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When Aston Villa signed Jonathan Kodjia for a then Championship record of £16m back in the summer of 2016, it was seen as a major coup by everyone involved at the club.Roberto Di Matteo waxed lyrical about his newest signing, saying: “We are really pleased to have secured the services of Jonathan. He is a proven goalscorer and hopefully he’ll play an important part in what we hope will be a successful season for the Club.”

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106 games later however, and Kodjia showed himself to be anything but a “proven goal-scorer”. The Ivory Coast international managed just 31 goals across all competitions, and made quite the mockery of former owner Tony Xia’s proud declaration on Twitter that a “world-class” striker was close to arriving at Villa Park.

If Xia thought the man to fit that bill was Kodjia, then boy was he sadly mistaken. Less than four years later, the 30-year-old sealed his exit from the Premier League side, completing a move to Qatari side Al Gharafa, with it being suggested that they had paid just £2.5m to take him off Villa’s hands.

The striker enjoyed his best spell at Villa under Steve Bruce, managing a respectable 23 goals and seven assists in 60 games – essentially a goal contribution every other game. And the now Newcastle boss was never shy about praising him, once saying: “You only have to come and watch him to see what a good player he is. He’s got that trick in his locker.”

But whilst he showed flashes of promise under Bruce, there’s no questioning that Kodjia didn’t end up delivering on expectations at Villa Park. Xia didn’t exactly give him the best chance to succeed by claiming that the club were close to bringing in a superstar striker, and ultimately, he’ll go down as a major transfer blunder.

أعلن الجهاز الفني للفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي الأهلي، بقيادة بيتسو موسيماني قائمة الفريق التي تسافر إلى النيجر اليوم الخميس، استعدادًا لمواجهة الحرس الوطني في النسخة الجديدة بدوري أبطال إفريقيا.

ويواجه الأهلي الحرس الوطني بطل النيجر على استاد الجنرال سيني كونتشي بالعاصمة نيامي في الخامسة والنصف يوم السبت المقبل في ذهاب دور الـ32 من دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

طالع | موسيماني: الأهلي مستعد للسيطرة على دوري أبطال إفريقيا مرة أخرى

واختتم الأهلي استعداده في القاهرة بأداء مرانه صباح اليوم الخميس في ملعب التتش قبل التوجه إلى مطار القاهرة للسفر إلى النيجر. قائمة الأهلي لمباراة الحرس الوطني

حراسة المرمى: علي لطفي ومصطفى شوبير وحمزة علاء.

خط الدفاع: رامي ربيعة وياسر إبراهيم، وبدر بانون، وعلي معلول، ومحمد هاني.

خط الوسط:حمدي فتحي، ووليد سليمان، وأليو ديانج وعمرو السولية، ومحمد محمود وأكرم توفيق، وطاهر محمد طاهر.

خط الهجوم: محمود كهربا، ومحمد شريف، ونبيل كوكا.

وكان مجلس إدارة الأهلي، برئاسة الكابتن محمود الخطيب، قد كلف سيد عبدالحفيظ مدير الكرة، برئاسة بعثة الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنيجر، لمواجهة فريق الحرس الوطني في ذهاب دور الـ32 من منافسات دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

يذكر أن الأهلي هو أكثر الأندية الإفريقية فوزًا ببطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا بواقع 10 مرات.

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Sem rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro neste fim de semana, o Corinthians voltou a treinar na manhã deste sábado, no CT Joaquim Grava. Após a atividade leve, os jogadores foram liberados e só se reapresentarão na segunda-feira.

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O treino deste sábado contou apenas com sete jogadores que foram titulares na vitória por 2 a 1 sobre o Coritiba, na rodada passada do Brasileirão. Edilson, Felipe, Guilherme Arana, Ralf, Jadson, Malcom e Vagner foram a campo e contaram com a companhia de atletas da base na atividade em campo reduzido. Vale lembrar que Cássio, Gil, Elias e Renato Augusto estão na Seleção e só se reapresentam na quarta-feira.

Enquanto isso, Fagner, Uendel, Edu Dracena, Yago, Cristian, Bruno Henrique, Danilo, Rodriguinho, Lucca e Ángel Romero, que também participaram do intenso jogo-treino diante do Red Bull Brasil, na sexta-feira, ficaram apenas na academia.

Depois da atividade em campo reduzido, alguns jogadores realizaram trabalhos específicos. O zagueiro Felipe, por exemplo, treinou lances pelo alto e passes. No outro campo, Malcom e Vagner Love treinaram finalizações.

O Corinthians volta a campo apenas na próxima quinta-feira. Líder do Brasileirão com 76 pontos, o Timão pode garantir o título diante do Vasco, às 22h, em São Januário.

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MatériaMais Notícias

Os parlamentares da “bancada da bola” se esforçaram nos últimos dias na articulação para tentar derrubar o veto da presidente Dilma Rousseff à possibilidade dos clubes se tornarem sociedades empresariais (clube-empresa) através da Lei do Profut. O artigo cria uma taxa única de impostos de 5% para os clubes que optarem pelo modelo de gestão, uma diferença de até quatro pontos percentuais à carga tributária atual para a modalidade.

A medida é um dos sete vetos de Dilma em leis sancionadas recentemente cuja manutenção ou não será decidida pelo Congresso Nacional em votação que está prevista para ocorrer nesta terça-feira.

A derrubada do veto no Profut foi um dos temas debatidos em reunião ocorrida na última quinta-feira, dia 1, que reuniu mais de trinta deputados ligados ao esporte. O evento ocorreu na casa do deputado Marcus Vicente (PP-ES) e contou com a presença do presidente da Câmara, Eduardo Cunha (PMDB-RJ), que no encontro também se mostrou favorável à derrubada do veto no Profut.

– Estamos trabalhando para derrubar o veto. Entendemos que essa é uma medida que trará desenvolvimento para o futebol – diz o deputado Jovair Arantes (PTB-GO), que também é presidente do Conselho Deliberativo do Atlético-GO.

A “bancada da bola”, entretanto, terá que fazer frente à pressão do governo pela manutenção dos vetos na votação desta terça. Segundo informações do LANCE!, a iniciativa da presidente Dilma de vetar a abertura ao clube-empresa através do Profut partiu do Ministério da Fazenda e foi motivado pela incerteza em relação ao impacto da medida na arrecadação de impostos pelo governo.

– Temos que buscar alternativas para o esporte brasileiro evoluir, a gestão mais profissional dos clubes de futebol passa pela possibilidade de se tornar uma sociedade empresarial – ressaltou Arantes.

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Com quatro vitórias e quatro empates nos últimos oito jogos, o Botafogo tem aproveitamento “de campeão”: 66,6% na sequência invicta. Os números desse recorte só ficam atrás do total do Flamengo (69%) na atual edição do Brasileirão. No entanto, como vinha de resultados ruins anteriormente, ainda não garantiu no segundo turno uma campanha melhor que a do primeiro.

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➡️Tudo sobre o Fogão agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso novo canal Lance! Botafogo

O desempenho obtido nas oito partidas mais recentes é maior do que dos campeões brasileiros nos anos de 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2017, 2020 e 2023. Com isso, o Alvinegro pode terminar 2025 em alta e com expectativas de começar a próxima temporada de forma similar.

No primeiro turno, o Botafogo somou 31 pontos, com aproveitamento de 54,3%. No segundo, chegou a 28 pontos após o empate com o Corinthians. Portanto, está a uma vitória de igualar a campanha da reta inicial.

continua após a publicidadeAproveitamento do Botafogo no Brasileirão 2025 em diferentes recortes

No campeonato: 54,6% dos pontos
No primeiro turno: 54,3% dos pontos
No segundo turno: 54,9% dos pontos
Com Davide Ancelotti: 54,6% dos pontos
Nos últimos oito jogos: 66,6% dos pontos

➡️ Ancelotti terá dores de cabeça para escalar Botafogo contra o Cruzeiro; veja desfalques

O que está em jogo nas últimas rodadas?

O Botafogo ainda luta para garantir vaga direta na próxima edição da Libertadores. Por mais que já esteja classificado para a competição continental, pode evitar passar pelos playoffs e entrar na fase de grupos ficando em 5º (ou acima) no Brasileirão. Isso por acontecer já na 37ª rodada: para isso, precisa vencer e torcer por tropeços de Fluminense e Bahia. Terminando no 6º lugar, a classificação direta dependeria de o campeão da Copa do Brasil ser um time do G5.

continua após a publicidadeSequência invicta do Alvinegro

2 x 0 vs Ceará (fora)
2 x 2 vs Santos (casa)
0 x 0 vs Mirassol (fora)
3 x 0 vs Vasco (casa)
0 x 0 vs Vitória (fora)
3 x 2 vs Sport (casa)
3 x 2 vs Grêmio (casa)
2 x 2 vs Corinthians (fora)

Últimos jogos do Botafogo no Brasileirão

vs Cruzeiro (fora) – 04/12
vs Fortaleza (casa) – 07/12

Tudo sobre

BotafogoBrasileirão

According to RMC Sport (via Get French Football News), Newcastle’s potential owners have approached PSG’s former sporting director Antero Henrique over taking up a similar role at St James’ Park.

What’s the word?

Despite the Magpies’ proposed takeover still not being given the green light for confirmation, it appears the Saudi consortium are already drawing up plans on attempting to dominate English football.

According to French publication RMC Sport, Henrique has had “initial contacts with representatives for the relevant investment fund”, and that they outlined to him how they are keen to “build a team to eventually win the Premier League”.

Think you’re a big Magpies fan? Can you name these former players by looking at their careers? Go on, give it a go…

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The report further adds that whilst no agreement has been found as of yet, the Portuguese man is interested by the Tyneside club’s project.

Revolution

Henrique may not be the most familiar of names to fans of English football, but he is widely known for helping to establish both Porto and PSG as real European players in his time at the two clubs.

At Porto, Henrique flourished in the role of discovering and unearthing new talents, before selling them for vast amounts of money and netting the Portuguese side a tonne of profit: the likes of Pepe, Ricardo Quaresma, Falcao, Hulk and James Rodriguez, amongst others, were just some of the high-profile names who left for at least €20m (£17.8m) or more.

And then at PSG, it was Henrique’s personal touch that arguably saw the Parisiens edge out Real Madrid to the signing of French sensation Kylian Mbappe. Reports suggested that he “locked himself away for two days” with both the young striker and his father, eventually convincing them to snub Los Blancos.

Henrique would come with the kind of world reputation that just automatically lifts the profile of a club like Newcastle, and can help them compete to sign either up-and-coming young starlets, or ready-made stars. Having a sporting director to mastermind and strategise the recruitment success is arguably just as important, if not even more important, than bringing the right manager in.

In this modern footballing world of revolving doors when it comes to managers, sporting directors are the kinds of figures who tend to stay around for the long-term. And it’s exactly why appointing a genius like Henrique could be far more significant than persuading a Rafa Benitez or Mauricio Pochettino to take charge in the dugout.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Tony Cascarino has written in The Times that Sadio Mane’s performance against Everton is the best he has ever seen in the Premier League’s history.

What did he say?

Liverpool’s were in fantastic form against the Toffees, winning 5-2, and the Senegal international was at his brilliant best. He scored once and provided two great assists, and was a menace throughout the 90 minutes for his opponents.

57-year-old Cascarino did not hold back in his appraisal of the 27-year-old, saying: “Since the Premier League began in 1992 I cannot remember seeing as fine a performance as Sadio Mané produced for Liverpool in the first half last night.

“The forward absolutely ripped Everton apart and it was no surprise when the visiting side decided to take off Djibril Sidibé, the right back, before the interval. Mané had absolutely everything: there was movement, desire, vision, brilliant control and a direct approach that caused no end of damage. His passes for two of the goals were fantastic — especially for the first by Divock Origi — and he got on the scoresheet himself.”

Ballon d’Or response

Cascarino may be getting ahead of himself in regards to his judgement of the display. Considering the many fantastic performances we have seen down the years – even from Liverpool players, such as Luis Suarez’s four-goal haul against Norwich, for example – it is hard to argue that this is the greatest since 1992.

Having said, there is no doubting that this was a stunning display from Mane. He was magnificent, and deserves the plaudits and credit he will no doubt receive in abundance.

This showing comes after the Ballon d’Or vote on Monday, which saw Lionel Messi take the individual trophy home for the sixth time in his career. The former Southampton forward finished in fourth place, with teammate Virgil van Dijk and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo above him along with the Argentina international.

Who the heck is that?! Can you name all 25 of these obscure Liverpool signings…

Some people in the football were adamant that it was in fact the £108m-valued star – as per Transfermarkt – that deserved to get his hands on the golden ball. Whilst that is down to each person’s own opinion – Messi did score 51 goals in 50 matches last season, in all fairness – Mane has certainly given his own response to being snubbed for the award with this stellar performance.

If he produces many more displays like this over the coming 12 months, he may be on the top spot of the podium next time around.

Meanwhile, one pundit says this 22-year-old is better than Joe Gomez.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Amid the growing fall-out of Granit Xhaka’s now infamous clash with the Arsenal supporters at the Emirates a few weeks ago, one of the big talking points has been whether the Switzerland international now has a long-term future at the club.

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that the north London side are prepared to let the ex-club captain go, with a return to former side Borussia Monchengladbach even being mooted. As such, the Gunners have been linked with a whole host of midfielders themselves as they look to enter life without Xhaka, and one man who has supposedly been on their radar, is RB Salzburg starlet Dominik Szoboszlai.

According to Football Insider, the Gunners had scouts to take a look at Szoboszlai while the 19-year-old was in action for Hungary against Wales on Tuesday night. If the north Londoners thought they would witness the starlet go on to stamp his mark on a pivotal game for both countries – automatic qualification to EURO 2020 was on offer – then they were sadly proven wrong.

The teenager struggled greatly in the heat of the occasion, failing to get involved in the build-up play for Hungary and not being able to control the game in his side’s favour. As per Sofascore, his 6.1 match rating was the second-worst of any player to have featured for the full 90 minutes, and when looking at his underlying numbers during the game, it is easy to see why.

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Playing in a number ten role, Szoboszlai could muster just 40 touches and 18 successful passes – a staggeringly low amount considering Hungary averaged 59% possession. Despite trailing as early as the 15th minute courtesy of a goal from former Arsenal star Aaron Ramsey, the prodigy couldn’t muster any shots on target in the entire contest.

Indeed, whenever he did get on the ball, he looked all at sea, losing possession on 15 separate occasions. Ramsey meanwhile struck twice to give Wales the all-important win, and there no doubt would have been a sense of regret at losing the now Juventus man in the summer. If Szoboszlai thought this was his audition to eventually be the Welshman’s heir at the Emirates, then he failed miserably.

دخل كريستيان بوليسيتش لاعب فريق تشيلسي تاريخ دوري أبطال أوروبا بهدفه في مباراة الأمس ضد ريال مدريد.

وتلاقى الفريقان في ذهاب نصف نهائي البطولة في ألفريدو دي ستيفانو، حيث تعادلا بهدف لمثله. أهداف مباراة ريال مدريد وتشيلسي

وتمكن كريستيان بوليسيتش من تسجيل هدف التقدم لصالح تشيلسي.

وحسب شبكة “أوبتا” العالمية، فإن بوليسيتش هو أول لاعب أمريكي يسجل في دور نصف نهائي دوري أبطال أوروبا.

ليس هذا فقط، بل أوضح أن بوليسيتش يعتبر أيضًا أصغر لاعب في تشيلسي يسجل في المرحلة نفسها من البطولة، حيث يبلغ من العمر 22 عامًا و221 يومًا.

West Brom managed to cling onto the Championship lead as they had to come from behind to snatch a point against basement boys Barnsley.

The rock-bottom visitors took a surprise two-goal lead into half-time as Cauley Woodrow netted twice inside six minutes at the Hawthorns.

Albion boss Slaven Bilic then made a double change at the break, and it paid off with his side worming their way back into the match.

Firstly, Matheus Pereira forced Bambo Diaby to stick it into his own net from an inswinging corner before he got on the scoresheet himself nine minutes from time with a well-timed header from Conor Townsend’s cross.

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The Baggies have picked up a league-high 15 points from a losing position this season, and it also was an all too familiar story for striker Charlie Austin as his barren spell in front of goal continued.

His performance on Monday night has led to multiple supporters blasting him for his contribution, or lack of, having scored just once in eight league starts.

One fan called the 30-year-old ‘washed up’ and compared him to Rickie Lambert, who bagged just the single goal in 26 appearances during the 2015/16 campaign.

Another member of the Hawthorns faithful claimed his movement was ‘glacial’ and that Albion needed to upgrade on him in the January transfer window while ‘average’ and ‘past it’ were two other phrases used to describe Austin’s showing.

Here’s more of the reaction: