The past few months has seen many major happenings in the world of football. Let’s take a look at them and analyse them briefly: 1. Neymar’s transfer to PSG Everyone even slightly following football was shocked to see star player Neymar leave Barcelona for French superpowers Paris Saint Germain. This move was the most expensive in the history of football, with PSG paying more than €222 million. It was followed by the transfer of French prodigy Kylian Mbappe from Ligue 1 champions AS Monaco. In my personal opinion, this move is nothing but perfect for Neymar, who will be looking to come out of Messi’s shadow, which wouldn’t have been possible in Barcelona. After Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Neymar is arguably the best player in the world, which wasn’t prominent at all. If he wants to win the Ballon d’Or, PSG is the perfect place for him – it’s an attacking league (he can score more goals), he has people to assist him in Mbappe, Verratti, Draxler and di Maria also linking up with Mbappe and prolific striker Edinson Cavani. The team is young, working towards the future, already domestic giants and are moving on to becoming European giants. All this is perfect for any player who aims to be the best in Europe, with the potential of doing so. In the coming years, we will surely witness some footballing genius in Neymar. 2. AC Milan’s transfer window When ex-Italian president Silvio Berlusconi sold his stakes in AC Milan to Chinese businessman Yonghong Li, much was speculated about the future of the team. But nobody expected what actually happened. AC Milan spent in excess of €200 million and signed eleven players in the transfer window, to the shock of most of the world. Most of them were signed for nominal fee, and were young and budding players in Frank Kessie, Andrea Conti and Andre Silva. They also signed some experienced players in Lucas Biglia and Nikola Kalinic. But the one transfer which was the best deal and the most unexpected one was that of defender Leonardo Bonucci from Juventus. Considered as one of the three best center backs in the world, Bonucci was signed for only £35 million from the best defence in the world. At 29, he is also at the peak of his career and will be able to bring in his off the pitch skills to the team, which were lacking under captain Ricardo Montolivo. The only weak link was the new contract given to manager Vincenzo Montella, who is still unproven to take the team to the next level and be at par with Sarri’s Napoli, Allegri’s Juventus, AS Roma or Inter. A managerial change will happen – within this one season. 3. Ousmane Dembele’s transfer Much was said by German giants Borussia Dortmund about the potential transfer of 20 year old French forward Ousmane Dembele to Barcelona, who were looking to replace Neymar. They were adamant that they won’t sell their player even for a world record fee. In the meanwhile, it was reported that Dembele had refused to come to training and was putting up in his native France itself. As things would have had it when one of the biggest teams come calling, everyone involved in the transfer gave in and Dembele was signed for the Catalan giants for a reported fee of €150 million, including add ons, making him the second most expensive transfer ever. With a plethora of potential, the 20 year old has the versatility to fit in according the team’s requirements. After having a dream debut and amazing games to follow, Dembele was injured and has been ruled out for a couple of months to recover. Here’s wishing the young player a speedy recovery and a great future. 4. Paulinho’s transfer Barcelona became a laughing stock when reports emerged that they were interested in signing Brazilian midfielder Paulinho, who had been playing in Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese Super League, considered to be the retirement home for major players. Still just 29 and being a part of CSL – you can guess about Paulinho’s career. He was a star in his native Corinthians, before joining EPL club Tottenham Hotspurs. Not given optimum chances, he plied his trade there for two years, before joining China when he had been a Tottenham flop. Barcelona’s interest surely meant something, but people missed out on that aspect. After massive trolling across the world, Barcelona signed him for €40 million and was presented to an empty Camp Nou. Fans didn’t buy his shirt and things were going on the wrong side for Barcelona. Cut to the start of the season – Paulinho had scored two vital goals in two games to give the Catalans victory in both of them. He displayed great skills while playing, adapted to coach Valverde’s tactics and linked up really well with his team mates. Despite not being a superstar, he will surely be a player to watch. 5. Carlo Ancelotti’s sacking Legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti, who has coached the biggest teams in Europe was sacked towards the end of September by German champions Bayern Munich. Despite winning the domestic title in his first year in charge, he was unable to deliver much in European competitions and this year round, his team were sitting second in the Bundesliga as well. The 3-0 defeat to PSG in Champions League proved to be the breach of patience for Bayern’s hierarchy. Allegedly losing the dressing room, Carlo was asked to leave with immediate effect, just two months into the season. Having coached Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, PSG and Real Madrid previously, Ancelotti had been sacked at two of them despite delivering amazing results. The decision which Bayern took was very harsh and one can understand their desperation to be a dominant force in Europe once again, as this is the first time they have sacked a manager. He was replaced by Bayern legendary manager Jupp Heynckes, who has thrice managed the team since 1987. It has now become every Milan fan’s dream to see Ancelotti back at the San Siro. 6. Alvaro Morata’s transfer Alvaro Morata’s love for Chelsea coach Antonio Conte is known to everyone. Conte admired the player since he was a prodigy at Real Madrid and signed him for Juventus, only to leave himself within a few weeks. Since then, both have spoken highly about each other and much was speculated about Morata joining Chelsea in 2016, when Antonio Conte signed for the club. That didn’t happen and he re-joined Real Madrid. Even then, he spoke about joining the London club in some time of his career to work with Conte once, who had shown great trust in him. Desperately in need of a striker in 2017, Chelsea signed the Spanish number 9 for a club record fee of £58 million. This was a dream come true for both the parties and Chelsea fans, who knew the 24 year old has a lot of capabilities. Having played for three tactically different managers in Mourinho, Allegri and Zidane, he has always shown versatility and has adapted to all situations and despite not starting regularly, became Spain’s main striker. His style of play suited Conte’s demands and he repaid the trust in him, scoring 7 goals in 7 games with one hat trick, at the time of print. Let’s hope there is more to come from the positive player. 7. Sandhu signs for Bengaluru FC Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, the first Indian to play for a top division European club and compete in a UEFA competition, has come back to his native country to join ISL newbies Bengaluru FC. The JSW owned club, has this year joined the ISL from the I-League, where they won the competition twice since their inception. The 25 year old Punjab lad, who is a fan of Edwin van der Saar, was supposed to appear for trials at English giants Everton, before eventually joining Norwegian side Stabæk in 2014. Having played there sporadically, he decided to come back to India in order to have match fitness whenever called for the national team duty, being the vice - captain of the side. Bengaluru FC, known for being the most professionally run club in India, jumped on this opportunity and signed the custodian to replace Amrinder Singh, who opted to join Mumbai City FC in the ISL. This is seen as massive signing, since it’s the first time an Indian club has a player with European competition’s experience. Teamed along with captain Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Kumam and other star players, Sandhu at BFC is going to be very exciting to watch in the new design of the ISL. Having previously played for East Bengal, who are not yet a part of ISL, Sandhu will have more fan following in his domestic league, with more and more people following him since his European stint. author
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