The quarter finals of Euro 2016 and Wales’ victory over Belgium dominated the headlines over the course of the weekend, but with the tournament reaching its climax and the transfer window re-opening, lots happened. Here’s your round up as to things that you may have missed over the last couple of days.
Michy Batshuayi
The much coveted 22 year old Belgian striker’s transfer to Chelsea was confirmed. The Blues paid Marseille £33 million and Batshuayi signed a five year deal. This swiftly followed the announcement that Falcao and Pato’s loan deals would not be made into permanent transfers.
England Cricket
England followed up their Test series win over Sri Lanka earlier in the summer with a 3-0 victory in the ODI series. Sri Lanka are still yet to beat England this summer, with just the T20 International left to play on Tuesday night.
Mario Balotelli
The Italian striker returned to Anfield for pre-season training with Jurgen Klopp. How long he’ll remain at Melwood is another question. Balotelli reiterated his belief that he can win the Balon D’Or in his career, but having seen his performances, he’s a long way from winning any awards.
Odion Ighalo
Watford turned down an offer of £38 million for their striker from Shanghai SIPG, further reiterating the madness of football transfer fees. The Nigerian scored 17 goals last season and will hope to add more to his tally for the Hornets next season.
Dean Saunders
The Welsh football pundit had such little faith in his national side that he parked in the short-stay car park at Birmingham Airport. A month later and he’s still in France following the Welsh who’ve advanced to the semi-finals. The airport has promised to clear his £1000 parking fine if Wales win the competition and a Just Giving page has been set up in the event that they fail.
Tour de France
The 21 stage cycling event started on Saturday and lasts for another fortnight. Chris Froome is the holder of the yellow jersey as the cyclists race around France.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
The Armenian with the unpronounceable surname (answers on a postcard please) is one of the hottest transfer targets this summer. Dortmund announced that he was joing Manchester United on Twitter, whilst United spoiled it slightly by allowing fans to buy shirts with his name on the back.
Lars Lagerback
It was a big week for Iceland after they beat England to reach the quarter finals of Euro 2016. Lars Lagerback’s tenure as coach ended, however he was adored in Iceland, so much that he received over 20 votes in their Presidential elections that were held over the weekend.
Mikel Arteta
In a much rumoured move, the Arsenal midfielder announced his retirement from football. The Spaniard is set to join Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City as well as taking up a role at City’s Academy of Football.
Takuma Asano
Arsenal agreed to sign the Japanese striker from Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Saturday. Wenger has already described the player as “one for the future”. Gunners’ fans will be hoping that he can make an immediate impact considering that they need a top class striker to mount any hope of a title challenge.
Nampalys Mendy
The 24 year old Frenchman became the third player to sign for Leicester this summer after moving from Nice. This could mean that N’Golo Kante could be moving on once the Euros have finished.
Ryan Giggs
The Manchester United legend has left the club after 29 years. The former player is set to pursue his managerial ambitions elsewhere after being overlooked for the manager role at Old Trafford, with Jose Mourinho also unwilling to keep him at the club.
James Tomkins
The West Ham defender was left out of the squad’s pre-season tour of the USA, with a move to Crystal Palace set to be confirmed in the next couple of days.
Austrian Grand Prix
An action-packed Austrian Grand Prix was won by Lewis Hamilton. A second crash in five races involving Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg sparked controversy on the final lap and is the next chapter of their historic rivalry.
Chris Eubank Jr
The British Middleweight Champion and son of a former world champion continued to call out the current WBA Super, WBC and IBF World Champion Gennady Golovkin. A lucrative fight between Eubank and the Kazakh champion is set to be announced in the coming days.
Mohammed Amir
The Pakistan cricket team landed in England last week ahead of a Test and One Day series later in the summer. Amongst their squad was Mohammed Amir who’s set to return to the Test side for the first time since their tour of 2010, where he was found guilty of spot-fixing and subsequently imprisoned.
