Once again, the footballing world has thrown up plenty of interesting stories over the past five days. There have been new signings, shocking incidents, disappointing debuts and much more. In this gallery, we take a look at 10 of the biggest stories from world football from this week…
In one of the most shocking pieces of news from the week, Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolosinac were attacked by a gang in an attempted carjacking on Thursday. Social media footage showed the assailants, one of whom was armed with a knife, eventually being chased off by the Bosnia international. Fortunately, both of the players escaped unscathed from the incident which took place in London on Platts Lane, near Golders Green.
Daniele De Rossi has been a part of the furniture at AS Roma for the past 18 years, but his time at the Stadio Olimpico has now come to an end. The former Italy international has completed a move to Argentinian side Boca Juniors on a free transfer. The 36-year-old said upon signing, “I still want to play football, it would be unjust to me if I decide to stop now.”
Last summer, Nabil Fekir was incredibly close to a move to Liverpool before the deal spectacularly fell through. Fast forward a year, and the France international has completed a move to Real Betis instead. The La Liga club have paid £17.7m to Lyon for the 26-year-old, who scored 69 goals and provided 46 assists in 193 games for Les Gones. He was also a part of the France squad that won the World Cup in Russia 12 months ago.
This season could have been a big year for Marco Asensio, but unfortunately for him it may have ended before it has even begun. The 23-year-old is expected to miss nine months of football after rupturing his external meniscus in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal. Many people have blamed the pitch at the FedExField, which has the highest injury rate in the NFL, for the incident.
Almost out of nowhere, Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with Argentina international Paulo Dybala. Spurs are even said to have made a bid of €50m (£44.9m) to Juventus for him, although that was quickly dismissed by the Old Lady. And now, the forward is considering his future at the Serie A club according to Sky Sport Italia (via Sky Sports). It remains to be seen whether Mauricio Pochettino and co can take him to North London.
Mike Ashley putting his hand into his pocket at all is enough to make the headlines, so the fact he has broken Newcastle’s transfer record comes as big news. The Toon have signed Joelinton from Hoffenheim for £40m, with the 22-year-old Brazilian signing a six-year deal with the North-East club. Steve Bruce will be hoping the attacker can improve on the 11 goals he netted last season.
Real Madrid had been in talks with Tottenham in regards to Dani Ceballos, but it is Arsenal who have signed the midfielder. The 22-year-old has joined the Gunners for the 2019/20 season on loan. The deal does not include a purchase option, with the Spain international expected to return to the Santiago Bernabeu once the spell in London comes to an end.
Nicolas Pepe is a man in demand after an impressive season for Lille which saw him score 23 goals. It is being reported by L’Equipe that four clubs have matched the French club’s €80m (£71.8m) valuation of the Ivory Coast international. Arsenal and Liverpool are two of the sides mentioned, whilst Internazionale and Napoli have also offered the full amount. The latter appear to be in pole position after the 24-year-old’s representatives met with the Serie A team.
Matthijs de Ligt was linked with half of Europe before finally signing for Juventus from Ajax. However, his Juve career could have started better than what he experienced in his first game for the club against Internazionale in pre-season. Just 10 minutes into his debut, the 19-year-old scored an own goal to put Inter 1-0 ahead. Fortunately for the Netherlands international, Cristiano Ronaldo was on hand to equalise soon after. The only way is up from here for the centre-back.
Whilst Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli may be edging closer to a deal for Nicolas Pepe, they ended up making one signing this week. The Serie A club have captured Eljif Elmas from Fenerbahce, with the length of the deal as of yet unknown. The 19-year-old made 47 appearances for Fener during his time there and he is also an 11-time North Macedonia international.