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- š¤Æ Chelsea's Ā£140m move
š¤Æ Chelsea's Ā£140m move
Plus: Keane wingmans Neville
GM football fans. Route One here, weāre the 100 metres sprint of newsletters - fast, entertaining, and the only thing people wana see.
Itās Wednesday. Yesterday was a light news day. Letās not waste any time!
Todayās briefing is a ~4 min read:
4 things to know this week š§
Around the world in 30 secs: Mourinhoās new record in Italy š
Extra time: the worst-dressed footballers š
Morning Brief šļø
Bayern Munich try to hijack Tottenhamās move for Genoa defender Radu Dragusin. The North London club remain confident theyāll land the Romanianās signature.
Jordan Henderson is currently exploring transfer options to Ajax, Bayern Leverkusen and Newcastle United.
Aston Villa agree multi-million kit deal with Adidas for the start of next season. The club are cancelling their contract with Castore who were responsible for the āwet-lookā kit fiasco.
Tottenham confirm signing of Timo Werner on loan until the end of the season. The deal includes an option to be made permanent in the summer.
Brighton are set to sign teenager Valentin Barco from Boca Juniors who can play left-back or winger.
4 THINGS TO KEEP AN EYE ON
1/ CHELSEA OWNERS BUY Ā£140 MILLION MORE SHARES š°
Two things are guaranteed from this transfer window:
ā Jim White wearing a yellow tie on deadline day.
ā Todd Boehly splashing the cash.
And, according to documents from Companies House, the Chelsea owner is keeping true to his repā¦
Boehly and Clearlake Capital have already spent over Ā£1 billion and added another Ā£140 million to the clubās bank account.
Itās likely for two reasons:
To plug the financial gaps left by Chelsea not being in Europe.
Gearing up to make cash offers for big star transfers.
Watch this space Chelsea fansā¦
2/ GOALS FROM FREE-KICKS ARE DOWN š
Thereās a lot of talk about no.10ās becoming a thing of the past.
But thatās not the only thing dying out in the Premier League.
The other? Dead-ball specialists.
Source: Route Oneās expert analysis
In the 2013/14 Premier League season, there were a record 39 direct free-kicks scored, butā¦
In 2021/22 there were 19.
In 2022/23 there were 17.
In 2023/24 there have only been 4 scored, a record low for this point in a season.
The reasons?
Free-kick conversion is down to 2.38% this season, compared to 5.65% in the last campaign.
Set-piece coaches are advocating for tricky training ground routines as opposed to an old-fashioned shot at goal.
āBend it like Ward-Prowseā doesnāt exactly slip off the tongueā¦
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3/ JAPAN IS THE TEAM TO BEAT ACCORDING TO OPTA šÆšµ
2019 was rough for the Japanese national team. They lost 3-1 in the Asia Cup final to Qatar.
But 2024 will be the bounce-back year. According to Optaās Supercomputerā¦
Japan has a 97.2% chance of reaching the last 16ā¦
ā¦ and a 24.6% chance of winning the tournament.
Talk about dominant!
Skippered by Liverpoolās in-form midfielder Wataru Endo, the Japanese enter the tournament with an impressive World Cup performanceā¦
They topped a group including Germany and Spain.
4/ PREMIER LEAGUE APPEAL CONTINUES š¤
It didnāt take long for Jordan Henderson to realise that the Saudi Pro League wasnāt for himā¦ and Newcastle could be his next destination.
Heās not alone. There have been rumours that Ruben Neves and Roberto Firmino could return to the Premier League.
But returning isnāt so simple.
Firstly, thereās taxā¦ returning so soon could make things expensive for Hendo under UK tax law, via The Athletic.
Then thereās reputationā¦ with many fans questioning whether players left for the right reasons.
Will players be put off going to the Saudi Pro League? Itās too early to tell.
AROUND THE WORLD IN 30 SECS š
šŖšø šøš¦ Spanish Super Cup starts today in Saudi Arabia. The four-team tournament kicks off today with Real Madrid vs Athletico Madrid. The games will be shown on fuboTV.
š®š¹ Jose Mourinho has five red cards for Roma over the last two seasons. Thatās more than any other Seria A player! š
š§š· Brazilās wait for a new manager is over. Dorival Jr is at the helm, following his impressive Copa Libertadores win with Sao Paulo in 2022.
šŗšø Philippe Coutinho is on loan in Qatar from Aston Villa but is wanted by Inter Miami and LA Galaxy. This move would reunite him with his former Barcelona teammates.
šŖšŗ The Euro 2024 ball will help produce faster offside and handball decisions. The Adidas-designed ball will send data to officials in real time.
EXTRA-TIME ā±ļø
Everybody loves a good wingman. When Gary Neville visits his childhood home, Roy Keane does his best to help his old teammate out.
Jude Bellingham helps the CBS team pick their Team of the Year. Weāre going with Carragherās team for the win.
Professional footballers are taking more pride in their fashion these days. But it wasnāt long ago that some of the best players in the world were wearing - umm - questionable gearā¦ Ramosā Miami Vice suit tops the list.
This fan took matters into his own hands. When Swansea were losing 8-0 at Anfield, he decided to show his team how itās done.
A forgotten legend? In 2000, nine-man Parma were drawing 1-1 with Juventus. With the last kick of the game, Hernan Crespo decides to rip up the script and score this beauty.