Deal
Manchester United ready to listen to offers for Dean Henderson
Manchester United are willing to listen to offers for goalkeeper Dean Henderson amid concerns over his attitude, Football Insider claims. The England international started last season as the back-up goalkeeper behind David de Gea, but he became a regular during the back end of the campaign. Despite this, he was ignored for the Europa League final against Villarreal. The club lost via a penalty shoot-out, with De Gea failing to save any of the 11 spot-kicks. Ahead of next season, the club are planning a radical overhaul of the goalkeeping department, and they have already released Sergio Romero and Joel Pereira. The club are also open to offers for Henderson and De Gea but acknowledge that they may struggle to offload the latter due to his hefty £350,000-a-week wages. Henderson is said to b...
Iran says nuclear talks policy won’t change after presidential vote
Iran’s policy in talks with world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear accord will remain unchanged after a June 18 presidential election because the issue is decided by its highest leadership, a government spokesman said on Tuesday. A host of barriers to the revival of the nuclear deal remain firmly in place ahead of talks due to resume this week, suggesting a return to compliance with the accord is still a way off, diplomats, Iranian officials and analysts said. “We have shown that we adhere to our international obligations under all circumstances, and this was a national decision,” cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei told a weekly news conference. Rabiei said Iran’s nuclear policy, set by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is not linked to internal developments and that the new government wou...
PSG steals Georginio Wijnaldum from Barca’s grips with better offer
Liverpool’s Dutch midfielder, Georginio Wijnaldum, who had been a long-time target to firm up the Catalan midfield for Barcelona, made a sudden volte face by deciding for former French Ligue champions Paris Saint-Germain instead. Just when the details of his move from former English Premier League champions Liverpool were almost fully sorted with arrangements on course for Wijnaldum’s medicals at Camp Nou, PSG jumped ahead to challenge for the midfielder’s interest with a juicier offer which appears to have worked in their favour. The Ligue 1 side has now won the race to sign 30-year-old central midfielder on a free transfer from Liverpool. PSG found their way around advanced talks between Wijnaldum and Barca by showing the defender their determination to attract him to Paris by improving ...
Lagos governor: Twitter should have an office in Nigeria to resolve issues
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo Olu said if Twitter had an office in Nigeria, resolving the current Twitter ban initiated by the Buhari government would have been easier. The governor made the suggestion in an interview with Arise TV on Monday. Mr Sanwo-Olu noted that he cannot categorically say if the federal government’s action against Twitter is wrong or right because he does not have the same prognosis as the President and Commander in Chief. “I cannot sit down here with all of the responsibilities that I have and fly (sic) the commander in chief of the armed forces. Even had (sic) a prognosis and security information that I do not have. I cannot begin to say that was it done is right or wrong” he asserted. He alluded that the government had only suspended Twitter operations in Nig...
Cross River government warns arsonists to steer clear of state university
The Cross River State Government has warned arsonists against attempting to do damage to the University of Cross River (UNICROSS). The warning, the government says, followed intelligence reports that arsonists were set to burn down the institution. The crisis in the institution began when a graduating student, Nkasi Moses, was stabbed to death by phone thieves when he attempted to recover a stolen phone. His death led to a crisis in the institution, which resulted in the shutting down of the school by the state government The government, through Alfred Mboto, Permanent Secretary, Special Services, had threatened to deal with those behind the conspiracy,. Mboto alleged the planners were non-indigenes, but that they would face the consequences of their actions. Mboto in a statement said, “Th...
Thomas Tuchel targets four signings at Chelsea after contract extension
According to the Daily Star, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel wants to bring in four new players this summer after signing a new contract with the club. Tuchel arrived at the Bridge in January earlier this year, after Chelsea had sacked club legend Frank Lampard owing to a disappointing run of results that threatened to derail the campaign. Under the German, though, the Blues experienced a tremendous turnaround as they clinched a top-four finish in the Premier League and also made it to the FA Cup finals. But the cherry on top was Chelsea going on to win the UEFA Champions League for just the second time in the history of the club, beating Man City in the finals in Porto. Following the sensational turnaround, Tuchel, who had initially signed just an eighteen-month contract, has now been hande...
Aston Villa set to break transfer record with Emi Buendia signing
Aston Villa are set to break their transfer record for the third consecutive summer window after agreeing a £30,000,000 initial fee with Norwich City for Emi Buendia. The transfer will include a number of add-ons and a sell-on fee should the Argentina international move on from Villa Park in the future. It is thought that the deal offered by Aston Villa was too good to refuse, with the deal set to potentially rise to £40,000,000 in the future. It marks a huge profit for Norwich City, who signed Buendia for £1,500,000 from Spanish side Getafe. It is thought that Emi Buendia has agreed personal terms today whilst away with the Argentina national team, while also completing his medical. When the transfer is set to be officially announced remains to be seen, but it is a sign of Aston Villa’s c...
Antonio Conte unconvinced by Tottenham project
Antonio Conte has major doubts about becoming Tottenham’s next head coach and is inclined to turn them down, according to Sky Italy. Spurs have been in talks with the former Chelsea boss, who left Inter Milan after winning Serie A last month. But after considering the role for several days, Conte remains unconvinced Spurs are a team ready to win trophies immediately. The Italian has won five league titles in the last decade and is looking for another ‘winning project’. He is trying to understand if it is possible to bridge the gap with the top four or five Premier League teams in a short period of time – with Spurs having finished 24 points behind champions Manchester City. It is understood Spurs would not pressure him to win trophies. If the parties fail to strike a deal, Conte could also...
PDP tasks federal government on Dangote refinery shares
The Peoples Democratic Party has advised the Federal Government to ensure transparency in its planned acquisition of 20 per cent shares in Dangote refinery. The PDP said this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja. Ologbondiyan said: “The PDP has nothing against any genuine and honest incentives for private refineries, but we insist that such must not be used as avenues for siphoning funds from national treasury. “The transaction must be made completely open, in terms of conditions for crude barter trade, duration, equity sharing and signatories among other things.” Ologbondiyan urged the National Assembly to take advantage of its oversight power on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to ensure that the deal was transparent. “The PDP insists...
Gary Lineker expects Manchester clubs or PSG to win Harry Kane race
Gary Lineker believes that both Manchester clubs and Paris Saint-Germain are the favourites to land Harry Kane in the summer, although he expects Daniel Levy to fight hard to keep Tottenham’s star man. Kane recorded 22 goals and 14 assists in the Premier League last season to secure both the golden boot and the playmaker award, despite Spurs finishing in seventh place in the table. As reported by Goal on May 17, the Spurs forward, who will captain England at the upcoming European Championship in the summer, wants to leave the north Londoners and Lineker can understand his desire for trophies. “I think that it would be worrying [to see him dominate the league if he joins Manchester City],” Lineker told Goal. “I would love to see him at Barcelona but they are going for [Sergio] Aguero and ar...
Manchester City willing to break £100 million barrier to sign Aston Villa skipper
Manchester City are willing to break the £100m barriers to sign Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish. The Daily Mail says Grealish has long been admired by Pep Guardiola and City’s manager wants the 25-year-old at the hub of what he hopes he will become the second great team of his reign in Manchester. Villa rewarded Grealish last September with a lucrative new contract and the club captain still has four years to run on his deal. His importance to Dean Smith’s side is huge and, as such, they would not entertain selling their local hero for anything less than a new British transfer record. City have not had the most expensive player in the Premier League since they signed Robinho for £32.5m at the start of the Abu Dhabi era in September 2008 but there is recognition that recruiting Grealish w...
Taiwan says request to drop word ‘country’ preceded BioNTech vaccine deal collapse
Germany’s BioNTech asked Taiwan to remove the word “country” from an announcement they planned to make on a COVID-19 vaccine sale to the island, its health minister said on Thursday, giving details of the deal whose axing was blamed on China by Taipei. Taiwan and China are engaged in an escalating war of words after Beijing offered the shots to the Chinese-claimed island via Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd, which has a contract to sell them in Greater China. Taiwan Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a daily news briefing the government had signed and sent back a “final contract” agreed with BioNTech after months of negotiations, and the two sides were on the verge of issuing a press release on Jan. 8. But four hours later “BioNTech suddenly sent a letter, saying they strongly ...