A FIFA disciplinary committee has found both Barcelona and the Spanish FA guilty of breaches in relation to under-age international signings and has banned the La Liga giants from business for two full transfer windows.
Just seven days into the New Year, football fans are excited about the prospect of bringing in reinforcements to help them for the remainder of the season. In the Premier League, clubs at either end of the table are hoping to hold onto their key players while finding new faces who can add a much-needed extra dimension to get them over the line. What does the transfer window have in store and could a number of Irish players be on the move?
If there’s one universal truth in professional football, it may be that talented young players keep moving on and moving up. Sadly for Wigan supporters, it’s increasingly apparent that 22-year old midfielder James McCarthy is not exempt from this truth. Despite the 5-year contract McCarthy signed with the Latics in 2011, the last few months have seen rumours of a transfer escalate into a bidding war between top English clubs with Everton and Spurs upping the ante last week.
This time last year, there were high hopes of transfer movement for Irish stars struggling at club level. A European Championship loomed on the horizon, a competition Marco Tardelli said could serve as a shop window for the Republic squad. The demand for our stars failed to materialise and Poland saw the shop bankrupt. This time however, it’s form players and old reliables that are attracting attention.
Sat disconsolate, arms barely propping himself up on the Stade de France turf, Richard Dunne was joined by the villain of the piece, Thierry Henry. ‘The Cheat of St Denis,’ as dubbed by George Hamilton, offered his hand to the Irish colossus, a recognition of the heartbreak he and his countrymen had visited upon the gallant Irish in Paris in 2009. As fate would have it, are the two to be reunited as team-mates at New York Red Bulls?
HE’S THE love-hate figure of the Irish national team. We love him because he’s our captain, our record goal-scorer, a genuinely decent skin, and hope that we can all pull a smoking-hot bird. But we hate him for his histrionics on the football pitch, his flailing arms, his sometimes glaring misses, and the fact that he hasn’t turned into the consistent sharp-shooter he promised in his youth.