It had been expected that Gibbs-White would undergo a medical on Friday before completing the move.
Continue reading...