EPL

When does it open and close?

Published

3 months ago

December 22, 2022

While the 2022 Qatar World Cup is now over, the disruption it has caused to the calendar will likely be felt right up until the end of the season.

One of the most tangible ways will be with the January transfer market. Every recent World Cup has led into a transfer window, but never one in the winter. And as you’ve heard all too often, transfers in January are a very different beast from those in the summer.

It tends to be when clubs have to be more opportunistic, savvier with their negotiations, and take bigger risks on inflated prices. With the World Cup having just ended, there is a fresh focus on players who impressed in Qatar and could get an immediate reward for it for the remainder of the 2022/23 season.

Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming January transfer window, including when the action will next get underway in the Premier League and what players could be on the move.

As is always the case, the January transfer window opens for clubs in England and Scotland on January 1, 2023. This year, that’s a Sunday. The transfer windows in Germany and France will also open on January 1, while in Spain and Italy, they will open on January 2.

From January 1 onwards, clubs can sign players and get them into their squads as soon as possible as there will be games coming thick and fast. Getting a deal done early in January can be crucial. Premier League action starts again on Boxing Day, so a lot of games will be played throughout the next month.

The window in the Premier League is going to slam shut on January 31 at 23:00 GMT, meaning it will be a late night for many of those working in admin roles at football clubs. 23:00 GMT is also the deadline for the EFL, whereas in Scotland they have until 23:59 GMT.

Major European leagues also see the window slam shut on the same day, although in the Bundesliga it is at 17:00 GMT and in Serie A it is at 18:00 GMT.

There is the potential for some big movers in January with a number of talented stars either out of favour at their clubs or having just had an impressive World Cup.

Beyond the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo will likely find a new club, it is a window that will feel largely dictated by World Cup names. Hakim Ziyech is likely to be playing elsewhere by February with AC Milan very keen on striking a loan deal with Chelsea for the Moroccan.

Sofyan Amrabat is another member of that Moroccan side who is being heavily linked with a move. Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are high on the long list of admirers. Manchester United’s desire for a striker means that they could try and secure a deal for PSV Eindhoven’s Cody Gakpo, who proved himself at a higher level at the World Cup.

Despite the break for the World Cup, the Premier League season is still going to conclude in May 2023. Games will be taking place almost constantly until the final day of the season which is on May 28.

Not every team has played 15 matches yet, meaning despite this feeling like the halfway point in the campaign, we’re still not quite there. Teams have another 23/24 games to contend with before they can have a meaningful rest.

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EPL

Europa League final 2023 tickets: Prices for Budapest decider & where to buy

Published

5 hours ago

March 29, 2023

James Cormack

The Europa League final may not be a bucket list event that, say, the Champions League or World Cup finals are, but UEFA’s secondary club competition will mean a whole lot to those supporters whose sides progress into the showpiece event.

Just eight teams remain in this season’s iteration of the competition with several European behemoths of yesteryear still going strong. Manchester United, Juventus, and AS Roma sit among the favourites to at least reach the final in Budapest.

While the final at the Puskas Arena is still some time away yet, tickets for the event are set to go on sale soon.

Here’s everything you need to know about purchasing tickets for the 2023 Europa League final

There’s little information to access regarding 2023 Europa League final tickets right now, with more details expected to be released later this month.

Thus, exact ticket prices for the final in Budapest are not yet known. These were the prices for last season’s final between Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville:

A release date has not yet been revealed for 2023 Europa League final tickets. In 2022, tickets went on general sale on 20 April.

Supporters will be able to purchase 2023 Europa League final tickets via UEFA’s ticket portal once they go on general sale.

There are three different hospitality packages for the 2023 Europa League final, but all are sold out on UEFA’s website.

The most expensive of these packages – Private Suite Gold – costs €890 per person. UEFA’s Private Suite Silver package is €200 cheaper at €690, with the main difference between these two options being where the suites are located. Silver suites are behind the goal, while gold suites are in the main or opposite stand.

Customers in both suites will also receive a match ball.

The Club package also costs €690 per person which grants access to UEFA’s Sky Club lounge.

All packages include prolonged hospitality service before and after the match, world-class catering, a live TV feed, a parking pass, and, most importantly, a match programme.

The 2022/23 Europa League final is scheduled for 31 May and will be held at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

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EPL

Tottenham director Fabio Paratici banned from football worldwide by FIFA

Published

6 hours ago

March 29, 2023

Grey Whitebloom

Tottenham managing director of football Fabio Paratici has been banned from football worldwide after FIFA extended the punishment imposed in Italy following his involvement in Juventus’ penalised accounting practices.

In January, the Italian giants suffered a shock 15-point deduction after the club was deemed to have inflated player transfer values in swap deals among other financial offences.

Paratici joined the Juventus hierarchy in 2010 and was the club’s sporting director between November 2018 and the summer of 2021, before he took up a similar role at Tottenham. The investigation into Juve’s accounts scrutinised transactions between 2019 and 2021 – when Paratici was at the heart of the club’s dealings.

At the start of the year, Paratici was one of several former Juventus board members that were banned from football following the conclusion of the investigation by the Italian Football Federation. Initially, Paratici was handed a 30-month ban from just Italian football, although the threat of extending the scope of that punishment internationally always loomed.

On Wednesday, FIFA released a statement confirming that they had indeed taken up that option, extending the ban handed out to Paratici and the other Juventus board members – including former owner Andrea Agnelli – worldwide.

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On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Julian Nagelsmann’s future and links to the vacant Tottenham head coach role, Barcelona’s ambition to bring Lionel Messi ‘home’, Brighton teenager Evan Ferguson, Florian Wirtz, Kalvin Phillips and more!

If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!

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EPL

Sir Alex Ferguson & Arsene Wenger inducted into Premier League Hall of Fame

Published

7 hours ago

March 29, 2023

Sean Walsh

Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have become the first managers to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame.

The duo won 16 Premier League titles between them across respective long-term spells with Manchester United and Arsenal.

With 13 of those championships, Ferguson is the most decorated manager in the history of the competition. He is the only coach to have won the Premier League three times in a row, doing so on two different occasions.

Ferguson said: “I’m truly delighted to be inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame. It’s an honour when you receive recognition like this. However, it’s not just about me as a person. It’s about the job at Manchester United and the bond we had over many years, so I’m also proud for the club, the staff and my players.

“My job was to send the fans home happy. United’s history and my own expectations were the things that drove me, and I then had to try and develop all my players with the same expectations and make sure we could go out and achieve them.

“I feel Arsene is a very worthy inductee as he transformed Arsenal Football Club fantastically. They became a tough team to compete with and we both wanted to win, which motivated us further. Through the years since retirement, we’d go for dinner together in a little restaurant he knows well in Switzerland. He is a really interesting man and I enjoy his company, but it is still my job to pick the wine!”

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Wenger arrived in England in 1996 as one of the Premier League’s first foreign coaches, and quickly proved sceptics wrong, transforming Arsenal into title winners and changing English football’s culture with his scouting and dietary expertise.

The Frenchman won three Premier League titles with Arsenal, including an unbeaten ‘Invincibles’ season in 2003/04.

Wenger said: “I am very grateful to have been selected for the Premier League Hall of Fame. We always wanted to give something special to the fans and when you have players capable of remarkable things, the most important thing for me is the obligation of perfection.

“I’d like to be known as someone who loved Arsenal, who respected the values of the club and left it in a position where it can grow and become even bigger.

“To share this with Sir Alex is a great honour for me. It’s like two boxers, you fight like mad and go the distance together. At the end of the day, you have respect and it will be a great opportunity to meet with him, share a good bottle of wine and memories of our old battles.”

In addition to Ferguson and Wenger, there are 16 other inductees in the Premier League Hall of Fame.

Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry were the first two people inducted when the Hall of Fame was created in 2021. They were followed later that year by Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Dennis Bergkamp, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham.

In 2022, Wayne Rooney, Patrick Vieira, Sergio Aguero, Didier Drogba, Vincent Kompany, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes and Ian Wright were inducted.

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