The club were set to receive a €500,000 windfall from the agreement before the Dutch federation stepped in.

Photo by Getty

The Dutch Football Association (KNVB) has banned Eredivisie side FC Emmen from using sex toy company EasyToys as the club’s main sponsor.

FC Emmen were set to receive a €500,000-per-season windfall from the deal but the KNVB have stepped in to forbid the agreement under Article 3 of the federation’s sponsorship regulations.

Article 3 states: “The consideration to be delivered or to be received by a club by virtue of sponsorship may not be in conflict with any law, public order or morality, with the Dutch Advertising Code, with good taste or decency, with the statutes and regulations of the KNVB, or with decisions of the board of professional football.”

EasyToys CEO Eric Idema expressed his ire with the decision in an email sent to Goal.

“We are very disappointed that we will not be the main sponsor of FC Emmen,” Idema said. “We are considering our next step, in close consultation with FC Emmen.

“For us, the collaboration was a logical choice. We are two successful companies from the same region and feel a strong bond with this club that, like us, play at the highest level. We don’t see the problem.

“Just like FC Emmen, we like to do things slightly differently by telling our story in an idiosyncratic way. We would have liked to strengthen each other in doing that.

“We hoped that more positive attention for our webshop would contribute to breaking the taboo that still surrounds our industry. The fact is, though, that eroticism and sexuality are still uncomfortable subjects for some, as evidenced by the decision of the KNVB. And this is while our toys are literally in two of every four Dutch households.”

FC Emmen chairman Ronald Lubbers also said he was in opposition to the KNVB’s decision.

“Eric has succeeded with his company in becoming the European market leader in the most practised activity of people,” Lubbers added. “Isn’t it a good thing that a company with its origins in the southeast corner of Drenthe has managed to make it this far?

“We were very confident that the strength of the combination of both companies would have been a good collaboration.”

FC Emmen were promoted to the Eredivisie for the first time ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, and have finished in 14th and 12th in the subsequent seasons.

Source – Goal.com

After a turbulent off-season for the club, their returning stars have provided some positive signs on the pitch.

Photo by Getty

At one stage, both Lionel Messi and Philippe Coutinho probably didn’t see themselves playing for Barcelona this season, but they now look set to star for the club moving forward.

The attacking duo have ensured a smooth start to Ronald Koeman’s tenure as manager as they played key roles in comfortable pre-season friendly wins.

Over the weekend, Coutinho struck from the spot in a 3-0 win over Tarragona before he backed that up on Wednesday with a simple finish to open the scoring against Girona.

The Brazilian’s opening goal was the product of a fine team move designed by Messi, who found Francisco Trincao expertly with a through ball into the box which allowed the youngster to square a ball across goal for Coutinho.

Just before half-time Coutinho would then pass to Messi just outside the Girona box with the Argentine scoring courtesy of a delightful, curling effort.

Messi would add a third in the 51st minute courtesy of a deflection, and though Barcelona would make sweeping changes after the hour mark, Koeman’s side would stroll to a 3-1 win.

Despite both playing just 63 minutes on Wednesday, Coutinho and Messi dominated statistically in the final third to give Barca real hope of a flourishing partnership this season. Messi attempted a game-high five take-ons to show he’s lost no confidence, while Coutinho created a game-high three chances that included his assist.

In both friendlies, Koeman has deployed a 4-2-3-1 formation that has seen the attacking four routinely swap positions – a principle their Dutch manager hinted will be key for how he wants to play.

“My opinion is to have the best attack we can put on the pitch and some players, they can occupy different positions,” Koeman said after the Girona win.

“That is why we changed. It will be more difficult for the opponent if we change positions. Like Coutinho can play on the left, can play in the middle. Like [Antoine] Griezmann can play on the right, can play in the middle. Messi can play the nine, the winger inside, and it’s a good thing to have those kinds of possibilities.”

Coutinho returns to Camp Nou high on confidence after winning the Champions League with Bayern Munich and arrives in a Barcelona team that relied too heavily on Messi last season.

The club legend told Goal recently that one of the reasons he wanted to leave was in order to allow new players to shine, but though he remains, there’s no reason he can’t share the spotlight with someone like Coutinho.

Rivaldo has previously declared that Coutinho’s initial struggles at Camp Nou came down to Messi taking “all the credit and responsibility”.

In the wake of recent events, however, and based on their encouraging pre-season displays, there should be real hope around Barcelona that the duo can both star for the club this season as Koeman looks to ensure the side bounces back from recent nightmares.

Source – Goal.com

Real Madrid are convinced that Man Utd will make a bid for Gareth Bale this summer as they look to offload the winger, according to reports.

Bale – who is contracted to Real until June 2022 – has fallen out of favour under manager Zinedine Zidane and played just 48 minutes of Madrid’s 12 games when the Spanish season resumed after the coronavirus lockdown.

Zidane accused Bale of not wanting to play in the Champions League tie with Manchester City, but the Wales forward has hit back by saying Real have stopped him leaving Spain on various occasions.

Bale often cut an uninterested spectator on the sidelines when Spanish football returned in June.

He was pictured pretending to sleep in the stands and using a roll of wrist tape as a telescope when he found out he was going to be an unused substitute.

And the signs are that he could now leave the club this summer with Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness) reporting that Real Madrid are ‘confident’ that Man Utd will ‘make an offer’ for the former Tottenham man.

The report adds that Real are not willing to pay Bale off to leave – like Man Utd did with Alexis Sanchez – but they do suggest ‘this is what may end up happening’.

Zidane has had enough and wants the Welshman to leave the Spanish club ‘as soon as possible’ with ‘the starting price of Bale would be around’ €20m (£18.5m).

Source – Football365.com

Hamburg’s Toni Leistner entered the stands to pick a fight with Dynamo Dresden supporters after his side’s 4-1 German Cup loss on Monday.

Toni Leistner, top, jumped into the stands after his side’s shocking loss on Monday. Photo by Thomas Eisenhuth/Getty Images

More than 10,000 fans were in attendance and the Dresden-born, former Dynamo player was not happy with some of them, storming up the stairs and trying to throw a Dresden supporter to the ground after the final whistle. Stewards and other fans intervened, and after some 20 seconds, Leistner returned to the pitch.

“After the match in my hometown, I was verbally abused from the stands. I can usually cope with it. But this was extremely and massively below the belt, against my family, my wife and my daughter,” Leistner wrote on Instangram after the match.

“That’s when I lost it, even more so because it was already an extremely emotional match for me. Regardless, this should have never happened to me. I am a father who wants to serve as a role-model. I apologise in all forms and can only promise that — no matter what insults are thrown my way — this will never happen again.”

Dresden strongly condemned the insults and vowed to take action against the fan responsible.

“Disgraceful post-match insults against Toni Leistner from a fan of his hometown club,” the team said in a statement. “We are looking for that person because we will not let this incident stand like that. We’d like to thank 99.9 percent of those attending the match today for their support.”

In his postmatch news conference, Hamburg coach Daniel Thioune said he didn’t see the incident.

“I did not see it. I only saw that Toni Leistner returned from the stands,” Thioune said. “Something must have happened before. But I can’t say anything about it right now. I have not seen any pictures and don’t know what led to it.”

Leistner played for Dynamo from 2010 to 2014. Dresden press officer Henry Buschmann said his actions wouldn’t harm his reputation at the club.

“What I can add is that Toni Leistner has his heart in the right place and is always welcome in Dresden. Emotions are part of football,” he said.

Fans had been allowed in the stadium for the cup match after local authorities approved a proposal made by Dresden which included mandatory masks and social distancing on the stands. The 10,053 in attendance marked a record crowd for the current round of cup matches in Germany.

While all players need to test negative for the coronavirus before being allowed to enter the pitch, the spectators in the stands do not need a negative test result to enter the ground. They are, however, advised to not attend the match should they show any symptoms.

Source – ESPN

The duo have again been confirmed as the two best paid footballers in the world.

Lionel Messi has retained his place at the top of Forbes’ list of highest-paid footballers after earning $126 million (£98m) over the past year, with Cristiano Ronaldo closely behind him in second.

The Barcelona superstar sent shockwaves through world football last month when he told the club he has spent his entire career at he wanted to leave after a trophyless campaign in 2019-20.

Messi believed he could use a clause in his contract to leave for free, but Barca and La Liga disputed that claim and insisted his deal could only be terminated should his release clause be paid.

The two parties began a standoff that saw Messi linked with big-money moves to Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter as the footballing landscape nearly changed due to Messi’s request

Amid frustration with the Camp Nou board, and president Josep Maria Bartomeu in particular, Messi performed a dramatic U-turn, telling Goal that he has elected to stay with the embattled La Liga giants for at least the 2020-21 campaign.

He does so as the highest-paid footballer in the world after earning $126 million in salary and endorsements over the past 12 months.

His long-time rival Ronaldo is second on the list after bringing in earnings of $117 million (£91m) from his Juventus contract as well as his various endorsements away from the field.

Paris Saint-Germain stars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe are third and fourth respectively as the duo are fresh off reaching the Champions League final with the French side, with Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah in fifth place as the Reds begin their Premier League title defence.

Making up the rest of the top 10 are French World Cup winners Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann, Real Madrid outcast Gareth Bale, Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea.

Forbes’ top 10 highest-paid footballers:

1. Lionel Messi – $126m (£98m)
2. Cristiano Ronaldo – $117m (£91m)
3. Neymar – $96m (£74.7m)
4. Kylian Mbappe – $42m (£32.6m)
5. Mohamed Salah – $37m (£28.8m)
6. Paul Pogba – $34m (£26.5m)
7. Antoine Griezmann – $33m (£25.7m)
8. Gareth Bale – $29m (£22.6m)
9. Robert Lewandowski – $28m (£21.8m)
10. David De Gea – $27m (£21m)

Source – Goal.com

The striker may not have found the net in his first showing for a Blues side in need of improvement but his quality was on display for all to see.

Photo by Getty composite

Almost immediately after kick-off, Brighton were left chasing one of the Premier League’s fastest players as new arrival Timo Werner showed exactly what Chelsea bought this summer.

The £47.5 million arrival’s lightning pace punished Graham Potter’s side time and again at the Amex Stadium – and it was he who proved the difference on his debut.

Jorginho latched onto a Brighton mistake and the Germany striker was alive to the turnover, skipping past Mat Ryan and winning a penalty for his team-mate in the process.

Werner would perhaps take the penalties on any other day, but Jorginho continued his 100 per cent record from the spot in the Premier League.

Leandro Trossard’s 25-yard strike was no less than the Seagulls deserved during a tight clash, but a moment of inspiration from Reece James made it 2-1 almost immediately afterwards as he struck it powerfully into the top corner from distance.

Kurt Zouma would round off the scoring late in the second half, with a deflected effort from a corner delivering a much sought-after opening day win for the Blues.

Still, Werner could have added goals to his tally having not been found on the counter-attack by Loftus-Cheek in a two-versus one situation in the 43rd minute – and having almost caught Ryan out at his near post shortly after.

Of the two German debutants, it was Werner who stood out against his compatriot Kai Havertz, who was largely anonymous on his debut after a £70m move from Bayer Leverkusen which almost broke the club’s transfer record.

Werner has been training with his Chelsea team-mates since late July but Havertz has only been here for just over a week following a long negotiating period with the Bundesliga club.

A lung-busting 73rd-minute defensive recovery run into his own box showed his dedication to the cause, however, and that desire will set the tempo for what Lampard expects. The action was one of his last kicks of the game as he lasted 79 minutes on his debut.

Indeed, Lampard moved to temper expectations on both his new signings ahead of kick-off.

“I expect a lot of them in terms of the Chelsea players they’re going to be, because they’re fantastic talents, but they are on matchday one and they’ve just moved,” Lampard said in Brighton.

“Kai has trained for probably a week and it’s Timo’s first game in the Premier League as well, so we must give them time and not expect everything in one evening. They’re talented lads, they’ve shown great character, I love them as people, they’re good team-mates already.

“I expect their quality to come through but I don’t want everyone to expect a lot tonight.”

For all his endeavour, Werner did fade as the match went on, with Brighton adjusting and defending deeper to counteract his speed.

Lampard’s words were sober and sensible but likely fell on deaf ears as expectation grows around a record £200m ($252m) of summer spending. Unfortunately, former Leicester City full-back Ben Chilwell and former Ajax playmaker Hakim Ziyech were injured for the first game of the season.

Meanwhile, Thiago Silva was deemed unfit having just returned from holiday after playing in the Champions League final with PSG.

The Blues were also without their star man after the UK lockdown last season with Christian Pulisic not quite making it back in time after a hamstring injury.

Those challenges, along with having many players in quarantine ahead of the new season, were mitigating circumstances around the lack of fluidity shown on Monday night.

Lampard will need his side to gel to get the best out of Havertz, who can do better than he first showed. Equally, the players around the new signings, particularly Ruben Loftus-Cheek, had their struggles over the 90 minutes.

Kepa Arrizabalaga was beaten from long range again and looked unconvincing at set pieces. In fact, since joining Chelsea in 2018, the Spain international has conceded 19 goals from outside the box – which is more than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League during that time period.

Brighton can blame poor finishing for not scoring more, highlighting that Chelsea are not the finished article by any means. They will need to improve against tougher opposition but quality won the match on the night.

“The football is totally different,” Werner said of his first taste of Premier League football – a sentiment that a new-look Chelsea squad will no doubt echo as they adjust to their new team-mates. “But I’m happy to be here.”

On Monday’s evidence, Chelsea fans should be happy he’s here too.

Source – Goal.com

The Egyptian was at his brilliant best at Anfield on Saturday night, and he had to be, given the home side’s defence was exposed by Leeds.

Photo by Getty/Goal

It only needs three words to sum up this game.

Football is back.

If this 4-3 win for the English champions is a sign of things to come, then bring it on. The Premier League returned at Anfield, with not so much a bang as an industrial-scale explosion.

Welcome back to the big time, Leeds United.

If Liverpool wanted a game to illustrate just how difficult it will be to retain their league crown, then this was it. Marcelo Bielsa’s men, playing in the top-flight for the first time in 16 years, gave the champions an almighty examination, and an almighty scare.

Three times, Leeds fell behind. Three times, they picked themselves up off the canvas to land a right-hand of their own.

And three times, it must be said, they found that Liverpool’s chin is not what it once was. Jurgen Klopp has promised the Reds will attack their title defence, and on this evidence he was right.

They were irresistible at times going forward, but the less said about their defending the better. Certainly, this did not look like the division’s meanest, or more assured, backline.

Fortunately, though, they have Mohamed Salah. Break glass for emergencies. Liverpool broke the glass, Salah broke the net. Once, twice, three times. The Egyptian was magnificent, and finished the game clutching the match ball – only the fourth player in club history to do so in the first game of a league season, and the first since John Aldridge in 1988.

He likes a goal on the opening weekend, does Salah. He scored for Liverpool in 2017, 2018 and 2019, but he saved his best for 2020. He hasn’t looked this sharp for a while. Leeds, and the overworked Stuart Dallas in particular, could not handle him.

“Are watching a computer game here?!” Jamie Carragher, commentating for Sky Sports, had asked during a madcap first half.

Liverpool were ahead inside five minutes, Salah winning and converting a penalty, but they were anything but convincing against a Leeds side that showed no inferiority complex whatsoever. Bielsa’s side came to attack, and they were rewarded for their adventure.

Jack Harrison, on loan from Manchester City, made it 1-1 and then Patrick Bamford, top scorer in the promotion campaign last time out, levelled after Virgil van Dijk had headed Liverpool briefly back ahead. Van Dijk’s error, too casual when dealing with a ball over his shoulder, summed up the home side’s mixed evening.

Salah, though, was as bright as a button. Time and again he spun away from Dallas down the Liverpool right. He was switched on, strong and quick, and when the ball dropped at his feet in the 33rd minute he unleashed the strike of the night, a left-foot thunderbolt into the top corner of the net.

Liverpool really should have killed the game after that, but found Roberto Firmino and Gini Wijnaldum wasteful in good positions. Salah kept plugging, kept pushing Leeds back, but the visitors found a third equaliser, and a well-taken one at that, when Mateusz Klich fired home.

Could they hold out? Could they even become the first visiting team to win at Anfield in the league since April 2017?

No, they couldn’t. Substitute Rodrigo Moreno, a big-money signing from Valencia, hadn’t read the script. He clattered into Fabinho, a Liverpool replacement, three minutes from time, allowing Salah to complete his hat-trick.

Relief all round for Liverpool, who know they will need to tighten up if they are to convince the doubters they can go again this season. They will hope, though, that it will be a while before a team comes to Anfield and does what Leeds did here.

The good news is that they start with three points, and three goals for their Egyptian King.

Mo Salah is at it again. Liverpool are winning again.

Football, absolutely, is back.

Source – Goal.com

Manchester United are one of the clubs linked with the Brazil international, whose physical problems are set to see him forced out of Turin.

Photo by Getty

Juventus have elected to put attacker Douglas Costa up for sale due to the Brazilian’s persistent problems with injury, Goal can confirm.

Manchester United are set to have their ears pricked by this news, as they have been closely linked with the 29-year-old wideman in the past, but the more persistent interest has come from clubs in the UAE.

The player, however, is not keen on departing Juve as he wishes to prove himself at a club he joined in 2017, initially on loan, following a two-year stint in the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich.

This is in part driven by a lack of interest from elsewhere. Although his agents have tried to stir up interest from Premier League clubs, there is too much doubt over his physical capacity to play on a regular basis.

During the 2019-20 campaign, he managed 29 outings for Juve and impressed when he was available, scoring three goals in all competitions while laying on a further seven assists.

However, his season was blighted with injury issues, missing 21 fixtures in total, and it was only after the suspension of play because of the coronavirus pandemic that he was able to put together a lengthy series of appearances, and even then these typically came from the bench.

His season ended prematurely as he suffered a tear in an abductor muscle, and that same issue is set to prevent him featuring at the beginning of the 2020-21 campaign for the Turin giants, who are aiming for their 10th Serie A crown in succession having appointed Andrea Pirlo to head coach over the summer.

Similarly, he spent a good deal of time during the previous term out. He featured 18 times in Serie A during the 2018-19 term but missed four matches due to a suspension and another 16 because of injuries.

These were overwhelmingly muscular, with a hamstring problem keeping him out for two months only to be struck by a calf injury sustained after only 30 competitive minutes.

During his time in Turin, he has won three Scudetti, while he is also a two-time Bundesliga champion.

Source – Goal.com

Neymar has returned to training at Paris Saint-Germain following his positive test for coronavirus.

Neymar missed PSG’s 1-0 defeat to Lens in Ligue 1 on Thursday

Sky Sports News has been told that Neymar trained on his own, in line with Ligue 1 protocols and that the session was behind closed doors.

On Friday afternoon, he posted on his Twitter account: “I went back to training, super happy. #CORONAOUT”.

On September 2, Sky Sports News confirmed that Neymar was among three PSG players that had tested positive for COVID-19, and that the forward was feeling “very good” despite the result.

French sports newspaper L’Equipe reported that the trio who PSG confirmed had tested positive on September 2 were returning from holidays in Ibiza, Spain, and would subsequently carry out a seven-day quarantine.

Kylian Mbappe scored the winner for France in a 1-0 win over Sweden, but missed the following Nations League game against Croatia

A total of seven individuals in Thomas Tuchel’s squad received positive coronavirus results ahead of the start of their 2020/21 Ligue 1 campaign.

Kylian Mbappe is among those who returned positive swabs.

The 21-year-old’s 41st minute strike was enough for France to overcome Sweden in the Nations League for France on September 5, but the striker missed the victory over Croatia three days later and Paris Saint-Germain’s season opener against Lens on Thursday, along with Neymar.

The pair sat out of the 1-0 defeat for Ligue 1 title holders PSG, who played just 18 days after they were beaten 1-0 in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in Lisbon.

The 2020/21 French domestic season started on August 21, and PSG were due to face Lens just six days after their defeat to Bayern, but the match was rescheduled to September 10 in order to allow them some extended time off ahead of the new campaign.

Source – Sky Sports

The Spanish forward took the world by storm in 2012 but his football fairytale was a tragically short one.

Photo by Getty/Goal

Few players have ever taken former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson by surprise, but Michu can count himself among them.

After a single season in La Liga with Rayo Vallecano following a few lacklustre years in Spain‘s second division, the striker was brought to England in 2012 by Swansea manager Michael Laudrup and quickly defied all expectations.

On his Premier League debut, Michu scored twice and claimed an assist in a 5-0 win away against Queens Park Rangers. The goals would continue to flow that season as he finished the 2012-13 league campaign with 18 strikes to his name.

The Spaniard’s electric form in front of goal would prove even more crucial in the League Cup that year as he helped fire Swansea to an unlikely piece of silverware. Michu struck in their surprise semi-final victory against Chelsea, before also finding the back of the net in a 5-0 win over Bradford City in the final.

As far as debut seasons in England go, they don’t come much better, and Ferguson was one of many that was left surprised by Michu’s rise.

“I had never even heard of him before he came to Swansea. In fact, I think I am going to have a word with our scouting ­department!” the Red Devils icon told reporters at the time.

“Laudrup has tapped into the Spanish ­market a bit like Alan Pardew tapped into the French market for­ Newcastle, and in Michu he has got a very good player.”

Swansea signed Michu for just £2 million ($2.6m) in July 2012 but even that fee seemed like a gamble on a player who had managed just six goals across the 2010-11 season while playing in the Segunda Division.

Though the 6ft-tall attacker showed plenty of promise the following campaign as he made the step up to La Liga, netting 15 times in Spain’s top-flight, the decision to bring him to England seemed a risky one.

For Michu, however, who began his career playing in his country’s fourth-division with Oviedo, this was his chance to shine in a league he had long admired.

Across the 2012-13 season he found career-best form when it mattered most – earning his one and only Spain cap in the process.

“In a footballing sense, that was the best year I could have had. I scored 22 goals and lifted a cup at Wembley, then in the league we beat Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium and I scored twice,” Michu told  FourFourTwo in August.

His form was so good in fact that reports began emerging that the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Arsenal were even circling.

“I’m not sure I could have reached either Barcelona or Madrid’s level. But at Arsenal, after 22 goals for Swansea, I could have offered something,” he added.

Sadly, any hopes of becoming a Gunner or even continuing his fairytale with Swansea very quickly came undone with successive injuries spoiling his second season in the Premier League.

Looking for a fresh start, Michu secured a surprise loan move to Napoli in 2014, only for injuries to once again strike as he was limited to six appearances and no goals for the Italian club.

In the blink of an eye, the striker had gone from hot property to discarded as Swansea let him leave the club permanently in November 2015. He then found himself back in Spain’s fourth division, where his career had begun, all before the age of 30.

His story would have a silver lining though as he signed for boyhood club Oviedo in 2016 for what would be his final season as a footballer. While the goals never flowed freely for Michu again, he managed to strike just once across 27 Segunda Division appearances, it at least gave him the chance to bid farewell the game that had all too briefly made his dreams come true.

In his retirement message in 2017, Michu wrote with a heavy heart: “According to medical reports, the current situation of my right ankle has come to a point where it has forced me to say goodbye as a professional football player today. Even though I am saying farewell to you with so much sorrow, I know that we will always be united.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the magical moments that you have given to me during all this time. I feel privileged to have fulfilled a dream that is shared by so many of us since childhood. The dream of becoming a professional player in this sport.

“Because of you, the public have given me an invaluable affection that I will never be able to repay. Indeed, I feel I have done nothing to deserve it all.”

While Michu was the proverbial candle that burned too brightly, his fleeting heroics in front of goal will never be forgotten by Swansea fans nor it seems by some of the game’s brightest prospects.

Borussia Dortmund prodigy Erling Haaland recently copied the Spaniard’s iconic goal celebration after scoring for Norway, and has previously revealed that Michu, along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is one of his three favourite players.

A fitting indication of the big impact the cult hero managed to have in all too short period of time.

Source – Goal.com