Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta has ended a trophy-laden 11 years at the club and signed a one-year deal at Atletico Madrid. The 33-year-old Spain defender won every available honour at Stamford Bridge, including two Premier League titles and the Champions League. Azpilicueta had 12 months left on his Chelsea contract. “It is difficult to express how I feel, it has been incredible,” he said.
Granit Xhaka has left Arsenal to join German side Bayer Leverkusen in a 25m euro deal. The Switzerland midfielder, 30, has signed a five-year deal with the Bundesliga club. Xhaka, who joined the Gunners in 2016 and was briefly captain in 2019, had a year left on his contract but was expected to leave the club this summer.
Manchester City have submitted a planning application for a £300m expansion of Etihad Stadium. The club want to increase the current capacity of 53,400 to 60,000 by expanding the North Stand.
Atletico Madrid have re-signed France forward Antoine Griezmann from Barcelona on a contract until 2026. Griezmann became the sixth-most expensive player in history when he joined Barca for £108m in 2019.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 700th club goal as Manchester United came from behind at Goodison Park to end Everton’s two-game winning run. It has been a frustrating season so far for Ronaldo, who has been reduced to the role of substitute after failing to get his hoped-for summer move away from Old Trafford.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino has announced the 16 finalist host cities from a list of 22 for the 2026 World Cup. “Today is a historic day – for everyone in those cities and states, for FIFA, for Canada, the USA and Mexico who will put on the greatest show on Earth,” he said during his New York live broadcast.
Canada’s men’s national team’s friendly against Panama was canceled less than two hours before the game’s scheduled start time on Sunday amid a player protest regarding World Cup compensation.
Everton secured their Premier League status with an incredible fightback where they came from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace. The hosts, who will continue their 68-year stay in the top flight, looked like they were heading for defeat after Palace scored twice in the first half through Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé has reportedly agreed personal terms on a move to Real Madrid at the end of the season. According to The Athletic, the PSG forward has agreed to join Real Madrid as a free agaent at the end of the season, although nothing has been signed.
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Thousands of residents in the Black Sea province of Trabzon have celebrated on the streets after Trabzonspor, the province’s local football team, won the Süper Lig trophy after some 38 years. Trabzonspor announced its seventh championship three weeks before the end of the season on April 30, when the match against Antalyaspor ended 2-2. The last time the team became a champion was in the 1983-84 season.
Carlo Ancelotti became the first coach to win the league in all five of Europe’s major leagues as Real Madrid beat Espanyol to win La Liga. Two goals from Rodrygo and strikes from Marco Asensio and Karim Benzema confirmed Real’s 35th Spanish title. They are 17 points clear of second-placed Sevilla with four games to play. Ancelotti has also won titles in Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1, the Premier League in England and the German Bundesliga.
Norwich City were relegated from the Premier League with defeat against Aston Villa at Villa Park. The tame loss, coupled with Burnley’s dramatic comeback win at Watford, left the Canaries bottom of the table and 13 points from safety with four games to play. Their fans continued to support as a relegation that has looked on the cards for some time was confirmed.
Mino Raiola, the agent who represented some of football’s most high-profile players, has died at the age of 54. The Dutch-Italian’s stable of players included Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland, Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba and AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Raiola was also president of the Football Forum, which represented leading agents and their players.
It is no longer news that Cote d’Ivoire’s football legend, Didier Drogba, yesterday lost his bid to become the president of the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football (FIF). After the first round of the polls, Drogba had 21 votes. His opponents Yacine Idriss Diallo and Sory Diabate had 59 and 50 votes respectively. The second round of voting saw Diallo squaring up against Diabate and it was Diallo who emerged as FIF president with 63 votes to Diabate’s 61. Drogba had tried in the past to lead FIF but did not receive the required support from clubs, players’ union and coaches’ association whose support he needed to get on the ballot. A FIFA induced change in statues and electoral code enabled Drogba to be on the ballot this time.
The police and some officials of the Canada Soccer Federation and the BC Place Stadium stewards forcefully removed the bands, drums and some Nigerian supporters (especially those playing the drums) from the stadium where they were supporting the Super Falcons of Nigeria during their friendly game against the Canada Women National Team at the BC Place Stadium, Vancouver. In the process, they manhandled one Nigerian-Canadian man who have lived for over 20 years in Canada. We witnessed this before oue eyes and it was so sad. The President of Nigeria Association of BC protested but the officials had their way. The President said they did exactly same thing in 2016 when Nigeria played USA in the Women’s World Cup. I mean, who does not see supporters drumming and singing even in World Cup proper.
English Premier League clubs will be able to make five substitutions each game from next season after shareholders agreed to change the rules. The substitutions can be made on three occasions during a match, plus at half-time, and a total of nine substitutes can be named on the teamsheet.
Villarreal scored three late goals to move into the Champions League quarter-finals as Juventus went out in the last 16 for a third successive year.
22nd February, 2022 is 22-2-22 and a palindrome. Let’s have fun and recollect those who have dorned the number 22 jersey for the Super Eagles of Nigeria at major tournaments.
Ike Shorunmu – 22 at Senegal 1992 AFCON
Peter Rufai – 22 at Tunisia 1994 AFCON
Chelsea has won their first Club World Cup trophy after an extra-time 2-1 win against Brazilian side Palmeiras. A 117th-minute penalty in Abu Dhabi by Kai Havertz – who also scored their 2021 Champions League winner – means the Blues have now won every possible trophy under the ownership of the Russian billionaire.
Naija Sports Crib 