Name: Charis Mavrias Position: Winger Age: 21 Country: Greece Club: Panathinaikos It has been a chastening two years for Charis Mavrias at Sunderland. The Greek winger has made just six senior appearances during his time with the English Premier League club and looks set to depart the Stadium of Light this summer. The Black
Georginio Wijnaldum signing with Newcastle United was an eyebrow raiser for football fans and journalists alike. Wijnaldum the previous year had links to PSG and Athletico Madrid. This year’s transfer window had seen the likes of Manchester United, Roma, Zenit Saint Petersburg, and Olympique Marseille linked with the talented midfielder. But his move to Newcastle
It has been quite an 18 months for Independiente captain Federico Mancuello after struggling for years to make a real impact at his boyhood club, the 26-year-old has rapidly helped the club from their darkest hour in the Nacional B back to the Primera, been named club captain and made a goal scoring debut for
Name: Mat Ryan Position: Goalkeeper Age: 23 Country: Australia Club: Valencia Earlier this month Australia goalkeeper Mat Ryan signed a six-year deal with Spanish club Valencia, a move that capped two outstanding years in the goalkeeper’s blossoming career. After winning an A-League title with the Central Coast Mariners in 2013 – the first in
Aston Villa seem to be on the Newcastle path as they close in on the fourth arrival from Ligue 1 and arguably the most exciting or as exciting as Amavi - Jordan Veretout. Veretout was a standout performer in the first half of the 2014/15 season. In the first 18 games he scored six times
If you are a dedicated follower of the Premier League, you will have seen that the last few days the news has been dominated with Chelsea’s interest for John Stones leading to a war of words between managers Roberto Martinez and Jose Mourinho. Would it work for Chelsea, though? Should Everton let him go for
It’s always difficult to judge how a South American youngster will adapt to playing abroad, one reason why, with a few notable exceptions, the transfer fees European sides pay for young Brazilians are generally far below a player’s eventual value. That being the case, reports that Lyon were preparing a bid of €25 million for
The fee of Christian Benteke’s move to Liverpool may have raised eyebrows, but the £32.5 million is reasonable value for the 42 goals he scored from 88 appearances over three years spent in the Premier League. It represents a £25 million profit for Aston Villa who signed the striker from Racing Genk of the Jupiler
According to reports, Benfica winger Nicolas Gaitan is in negotiations for a possible move to the Premier League side this summer. The 27-year-old Argentine, who knows Angel di María very well from the national side has been linked with Manchester United on numerous occasions since 2012. Gaitan’s representative Jose Irribaren has stated: “Everything is possible,
Javier Manquillo was headed on loan to Marseille a year back. But Premier League sides Arsenal and Liverpool came in the fray for the youngster and soon after, news broke that the Reds had agreed a deal for a two year loan for the Atletico Madrid right back. Not much was expected from the youngster
One of the most exciting talents to emerge from South Africa in recent years is Nhlakanipho Ntuli, the nineteen year old currently plying his trade in Netherlands at FC Twente. A product of the Orlando Pirates development system, ‘Nanana’ moved to the Netherlands the moment he turned eighteen, having signed a pre-contract a year earlier.
Despite being the most-capped Argentine goalkeeper of all time, Sergio Romero has struggled for attention at club level over the past couple of years. Now, a free-agent after being released by Sampdoria, the Argentina number one is being courted by some of the biggest club sides in Europe. The 28-year-old needs a decent transfer and
Paulo Dybala (Juventus) Juventus signed the Argentine forward for 32 million euros (£23.4 million) from Sicilian outfit Palermo this summer. Last season, the 21-year-old scored 13 times for Palermo and provided ten assists - very impressive considering it was his first season in Serie A and was with a relegation-battling side. Dybala is versatile, athletic and agile, with
Korea isn’t known as a likely destination for Spanish footballers, with many of the K-League’s foreign signings being from Brazil or The Balkans instead. The main exception to that has been former Racing Santander defender Osmar Barba who joined FC Seoul in 2014 after a spell in Thailand with Buriram United. However, ‘Osmar’, as he
Manchester City’s announcement of the signing of Patrick Roberts was terse, with a tweet being sent out to issue the new player a warm welcome as he is pictured in the now clichéd surroundings of sitting at a table with a contract in place, pen in hand with a club representative posing next to him.
Name: Kostas Stafylidis Position: Left back Age: 21 Country: Greece Club: Bayer Leverkusen Technically gifted and attack-minded, Kostas Stafylidis is the latest in a long line of exciting full backs produced by Greece (Giourkas Seitaridis, Takis Fyssas and Vasilis Torosidis are his predecessors). A series of eye-catching performances at major tournaments for Greece’s national
Jordan Amavi ended speculation regarding his future by signing for Aston Villa for a reported sum of £10 million. The left-back joined the Claret and Blues from French side Nice and signed a five-year contract. Amavi joins an Aston Villa side that has not had particularly great left-backs in a long, long time. With Aly
Name: Terry Antonis Position: Central Midfielder Age: 21 Country: Australia Club: Sydney FC “The guy who kicked Hazard three times in 10 minutes really impressed me. I like it because there are no friendlies. I don’t like the word friendly match. So that young boy in midfield that was really aggressive and playing for a result,
It isn’t really news that Adrien Rabiot is unhappy — with his role — at PSG. The talented youngster has once again demanded to leave the club and his mother and agent was supposed to meet the PSG president to request a move away from the club. Tottenham have been on his tail for a
Kelechi Iheanacho is the future of Nigerian football. It is as simple and straightforward as that. The 18 year old attacking midfielder has shown beyond any reasonable doubt the sort of talent he is. Blessed with an eye for a pass, packs a powerful shot and full of trickery. The 2015/2016 season is expected to
He might not be much of a household name given he is yet to make his senior debut at club level yet, but if River Plate and Argentina’s young goalkeeper Augusto Batalla makes the strongly rumoured switch to Real Madrid then expect to hear a lot more about the 19-year-old. Who is Augusto Batalla?
On the face of it, Liverpool FC’s participation in Malaysia’s Frenz International Cup earlier this year was not a resounding success. Their Under-18 side, proclaimed pre-tournament as ‘undoubtedly the team to beat’ by the competition website, won an easy group but were dumped out in the quarter final by Valencia. However, as well as valuable
North Korean striker Jong Tae-Se has returned to Japan, transferring from Suwon Bluewings to J-League side Shimizu S-Pulse. Jong Tae-Se is well known around the world due to his performances in the 2010 World Cup where he was dubbed ‘The People’s Rooney”. He personally likens his style of play to ex-Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and,
For the second summer in succession, one of Barcelona’s most promising young talents is being linked with a move away from the club. If reports are to be believed, Munir El-Haddadi is a target for many top European clubs including Arsenal and Chelsea with the Gunners supposedly in pole position for his signature. Many football
As you may have read in my last few articles, the majority which have been to discuss whether the next Eredivisie starlet was ready for the Premier League and today is another. But this is different, this one has legs as Southampton have already contacted Feyenoord for their star’s services, which is why I am