Italian giants, Juventus have unveiled a new logo. Featuring a black and white letter J in the shape of a shield, the new logo which was unveiled yesterday in Milan, is a symbol of the Juventus way of living.
“We spent a year trying to find out what the new markets want, but also to show a sense of belonging and looking to the future,” Club president, Andrea Agnelli revealed.
The evolution of Juventus‘ badge following the unveiling of their new logo
Arsenal striker, Alexis Sanchez has admitted to evading payment of tax of almost €1m from his image rights via a company based in Malta between 2012 and 2013, during his spell at Barcelona. He declared in a court in the Catalan city on Monday via a video link, and confessed to two counts of tax fraud and defrauding the Treasury to a total value of 983,443 euros.
The Chilean international has reportedly returned the money and he is not likely to face a trial. His defence team and the Treasury will however come to an agreement regarding how much he will be fined for the delay in paying the taxes and possibly on the length of a prison sentence, which would be short and therefore suspended.
After a successful career, spanning 2 decades, ex-Manchester United manager, Louis Van Gaal has retired from coaching. The 65 year-old who was fired at the Old Trafford winning the FA Cup in May 2016 after turned down a £45million Asian offer and cited ‘family reasons’ for his decision. Making the announcement on Monday after receiving a lifetime achievement award from the Dutch government for his contribution to football.
The ex Netherlands boss was quoted in Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf thus, “I thought maybe I would stop, then I thought it would be a sabbatical, but now I do not think I will return to coaching. So much has happened in my family, you become a human being again with your nose pressed to the facts.”
He also managed Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and AZ.
| Van Gaal’s selected major honours |
|---|
| National titles: Ajax (1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96), Barcelona (1997-98, 1998-99), AZ Alkmaar (2008-09), Bayern Munich (2009-10) |
| Champions League: Ajax (1994-95) |
| Uefa Cup: Ajax (1991-92) |
| FA Cup: Manchester United (2015-16) |
Barcelona star, Neymar has been named the most expensive player in Europe’s top five leagues by the CIES Football Observatory study. The Brazilian edged out fierce rivals, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who came 2nd and 7th respectively in the list.
“The statistical model through which prices are calculated includes multiple variables on player performance (minutes, goals, etc.) and characteristics (age, contract, etc.), as well as data on employer clubs and potential recruiting ones.” CIES explained.
Atletico Madrid coach, Diego Simeone has launched a very surprising dig at Real Madrid star, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese’s victory at the last Ballon d’Or awards must have really upset the Argentine as he took a sly dig at Ronaldo shortly after his side defeated Real Betis yesterday.
Ronaldo had a fantastic year winning the Champions League, Euro 2016, Club World Cup and recently The Best FIFA Award but perhaps to him, the best player in that Ballon d’Or category was robbed.
Speaking to reporters after their 1-0 win, the 46 year-old said, “You still doubt that results are the most important thing? If not, look at who won the Ballon d’Or.”
For their game against Real Betis last weekend, Spanish club, Atletico Madrid invited the club’s oldest season ticket holders to be the mascots. They were blindfolded and till they got to the pitch. Awesome gesture
Following daddy’s foot steps!
Neymar’s son Davi Lucca has joined Barca’s FCB Escola. He will now train along with Thiago Messi, Benjamin Suarez and Milan Pique all at the club.
Their superstar parents attend their training sessions which take place near the Mini Estadi every Monday and Thursday between 5pm and 6pm. Suarez’s son, Benjamin is reportedly the most outstanding of all.
Barcelona director, Pere Gratacos‘s recent remark about Lionel Messi has cost him his job.
Shortly after Friday’s Copa del Rey draw in Madrid, Gratacos told reporters. “Leo is one of the most important people in the team, but it’s not just about him. He would not be as good without Andres Iniesta, Neymar and company, but Messi is the best.”
Not long after that, Barcelona released a statement confirming that Gratacos, who once coached Messi during his spell at La Masia, had been sacked
“FC Barcelona have dismissed Pere Gratacos as head of institutional sporting relations with the Royal Spanish Football Federation for having publicly expressed a personal opinion that does not match that of the club after the draw for the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey held today in Madrid.
“The decision has been taken by Albert Soler, director of professional sports, who will assume these functions directly from now on.”
The Argentine’s contract expires in 2018 and his club are keen to make him commit his future to Camp Nou.
Diego Costa has been dropped from the Chelsea squad for Saturday’s Premier League fixture at Leicester City after a row with fitness coach, Julio Tous. The Spaniard has not trained with the rest of the squad for the past three days and reports are rife that he also fell out with The Blues manager, Antonio Conte.
In a not-too-surprising development, a club in China has reportedly offered him a £580,000-a-week deal. If he leaves, he will be the third Chelsea player after Oscar and Mikel Obi to be lured to the Chinese league.
The 28-year-old has scored 50 goals for Chelsea in all competitions
Big Deal!
From bizarre haircuts to photo of him dabbing used to solve mathematics question in Pythagoras’ theorem, Paul Pogba sure knows how to get our attention. The Manchester United player has become the first footballer to get his own emoji on Twitter.
Head to Twitter.com, type #pogba and see his little emoji standing by.
Cool stuff