The 52-year-old Spanish football manager and former player has been appointed by Leeds United as the team’s new manager, according to the club.
Gracia, the former boss at Watford, replaces Jesse Marsch, who was fired on February 6 following seven games without a win in the Premier League.
“Leeds United are delighted to announce the club have agreed terms with Javi Gracia to become men’s first team head coach, subject to obtaining a work permit,” a club statement read.
The club confirmed that the Spaniard has agreed to sign a “flexible contract.”
Leeds, who have since failed to win in three subsequent games under the caretaker charge of Michael Skubala, are now 19th in the table ahead of Saturday’s game against Southampton.
Gracia has been out of work since leaving Al Sadd last year. He has also managed Malaga, Rubin Kazan and Valencia.
During his time at Watford, he led them to the 2019 FA Cup final, which they lost 6-0 to Manchester City.
Carlos Corberan was linked with the position at Leeds before signing a new deal at West Bromwich Albion. The club also had interest in Rayo Vallecano‘s Andoni Iraola and ex-Ajaxboss Alfred Schreuder.
Edinson Cavani is headed to The Capital of the Turia…
The 35-year-old Uruguayan professional footballer and former Manchester United striker will join Valencia on free transfer, the Spanish club has announced.
TheUruguay team forward was available after his contract expired earlier in summer after spending the last two seasons at Old Trafford.
Cavani has agreed to sign a two-year contract and will be the reference up-front to Italian manager Gennaro Gattuso.
The former Paris Saint-Germain striker was at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium to see his new team’s loss to Atletico Madrid 1-0 in the Spanish league on Monday.
Valencia won the race to sign the veteran against Real Sociedad, who are still in the market looking for a replacement for Swedish forward Alexander Isak who was sold last week to Newcastle for a 70 million-euros transfer fee.
Cavani arrived on Monday afternoon to Valencia and talked to the local media before passing medical exams with club doctors and signing his new deal.
“I am happy to be here. I wanted to play in Spain and Valencia were willing to bet on me,” Cavani said.
“I like to be where I’m wanted, where I’m loved because you live off the strength of the fans and the club’s love.
“I talked to coach Gennaro Gattuso and Valencia have given me a lot of confidence, so I hope I can give them my best and leave a good image here.”
Cavani began his career at Danubio in Uruguay before making the jump to Europe in 2007, signing with Palermo.
After four seasons in Sicily, he left for Napoli where he scored 104 goals in 138 matches, being Seria A top-goalscorer in 2012-13.
In 2013 he was signed by Paris Saint-Germain where he played for seven seasons and became the top scorer in the club’s history.
He joined Manchester United in 2020, where he played for the last two seasons.
The 58-year-old Spanish football manager and former player appears set to return to coaching at Athletic Bilbao after a candidate who pledged to sign him won the election for the presidency of the Spanish club on Friday.
Jon Uriarte won a four-year term after he beat two other candidates with 46% of the 22,000 votes cast by members.
One of Uriarte’s campaign pledges was to bring back Valverde for a third stint as Bilbao’s coach.
Valverde has not spoken publicly on the chance to come back to the club that fields only players from the northern Basque Country region bordering with France and surrounding areas.
Another candidate for Bilbao’s presidency, Inaki Arechabaleta, promised to bring back Argentine Marcelo Bielsa for a second stint as coach.
Valverde has not coached since he was fired from FC Barcelonain January 2020. Barcelona let him go despite having won back-to-back Spanish league titles and the Copa del Rey under Valverde and with his team still leading the league.
Valverde, a former player, coached Bilbao to a club record 306 games in 2003-05 and 2013-17. He has also coached Valencia, Olympiakos,Villarreal and Espanyol.
Bilbao is, along with Real Madrid, Barcelona andOsasuna, the last Spanish clubs owned by club members, not shareholders. The club members elect presidents and board members to run the club. Candidates must have been a club member for at least one year to run.
The 32-year-old Argentine professional footballer, who plays for Manchester City, could be heading to Portugal’s Benfica team.
Manchester City is reportedly close to signing Benfica defender Ruben Dias, according to ESPN, that would send Otamendi to Benfica.
Pep Guardiola is hoping to bolster ManCity’s defense with Dias’ arrival. The 23-year-old, who has been capped 19 times by Portugal, is set to arrive in Manchester this week to finalize the move.
Otamendi has yet to feature for Guardiola’s side this season. City are prepared to let the Argentina international leave after five years at the club following his move from Valencia in 2015.
“I look back and it’s clear I could not have made a better decision than to accept City’s proposal to join their project back in 2010,” he said.
“Manchester City and I have grown together. In 10 years, I have developed personally and professionally. I have celebrated many victories and titles and lived through epic moments.
“I have seen my lovely child, Mateo, born and I have even started to feel comfortable under heavy rain! City are a fantastic family. I won’t ever forget the way they threw themselves into helping me when I suffered the hardest moments of my life, offering me support and empathy.”
Manchester City is close to agreeing a fee with Valencia for the 20-year-old Spanish professional footballer, according to ESPN.
Man City is set to pay €23 million plus add-ons for the right winger, a SpainUnder-21 international. Negotiations are ongoing but Manchester City is hopeful a deal will be concluded.
Torres was made a prime target for manager Pep Guardiola and director of football Txiki Begiristain following the sale of Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich.
Valencia has been resigned to losing Torres, who had just one year left on his contract. He has made 97 appearances for the La Liga side, scoring nine times. He has won six caps for Spain’s U21s.
Man City has moved quickly for Torres, who has also attracted interest from a host of Europe’s top clubs. Personal terms should not be a problem with Torres keen to link up with Guardiola at the Etihad Stadium.
An investment group including the 37-year-old Spanish professional footballer and former World Cup champion has been granted a United Soccer League( USL) franchise in New York City.
Queensboro FC will begin play in 2021 in the USL Championship, the second division of professional soccer in the United States. It will host its home matches in a new, modular stadium at York Collegein Queens that will have a capacity of around 7,500. The new team will also play select home matches at Citi Field, home of MLB‘s New York Mets.
“Bringing professional football to Queens’ diverse community is an exciting and unique opportunity,” Villa said in a statement to ESPN. “The beautiful game already lives here, thanks to the melting pot of cultures who are so passionate about the sport. I can’t think of a better place for QBFC to grow. I’m proud to be part of this project.”
Rumors that the USL was planning to place a team in New York City, as well as Villa’s involvement, emerged last summer. Now those plans have come to fruition for the former New York City FCforward and 2016 MLS MVP.
Villa, who counts Sporting Gijon, Real Zaragoza, Valencia, Barcelonaand Atletico Madridamong the clubs he’s played for, spent the 2019 campaign in Japan with J1 Leagueside Vissel Kobe.
“I’m proud to say I’ve had a long-running connection to Queens,” said Villa. “I lived here for four years while I was developing my football academies, teaching kids not just how to play the sport but to appreciate the game’s values, too. Queens is — and always has been — special. You feel the passion for football walking the streets.
“It’s why we’re proud to bring a professional team to this borough. It’s the obvious next step following the clinics, summer camps, academies and various other programs for boys and girls we’ve held in Astoria, Flushing and at Queens College.”
The investment group is led by Jonathan Krane, CEO of New York City-based asset management companyKraneShares. Krane has previously been involved with the USL. This past season KraneShares was the away jersey sponsor of USL Championship side New Mexico United.
“The opportunity to bring professional soccer to Queens has long been a dream of mine and I can’t wait to deliver a USL Championship club that Queens can be proud of,” he said. “I’m thrilled to work with David and represent the borough to the fullest as we look forward to kickoff in 2021.”
In order to focus on his ownership responsibilities, as well as leading the day-to-day soccer operations, Villa will have retired from professional soccer by the time the team begins playing in 2021. Among his goals is to build an academy for local and international talent to develop.
“We will recruit the best players in Queens as we become the home team,” said Villa. “We have a built-in advantage in the number of talented players in the borough. The sporting level in USL is high, which means we have to be demanding in the quality of our athletes. But our goal is to have as many Queens-bred players as possible.”
The USL Championship currently has 34 teams, with San Diego set to come on board next season. Oakland East Bay will join alongside QBFC in 2021.
“Announcing a USL Championship club in Queens is a big moment for our league,” said USL CEO Alec Papadakis. “When we consider expansion, we’re primarily looking for three things: A community who is passionate about soccer, a strong local ownership group, and a pathway towards a soccer-specific stadium. With QBFC, we have all three, and with Jon and David at the helm, we believe this has the potential to be something very special.”
The 30-year-old soccer star received his fourth European Golden Shoe on Friday after netting 37 times in La Liga play during the 2016-17 season.
Messi beat out Sporting CP‘s Bas Dost (34 goals in Portugal‘s Primeira Liga) and Borussia Dortmund‘s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (31 in the Bundesliga) in the top three to claim the prize, which is presented to Europe’s top goal scorer.
After also winning the award in 2012-13 (46 league goals), 2011-12 (50) and 2009-10 (34), Messi is tied with Real Madrid‘s Cristiano Ronaldo for most regular winner of the Golden Shoe.
Messi’s 37 goals last season came in 34 Spanish top-flight appearances, but they were delivered as part of losing cause, as Real Madrid beat out Barca to the title.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has netted 12 goals in 12 games in the 2017-18 La Liga campaign.
He’s trailing Lazio‘s Ciro Immobile and Paris Saint-Germain‘s Edinson Cavani, who have netted 15 goals in Serie A and Ligue 1, respectively, in the race for this year’s Golden Shoe. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich‘s Robert Lewandowski, AS Monaco‘s Radamel Falcao and Inter Milan‘s Mauro Icardi have all netted 13 times.
Ronaldo, though, does not look like troubling the upper echelon of the European Golden Shoe rankings anytime soon, as he has netted just once in La Liga this season.
Messi will be looking to add to his tally on Sunday when top-of-the-table Barca travel to face second-place Valencia at the Mestalla.
It’s another miraculous milestone for Lionel Messi…
The 28-year-old Argentine soccer superstar scored Barcelona‘s only goal in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Valencia; it was his 500th career goal.
The milestone goal arrived after Messi had gone 515 minutes without netting one for his club, ending his five-game drought.
Messi slotted home Jordi Alba‘s cross to make it 2-1 Valencia for his 450th Barca goal in 525 appearances.
The five-time World Player of the Year has also scored 50 times in 108 caps for Argentina.
It’s the latest landmark in a remarkable career and comes less than 11 years after the then 17-year-old’s first senior goal against Albacete in May 2005.
“The figure is from another galaxy,” said Barca boss Luis Enrique when asked about the achievement.
The 27-year-old Argentine soccer star reached another career milestone in an FC Barcelona uniform when he notched his 400th goal for the team in Saturday’s La Liga meeting with Valencia at the Camp Nou.
Messi completed his fourth ton for the Blaugrana with the very last kick of the match, latching onto a long ball over the top and landing the milestone after tucking home the rebound after his initial shot was saved by Diego Alves.
It was Messi’s 278th league goal for the Primera Division leaders, with a further 75 coming in the Champions League, 32 in the Copa Del Rey, 10 in the Spanish Super Cup, four in the Club World Cup as well as one strike in the UEFA Super Cup.
Messi had become Barca‘s all-time leading goalscorer in March last year when he exceeded Paulino Alcantara‘s 369 goals for the club scored between 1912 and 1927.
The Argentina forward, who has won the Ballon d’Or on four occasions, also holds the record for leading goalscorer in a single La Liga season, with 50 in 2011-12.
Among a host of other records, he’is also the joint record scorer in European Cup history on 75 goals, level with Cristiano Ronaldo. And he’s also tied with Ronaldo for the most La Liga hat tricks, with both forwards having scored 24.
Gracia, the former boss at Watford, replaces Jesse Marsch, who was fired on February 6 following seven games without a win in the Premier League.
