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أعلن نادي الزمالك، بشكل رسمي اليوم السبت، رحيل البلجيكي يانيك فيريرا عن تدريب الفريق، بعد سلسلة من النتائج السلبية في بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

الزمالك كان قد تعاقد مع يانيك فيريرا، في بداية الموسم الحالي، وخاض معه 11 مباراة في بطولة الدوري، فاز في 5 وتعادل في 4 وتلقى الهزيمة في مباراتين.

وفي بطولة كأس الكونفدرالية، خاض مباراتين أمام ديكاداها الصومالي، في دور الـ 32 من البطولة الإفريقية، واستطاع الفوز فيهما والتأهل إلى دور المجموعات.

طالع | جوزيه جوميز يحسم موقفه من العودة إلى تدريب الزمالك

وأعلن مجلس إدارة نادي الزمالك برئاسة الكابتن حسين لبيب، وبالتنسيق مع جون إدوارد المدير الرياضي للنادي، توجيه الشكر للبلجيكي يانيك فيريرا.

وفي نفس السياق، قرر مجلس إدارة الزمالك، تعيين الكابتن أحمد عبد الرؤوف مديرًا فنيًا للفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي.

وأضاف نادي الزمالك في بيانه: “سيقوم أحمد عبد الرؤوف بتشكيل الجهاز الفني المعاون له، خاصة وأن الفريق مقبل خلال أيام على المشاركة في بطولة كأس السوبر المحلي المقرر لها في الإمارات، وسيتولى عبد الرؤوف قيادة الفريق بالبطولة”.

ويستعد الزمالك لمواجهة طلائع الجيش، غدا الأحد بالجولة الـ 13 ببطولة الدوري المصري، ثم يسافر إلى الإمارات لخوض منافسات بطولة السوبر المصري حيث يستهله بمواجهة بيراميدز في دور نصف النهائي يوم الخميس 6 نوفمبر.

West Bromwich Albion’s Championship season derailed at a worryingly quick pace last campaign.

Heading into Christmas last year, the Baggies were just about holding onto a playoff spot in sixth position, but right after Carlos Corberan’s exit to Valencia was confirmed, West Brom’s promotion push fell off a cliff.

Their woes on the pitch weren’t helped whatsoever by their demoralising striker situation, as the majority of 2025 in the second tier for the Baggies had to be endured without 12-goal menace Josh Maja leading the line owing to injury.

He will be back and raring to go under Ryan Mason’s guidance, but more strength in depth is desperately needed up top just in case Maja suffers from another season-ending setback, with Leyton Orient goalscoring sensation Charlie Kelman now reportedly on the shopping list.

West Brom's ongoing pursuit of Kelman

With Daryl Dike also prone to a long-standing issue in the Hawthorns treatment room, it’s no shock to see West Brom are attempting to be proactive in adding more stars to their often depleted centre-forward department.

Journalist Darren Witcoop first revealed at the tail-end of June that West Brom were keen on adding the Queens Park Rangers outcast to their squad this summer after an explosive loan stint with Richie Wellens’ O’s.

Even though Orient would come up short in their bid to win promotion to the Championship, Kelman would still manage to come out on top as the division’s top goalscorer, with a lethal 26 strikes coming his way in all competitions.

Yet, the 23-year-old has seriously struggled in the second tier previously – with no goals next to his name from 23 appearances in the unforgiving league – meaning other targets might well be sought after by Mason and Co, with one loanee also on the Baggies’ radar potentially even more exciting than the golden boot recipient joining the club.

The "phenomenal" attacker who is more exciting than Kelman

One bonus of having Mason in the dug-out is his connections to the Premier League, with the 33-year-old perhaps able to raid ex-club Tottenham Hotspur for some of their top, young assets.

Will Lankshear is certainly one up-and-coming talent that could tick many of West Brom’s boxes in their search for a deadly, new striker, with reports recently suggesting a move for the 20-year-old to return to the Hawthorns on a loan basis is on the cards.

Of course, there may be some hesitancy on West Brom’s end about diving back in to land the promising striker – considering he netted zero times last season during a brief loan stint – but it’s clear he has more to give away from these struggles, having already bagged a senior strike for Spurs.

Indeed, Lankshear was arguably shoved into the deep-end last campaign at the height of West Brom’s problems on the pitch, with his unbelievable goal record at youth level in North London potentially ready to come to the surface in men’s football now, especially as a familiar face in Mason – who worked closely beside him at Spurs in youth circles – would be by his side.

Games played

61

209

Age

20

23

Goals scored

32

47

Assists

5

11

Staggeringly, despite playing 148 games less than Kelman, the four-time England U20 international is only 15 goals off matching the ex-Orient loanee’s entire career goal tally, albeit from primarily playing Premier League 2 football.

Still, with Kelman only managing a meagre 13 goals from 101 clashes away from his celebrated O’s spell, the “phenomenal” youngster – as he was once labelled by football journalist John Wenham – could well be deemed as the better option.

After all, the QPR reserve attacker would also cost a significant fee to win, which makes the move even riskier when assessing his patchy goalscoring record away from East London.

Whereas, Lankshear would be picked up temporarily, with the 20-year-old no doubt eager to right his earlier West Brom wrongs if he were to join as the Baggies gun for promotion glory.

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Newcastle United are now reportedly plotting a move to sign a Premier League rival, who’s been frozen out at his current club.

Wissa: Newcastle debut a "long time" coming

At long last, Yoane Wissa made his Newcastle debut against Burnley. The former Brentford star arrived in the summer for as much as £55m – becoming one of the club’s most expensive ever signings – only to suffer an instant injury on international duty. Now, his wait is over and he’s finally stepped out at St James’ Park.

Speaking to reporters at full-time, Wissa admitted that his debut as been a “long time” coming – telling reporters: “It’s been a long time. The last 11 weeks, I’ve learned about the team and the players.

“It’s been a long road but I’m happy in the end. It gave my goosebumps [for his name to be read out when he came on]. I’m buzzing now. It can be an excellent season because we have so many quality players.”

Eddie Howe was also pleased to see the forward, although claimed that Wissa’s still got “a lot more work to do”.

The Newcastle boss said: “He’s got a lot more work to do to get to the very best level that he can. We hope to keep him available by managing correctly.

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“It’s difficult with the spell of games that we have to sort of train him and build his fitness with all the game schedule. So it’s going to be a really delicate balance for us, but hopefully we can find a solution to it.”

Meanwhile, as one arrival gets on the pitch for the first time, another could be on the way with reports now claiming that Newcastle are plotting a move to sign Chelsea’s Axel Disasi.

Newcastle plotting Axel Disasi move

As reported by Caught Offside, Newcastle are now plotting a concrete move to sign Disasi from Chelsea in the January transfer window. The defender has been thrown aside by Enzo Maresca and forced to join the likes of Raheem Sterling in the club’s so-called bomb squad. Now, however, he could get the move he so desperately needs in January.

For Newcastle, a move for the out-of-favour Chelsea man would provide Howe with some vital depth as Sven Botman continues to struggle on the injury front.

The Dutchman, as talented as he is, has become somewhat of a liability in recent times thanks to his injury history. And as Malick Thiaw continues to nail down his starting place, the Magpies could do with handing him a consistent partner. That is where Disasi could come in.

Dubbed “brilliant” by Sky Sports pundit and Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher in 2024, Disasi will be chomping at the bit to make his mark, having not played all season at Chelsea, and Newcastle should take full advantage.

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A look at how this unglamorous shot made all the difference for India, and why Australia could not employ it effectively themselves

Karthik Krishnaswamy19-Feb-2023Cheteshwar Pujara faced five of the last six balls of the Delhi Test match. First, he levelled the scores with a flicked single to deep square leg after skipping out to Travis Head. Then, getting the strike back at the start of the next over, he played two more flicks off Todd Murphy, one to square leg, one to short midwicket.After another dot ball not involving a flick, Pujara hit the winning runs: down the track again, and a firm whip over midwicket for four.Five balls, four variants of the leg-side flick. And in that lay a story, perhaps even story of the 2022-23 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.The flick can be a delightful stroke to watch, but it isn’t always a glamorous one. ESPNcricinfo, for instance, runs a video series titled , where current or former players pick their favourite exponents of eight shots that circle the dial: straight drive, cover drive, cut, reverse-sweep, scoop, sweep, pull and the lofted hit down the ground. The flick, as you may have noticed, isn’t one of them.The flick, however, is the Test batter’s run-scoring lifeblood. Since the start of 2021, according to ESPNcricinfo’s data, the flick has brought batters more Test runs than any other shot – 17,697, to be precise – with the cover drive way behind in second place at 12,979.Related

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In that time, batters have played the flick a whopping 22,373 times. It’s in third place behind defended (62,637) and left alone (25,277), of course, but those aren’t scoring shots.The reason why the flick is such a key part of Test cricket is simple. Bowlers target the top of off stump constantly, and when they miss their lines and lengths at Test level, they usually only miss it by small margins. So while the rank long-hop and the wide half-volley are rare occurrences, the ball that’s a touch straighter than ideal, or a touch fuller or shorter, is more frequent. Test batters can flick balls from all sorts of lines and lengths – if the angle is just right, a back-of-a-length ball can be worked to deep backward square leg from a fourth-stump line.Spinners are particularly prone to getting flicked, and not just with the turn. Top batters can use their feet to get to the pitch of the ball, or go deep in their crease to give themselves time, and twirl their wrists to play the shot against the turn too. Because of the pace spinners bowl at, their margin for error is smaller, and the more turn there is, the smaller that margin becomes – the ball turning into the batter is likelier to end up on the pads, and the ball turning away is likelier to start from a line closer to leg stump.The first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy have been played on pitches with plenty of help for the spinners, and the margins for error have consequently been fairly small.Over these two Tests in Nagpur and Delhi, India’s batters have been able to play the flick far more frequently against the spinners than Australia’s batters. They’ve also had to defend significantly fewer balls.There are many ways of looking at these numbers. You could say Indian batters are naturally wristy and fond of playing the flick. You could say they use their feet better to get down the pitch or go deep in the crease, to create opportunities to play the flick. You could say that the two teams have employed different batting gameplans, India’s revolving around positive footwork and shots down the ground or through the on side, and Australia’s around the sweep.This last argument is particularly compelling if you watched the closing stages of the Delhi Test, and watched and read the post-mortems. Australia lost a lot of wickets to sweeps and reverse-sweeps, and India barely ever played those shots. The experts shook their heads and told you how unwise these shots were on this third-day surface, where the ball was frequently shooting through low.But here’s the thing. Australia’s players and team management know this. They know how dangerous cross-bat shots can be on pitches like this. But R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have bowled with the sort of control that has left them with few other scoring options. They’re certainly not getting drive balls and cut balls, and they’re not getting a whole lot of flick balls either.They’ve chosen two different responses to this challenge in the two Tests of this series. In the second innings in Nagpur, Australia defended for their lives and were bowled out in 32.3 overs. In the second innings in Delhi, they swept at everything and were bowled out in 31.1 overs. Their captain Pat Cummins said their batters had underplayed their hand in Nagpur and overplayed it in Delhi.Against spinners with the control of Ashwin and Jadeja and on pitches with both turn and natural variation, those can be the only options for visiting batters. Neither is the right answer, but there’s no real middle way either, unless the bowlers have an off day.In the given conditions, the sweep shot was fraught with danger, but Australia were left with little choice•Getty ImagesAnd in Delhi, the sweep helped Australia compete on a level footing with India over the first two days. It was a defining feature of Usman Khawaja’s 81 on day one, and of Marnus Labuschagne’s batting when Australia raced away to a quick start in the third session of day two.The sweep, therefore, was a symptom of Australia’s problems and not its cause.And the problem hasn’t been that they’re a bad team. The problem is that they’re just not as good as India in Indian conditions. You would only back a handful of teams over the game’s history to beat this Indian team in Indian conditions.Australia’s spin attack on this tour is among the best that has visited this country in a decade – Nathan Lyon is a world-class offspinner with more than 450 Test wickets, while Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann have bowled with terrific control for visiting spinners who’ve made their Test debuts on this tour. They’ve bowled with better control than a lot of overseas spinners who’ve come to India with a lot more Test experience, and they’ve barely bowled any long-hops or genuine half-volleys.But it’s only natural that Australia’s spinners don’t have the inch-perfect control of Jadeja and Ashwin on Indian pitches. The margins for error are tiny. Minute errors in line and length don’t leap at you in real time, but they all add up over the course of a series, one flick at a time.

Tottenham Hotspur have enjoyed revelling in the triumph of lifting the Europa League and restoring their place among Europe’s elite next term, but Daniel Levy’s decision to fire Ange Postecoglou highlights the hunger to sustain an even loftier level of success over the coming years.

With Thomas Frank snatched from Brentford to lead from the dugout, Spurs are in a good position to challenge at the top end of the Premier League once more, though summer signings will be needed to inject fresh quality within a tired squad, whose success has papered over what was a most difficult year indeed.

Antoine Semenyo’s name has been bandied about, but there’s one man above all others who Tottenham’s new manager would like to welcome to the fold.

Spurs make contact for statement signing

Earlier this week, Sky Sports revealed that Tottenham have been growing in confidence that they could sign Bryan Mbeumo this summer after initial discussions, having made contact with Brentford, despite the player’s preference to join Man United.

This is because the Londoners have appointed Frank, who has led Mbeumo to such impressive individual heights over the past couple of years.

And now, as per transfer insider Graeme Bailey, the Lilywhites believe that Champions League football and the chance for the 25-year-old to stay in London could play into their favour.

Mbeumo won’t come cheap after his exceptional season, with the Bees looking to bank around £60m for the right-sided forward.

What Bryan Mbeumo would bring to Spurs

Mohamed Salah, Alexander Isak and Erling Haaland. Perhaps the Premier League’s three finest goalscorers. They were the only players to outscore Mbeumo last season, with Ipswich Town writer Alex Osborn hailing him as “one of the best wingers in the league.”

Not only has Mbeumo dazzled in front of goal, but he’s performed well across underlying areas. As per Sofascore, the Cameroon international averaged 1.8 key passes, 1.4 dribbles, and 4.7 successful duels last term, underscoring a roundedness that most goalscorers don’t boast.

His prolific style surely makes him a better pick than Semenyo, who is a fantastic player but would cost Tottenham in excess of £50m and only scored 11 goals in the Premier League last year, also racking up six assists across his 37 appearances.

Make no mistake, Semenyo is a talented winger who would have a big effect on reorienting Tottenham’s domestic form and fluency, but can he compete with Mbeumo, who is objectively one of the classiest stars in front of goal?

The Bournemouth man ranked among the top 5% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the English top flight last year for shots taken, as per FBref, but only among the top 27% for goals scored per 90, with his efforts leading the data-driven site to draw up Mbeumo as one of his most comparable players.

If that is the case (and there are similarities: both players are physical and dynamic and potent across different positions), then surely the best track to go down would be to sign the more reliable and menacing player in front of goal.

Therefore, Mbeumo is surely the better pick to go for, especially when considering the kind of money that Bournemouth are looking to part with Semenyo.

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Newcastle United are set to go back in for Yoane Wissa after Brentford agreed a £37 million ($50m) fee to sign Dango Ouattara from Bournemouth. The Cherries forward has given the green light for a switch to the Gtech Community Stadium, with final formalities expected within days. Ouattara’s arrival effectively ends Brentford’s resistance to selling the DR Congo striker.

Newcastle closing in on WissaBrentford to seal £37m Ouattara dealTransfer domino could send Isak to LiverpoolFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

According to Wissa claims he believed he had a gentleman’s agreement with Brentford to depart this summer after honouring his commitment to the club for the 2024-25 campaign. Instead, negotiations have dragged on, with Wissa training alone at one point and even walking out of Brentford’s pre-season camp in Portugal to force the issue.

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Wissa has made no secret of his desire to play Champions League football, and Newcastle are the only club he is waiting for. While Newcastle’s latest approach came close, £30m ($41m) plus £5m in add-ons, it still fell short of Brentford’s £40m ($54m) asking price. However, with the capture of Ouattara, they will be more inclined to cash in on Wissa, who will sit out Sunday's trip to Nottingham Forest.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Wissa deal could spark a transfer chain reaction involving Newcastle’s biggest star, Alexander Isak. The Magpies have been unwilling to sanction his sale without first securing a replacement, and missing out on Benjamin Sesko to Manchester United left them short on options.

Liverpool have been desperate to land Isak, with a £110m ($249m) offer rejected earlier this month. The Sweden striker, however, is said to be pushing for the move and has been training away from the first team. With Wissa’s arrival now imminent, Newcastle’s stance could change rapidly, allowing Isak to complete a blockbuster switch to Anfield before the transfer window closes.

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR NEWCASTLE?

Wissa’s proven scoring touch would give Howe another potent weapon in attack, while losing Isak would be a blow softened by his arrival. Nonetheless, Howe will be desperate to have clarity over his squad as quickly as possible as they begin their Premier League campaign against Aston Villa on Saturday.

Manchester United have held talks with the entourage of a “world-class” striker, who is now keen to seal a move to the Premier League, according to a report.

Man Utd set sights on new striker

Man United have already signed Matheus Cunha, while Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo remains of interest, but there is clearly a determination to bring in a new out-and-out centre-forward this summer, with an approach being made for Viktor Gyokeres.

That is according to Sky Sports, with United now said to be exploring the conditions of a potential deal, given that manager Ruben Amorim is a “big fan” of his former player.

Reports from elsewhere have suggested the Red Devils are preparing a bid for Gyokeres, but it remains to be seen whether the 27-year-old would be keen on a move to Old Trafford, considering European football will not be on offer next season.

The Sweden international is not the only option on the shortlist either, with Man United also holding talks with the entourage of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, according to a report from The Boot Room.

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Osimhen is said to be determined to seal a move to the Premier League this summer, having rejected a move to the Saudi Pro League, and Amorim’s side engaged in discussions to bring the Nigerian to Old Trafford last month.

The centre-forward has no future with his current club, meaning he is expected to move on this summer, with Liverpool also in the race for his signature. The 26-year-old is protected by a relatively hefty £63m release clause, however, Napoli could accept an offer in excess of £50m.

"World-class" Osimhen could be real coup for Man Utd

The former Galatasaray loanee’s track record speaks for itself, having scored goals wherever he’s been over the past few seasons, most recently leading his side to the Turkish Super Lig title with a phenomenal return.

The Lagos-born striker has been lauded as “world-class” by football writer Matt Barlow, and he picked up six goals and two assists in the Europa League last season, indicating that he has a lot left to give in Europe, so it is little wonder he turned down a move to Saudi Arabia.

Rasmus Hojlund has recently suggested he is going nowhere this summer, saying: “I have a contract until 2030, so I expect to play for Manchester United. I’m looking forward to going on a summer vacation, and then I’m fully dedicated to the project that’s underway.”

However, with the Dane scoring just four Premier League goals last season, it would make sense to bring in an upgrade this summer, and Osimhen has proven he could be exactly that.

What might have gone down as the worst season in a generation for Tottenham Hotspur will now be recognised as one of the best.

Under an immense amount of scrutiny and pressure, Ange Postecoglou and his side managed to get the better of Manchester United on Wednesday night and, in the process, win the Europa League.

Their victory in Bilbao now means they’ll be playing in the Champions League next season, which should, in turn, help them attract the best talent in what has to be a massive summer of transfers.

Fortunately, Daniel Levy and Co already seem to be looking to add some genuine quality to the squad, although one of the recent stars touted for a move to N17 could spell trouble for James Maddison.

Tottenham transfer news

Before getting to the star in question, it’s worth reviewing some of the other players linked with Spurs over the last few weeks, such as Daizen Maeda and Eberechi Eze.

Transfer Focus

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The former played under Postecoglou at Celtic and could be available for just £25m, which would make him a seriously tempting option, as in just 50 appearances for the Hoops this season, he has scored 33 goals and provided 12 assists.

A little closer to home now, and Eze will be available for around £68m thanks to the release clause in his contract.

While that is a lot of money, he’s certainly worth it, as in 42 appearances this term, the Englishman has scored 14 goals and provided 11 assists.

However, there is another younger and just as exciting international who has now been touted for a move to the white side of North London: Xavi Simons.

Yes, according to a recent report from Spain, Spurs are ‘dreaming of signing’ the RB Leipzig star, and in exciting news, the Lilywhites believe ‘they can convince’ him to join them.

However, he would cost around €80m, which is about £67m, and there are plenty of other interested parties, with reports from earlier this week claiming Arsenal are keen on the Dutchman.

It would be a complicated and costly transfer to get over the line, but given Simons’ immense ability and potential, it’s one worth fighting for, even if it could be bad news for Maddison.

How Simons compares to Maddison

Now, while Simons is a versatile attacker who can play off either wing, he’s also more than capable of playing as an attacking midfielder, and with Brennan Johnson scoring as many goals as he has this season and Mathys Tel potentially remaining at the club in the summer, there is a strong chance Spurs view the Leipzig ace primarily as a number ten.

Therefore, one of his main competitors for game time next season would be Maddison, but who comes out on top when we compare them?

Well, when it comes to their raw output, which is ultimately the most important metric of all, the former Paris Saint-Germain gem comes out on top.

For example, since the start of last season, the Flying Dutchman, whom one analyst dubbed “one of the best 10s in the world,” has scored 21 goals and provided 23 assists in just 76 appearances, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.72 games.

In contrast, since joining the club ahead of last season, the Lilywhites number ten has scored 16 goals and provided 21 assists in 75 appearances, which comes out to a reasonable but comparatively less impressive average of a goal involvement every 2.02 games.

Appearances

43

30

Goals

10

4

Assists

15

10

Goal Involvements per Match

0.58

0.46

Appearances

33

45

Goals

11

12

Assists

8

11

Goal Involvements per Match

0.57

0.51

Furthermore, besides being more productive than the former Leicester City star, the Amsterdam-born “superstar,” as dubbed by analyst Ben Mattinson, is also six years his junior, meaning he’s likely to get better still and has a better fitness record.

For example, he has suffered just one injury in his career to date, which saw him miss 15 games for club and country, whereas the Englishman has suffered 18 injuries, which have seen him miss 67 games for club and country.

Ultimately, while Maddison is a great player, Simons is clearly superior and, therefore, Spurs should do what they can to sign him this summer.

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Deportivo Alaves striker Joaquin Panichelli is set to sign for French club Strasbourg after an outstanding spell on loan at Mirandes.

Joaquin Panichelli on the verge of moving to FranceStrasbourg has finalised a deal with Deportivo AlavesVillarreal were interested in signing PanichelliFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

According to , Strasbourg have reached an agreement with Alaves to sign their star striker, Panichelli, who had an impressive loan spell at Mirandes last year in Spain's second division. The French club will reportedly pay around €16.5 million (£14m/$19m) to secure the Argentine striker's services; however, this fee can increase up to €20m (£17m/$23m) if the striker able meets certain targets in his contract.

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Panichelli joined Alaves in 2023 and played eight La Liga games for the Spanish club. His breakout season came last year on his loan spell at Mirandes in Spain's Segunda Division, where he scored 21 goals and registered eight assists, taking the team to the cusp of promotion playoffs. The 22-year-old was the second top-scorer of the league behind Almeria's Luis Suarez and was the club's top scorer during the 2024-25 campaign.

DID YOU KNOW?

Several teams were on the lookout for Panichelli, with Villarreal being the closest to monitoring the striker with reports suggesting the club wanted to spend the money received from Thierno Barry's transfer to Everton to bring the Argentine to Estadio de la Ceramica. However, Strasbourg's aggressive bidding and their relentless pursuit by hiking their bid from initial fees of €15m (£13m/$17m) to later agreeing on €16.5m showed their determination and was attractive to Panichelli's camp, who were quick to agree on personal terms.

AFPWHAT NEXT FOR STRASBOURG?

Liam Rosenior's side have had a busy transfer window. The French club qualified for the Conference League last season and have been bringing in reinforcements to secure their spot in the upcoming season. The Ligue 1 club has signed Pape Demba Diop, Maxi Oyedele, and loaned several players from sister club Chelsea like Mike Penders and Kendry Paez. Chelsea players Marc Guiu and Aaron Anselmino have been linked with temporary moves to the French team.