Having already won the Romelu Lukaku battle against Chelsea counterpart, Antonio Conte, it seems that Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho will be sharpening his sword and readying to go once again in a transfer tussle with the Italian as both clubs seem to have registered an interest in Roma ace, Radja Nainggolan.

Mourinho and Manu Utd have turned their attentions to Nainggolan after Spurs rebuffed their approach for midfielder Eric Dier. Mourinho will hope to complete a transfer for the Belgian midfielder, who could cost as much as 40million pounds. However, the Roma midfield enforcer has been previously linked to Chelsea; and Conte knows him well from his time in Italy; and he could be tempted to make a move for the player which would see he and Mourinho in another transfer tussle.

Man Utd fans, do you think 40m is too much for Nainggolan? And Chelsea fans would you like to see the Belgian at your club? Let us know in the comments section below.

It's TRANSFER SEASON! Every football fan's favourite preseason period; spending most of the time trying to differentiate between click-bait rumours and actual rumours on players linked to your club. And then when the deal is finally completed, the joy of bragging to opposition fans on how great a season your club just made and how he would tear payint absolutely destroy opposition defenders.

Well before a transfer is complete, a player is required to sell off his soul for a stipulated amount of time sign a contract binding him to the club. However, as in every contract, there are terms and conditions (which we know nobody reads anyway lol). Some of the terms include: length of contract, wage to be earned (definitely the best part :D) etc. These contracts often contain clauses; which are special provisions in the contract based on certain conditions. So let's get right to explaining some of the transfer related clauses.

1. The Release Clause

The release clause is simply a clause in a player's contract which stipulates a specified amount which must be accepted by the player's club is an offer is made. If a club makes a bid matching a player's release clause, the player's club must automatically accept the bid and give the player permission to speak with the interested club. Not every player contract has a release clause, sometimes they are inserted due to the request of the player's agent. Most clubs set the release clauses for their star players as high as possible. However, release clauses have also led to some bargain buys; as seen when Bayern signed Mario Gotze from league rivals Dortmund for about 37 million euros.

2. The Buy-Back Clause

The buy-back clause, usually inserted into a contract by the selling club, is a provision which allows the selling club to buy the player back at a stipulated amount at any time during his time at this new club. It is mostly utilized when the selling club believes the player will eventually come good in future and would not want to engage in a transfer tug of war when the time comes. So basically, any player being sold with the option of a buy back clause can be seen as a glorified loan.

3. The First Option Clause

Also usually used by the selling club, the first option clause is a stipulation which mandates the player's new club club to inform the selling club of any offers received for the player in question during his time at the club. So when a club signs a player with a first option clause, they must inform his former club of any transfer offers for that player; at which point the former club must then decide whether they want to buy the player back or not, before the transfer can be sanctioned. If the former club decides to re-sign the player, the club must then go into mandatory negotiations with them. If they decide against signing the player, then the club may proceed negotiations with other interested parties.

4. Percentage on next sale

This clause allows the selling club to make an agreed sum of money from the transfer fee in the instance of a future transfer of the player away from the buying club. The buying club must remit the stipulated percentage back to the selling club if the player in question is sold to another club. This however does not come into play if the player is sold back to the selling club.

Ff on Twitter @TCharis_DRO

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                                                          (The Confederations Cup)

The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia has just been concluded; with World Champions Germany confirming themselves as 'Champion of Champions'. The Confed Cup (for anyone new to football) is a tournament featuring the 6 continental champions from FIFA associations: UEFA (Europe), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North America), CONMEBOL (South America), AFC (Asia) and OFC (Oceania). To make up the 8 teams, the current World Cup holders and the host nation are added to the mix.

Here are some talking points from the just concluded tournament:

1. The future of German football is very very bright.





Germany finished as champions of the Confed Cup (as most people expected). However, what most didn't expect is that they would do it with the quality of personnel they took to the tournament. Granting the summer off to established stars such as Thomas Muller, Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Jerome Boateng, Toni Kroos, Mats Hummels etc., the world champions fielded a very youthful and inexperienced side. Captained by 23-year old PSG attacker Julian Draxler, the average age of the team is just over 24; with young guns such as RB Leipzig's Timo Werner, Leverkusen's Julian Brandt, Moenchengladbach's Lars Stindl to name a few on show. These are players with less than 10 senior caps each, and still managed to best some more established teams at the tournament. The future of the German national team may require some serious sun shades to behold...

2. Chile not quite an elite team........just yet.



Chile put in a very accomplished showing at the tournament, finishing as runners up to a deserving German side; who they earlier finished as runners-up to in the group stages. However, as evidenced by the number of clear chance misses in the final, Chile are still quite a long way from totally dominating South American football, much less the world. With stars such as Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal, Chile possess the personnel to make an impact but still seem like an efficient finisher away from being able to truly hang with the big boys on the world stage. Eduardo Vargas needs to step up a notch.

3. African teams still 'completing the number' at FIFA tournaments.



African champions Cameroun didn't really have the best of tournaments. Failing to win a match and scoring just 2 goals en route to being bottom of the group, their best achievement was stopping Germany from scoring for 45 minutes. Not much of a surprise though, as African teams generally perform poorly at FIFA competitions at senior level. The continent seems a long way from producing a team to challenge for such a competition. The best they can hope for now is 'thanks for coming'.

4. Football takes centre stage as racism takes a backseat.



One of the biggest worries coming into the Russia-hosted Confed Cup was the issue of racism; a prevalent trend in the country. FIFA's 'Say No To Racism' campaign looked set to be tested at the tournament, however there were minor, if any racism related issues as the quality of football on show was the focus. 43 goals were scored in the tournament, with an average of 2.69 goals per game to make for an entertaining spectacle. Hopefully, football also takes centre stage at next year's World Cup.

5. Video assistant referee (VAR), a good innovation or unnecessary burden?




FIFA used the tournament to debut the new video assistant referee, an official who reviews decisions and controversial moments using video evidence. It seemed like the answer to poor officiating calls in the sport, as replays would lead to better decisions being made by officials. During the tournament, there were reasons to justify the use of the system, while there were also instances which embarrassed the idea. The system is meant to be used to review 4 major decision types: Goals; whether there was any violation in the build-up, Penalty decisions, Red cards and Mistaken identity *coughs in Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs*.

The system helped with some correct calls on goals involving violations in the build up, however decisions on penalties and red cards would still pose a problem as these would come down to the referee's decision; which could either be right or wrong; thereby killing the whole point of having the system in the first place which was to avoid wrong calls. An example was in the 2nd half of the final where Chile's Gonzalo Jara appeared to elbow Germany's Timo Werner in the face. Despite the referee using VAR to review what seemed like a spot on sending off, he elected to show Jara just a yellow card, much to the surprise of the spectators and even the defender himself. Much to improve on with the development at this stage.

Ff on twitter @TCharis_DRO

(Benfica players lifting the Portuguese league                      trophy)

And I think say na only for Africa people dey use juju... 😼