SALTCITYSOCCER

Offer still clearly too low

Hull City are signing Jonas Meffert from Hamburger SV. This is reported by the « Hamburger Abendblatt ». According to the newspaper, the champion club, coached since this season by former HSV coach Tim Walter, is prepared to pay a transfer fee of around 500,000 euros. Veteran midfielder Meffert has a three-year contract in England. According to « Bild », HSV was offered less than 300,000 euros.

In any case, Hull City’s offer is clearly too low. In general, the North Germans do not consider giving up their regular player Meffert, especially not at this price. However, the professional is said to have stated his desire for change internally. A quick decision is unlikely. Meffert moved from Holstein Kiel to Hamburg in 2021 for 500,000 euros and has since made 110 appearances, three goals and eight assists. Under Walter, the 29-year-old played the most games of his career: 126 for Störche and HSV.

Meffert’s HSV contract could be automatically extended

Meffert’s contract runs until the end of this season. According to information from « Abendblatt », his contract with the second division club would be automatically extended by one year after 25 appearances in 2024/25. In central defensive midfield, HSV is fundamentally well placed with new signings Daniel Elfadli (27), Ludovit Reis (24) and Lukasz Poreba (24), who has been permanently hired after a loan spell.

Hull City have already invested €18.4 million in new signings this summer, including 26-year-old Marvin Mehlem from SV Darmstadt 08. Only Burnley FC have spent more in the Championship: €36.3 million. This compares to transfer revenues of almost €41 million.

The essential is acquired. The three points. Nothing more.
AS Monaco is a reason for AS Saint-Etienne’s existence this Saturday evening on behalf of the first day of Ligue 1. And this is in accordance with the logic of the hierarchy when faced with a promoted team. However, the club from the Rock was (a little) scared.

If Minamino, already essential together, allowed his team to take the lead before the half-hour mark (1-0, 28^e) – and this following a goal disallowed for offside (21^e) – the Monegasques were unable to protect themselves afterwards, even losing a goal in turn.

Greens deprived of equalizer

The Saint-Etienne striker found the net in the second half (72^e), so he was caught in the offside trap, by a hair’s breadth, at the start of the action. An extremely cruel one for the Greens who will be able to pride themselves on having sold their skin dearly in the Principality.

With this victory, Monaco takes provisional fourth place in the elite, ahead of Losc on goal difference (+1), fell earlier in the evening to Reims (0-2), to PSG, the executioner of Le Havre on Friday evening (1-4) and to OM, who made a strong impression in Brest at the end of the afternoon this Saturday (1-5).

With an effective practice, Nantes enters the Ligue 1 campaign with a move to Toulouse. Its coach, Antoine Kombouaré, maintains confidence in his players, despite a difficult last season.

A new sponsor, new broadcasters, two big-spending Olympiques… A quick update on the news in Ligue 1 for this 2024-2025 season.

Ligue 1 resumes its rights this weekend. After a few months of travel, it’s the return from vacation for the players of the French champions on August 16, with the kick-off given during the meeting between Le Havre and Paris-Saint-Germain.

A first day that will conclude with the clash between Stade Rennais and Olympique Lyonnais at 8:45 p.m. on Thursday. Before embarking on this new season, here is a quick update on what you need to know about this new edition of Ligue 1 « McDonald’s ».

A new broadcaster in dance

After lengthy negotiations, Ligue 1 has found broadcasters on the wire, a month before the restart. French clubs are confident in their proposal concerning DAZN, a British platform launched in the sport in 2020, and beIN Sports, which has a Qatari cryptography already broadcasting many foreign championships since 2012. The latter legacy of the main poster of This day in Ligue 1, when DAZN broadcasts the hour of the weekend.

An alloy between the two plates that make the fact at 50 euros per month to have the possibility of watching the entry of Ligue 1. A summer plus a season that has passed, it is perhaps better for the clubs, and the TV is available for sale « Only » 500 million euros, far from the billion hoped for the Professional (Site notre blog d’information) League.

Seven French clubs in the European Cup

Paris Saint-Germain is, as usual, qualified for the Champions League in the Champions League, the capital club and this is accompanied by AS Monaco and the surprising Stade Brestois, and perhaps- It is the same thing as LOSC, during the course after the victory in March in the third round of the preliminary competition against Fenerbahçe. The three (or four) French clubs have discovered the new format of the competition, with these six-second matches and a single team of 36 teams. A new system also implemented in the Europa League, where France will be represented by OGC Nice and Olympique Lyonnais. In the European Conference League, the objective is to qualify for the qualification on the 22nd of the year in the play-offs (return on the 29th).

Three historic clubs return

A new club has discovered the French elite in this 2024-2025 season, with three historic clubs from the returning champions: Auxerre, Ligue 2 champion, Angers (second in Ligue 2) and Saint-Etienne, winner of its All-return play-off against Metz at the end of last season. Angers and AJA are doing the « elevator » by going back up to Ligue 1 only after being relegated.

The new faces of the elite

If the transfers are made at different times, they will be settled in the league and while waiting for the outcome of the television rights file, some clubs have proven to be particularly active. Accustomed to major changes every summer, Olympique de Marseille has once again shaken up its efficiency, by appointing the Italian coach Roberto de Zerbi as its head. After Lilian Brassier, the Marseille club welcomed Ismaël Koné, Mason Greenwood and Pierre-Emile Hojberg, all from the Premier League, as well as Elye Wahi, the hopeful from Lens.

Another Olympique team that has been very successful during the transfer window: Olympique Lyonnais. The Rhone club has a massive increase in options for its children arriving in the winter season: Saïd Benrahma, Mama Baldé, Orel Mangala, Ernest Nuamah, Duje Caleta-Car. Also included are the transfers of Moussa Niakhaté, Abner Vinicius and Georges Mikautadze. That is, in total, more than 134 million euros spent. PSG is, for its part, more discreet, with the Russian full-back Matvey Safonov, Willian Pacho and Joao Neves, coming from Benfica Lisbon.

PL 2023/24 Top Scorer

In addition to the usual high level of activity in the transfer market, Chelsea FC have secured another important personnel appointment. The Blues have signed Cole Palmer, the most valuable player in the 42-man squad with a market value of €80 million, to a long-term contract. The 22-year-old is now tied until 2033, two years longer than previously.

No other Chelsea professional has such a long working document, but these types of contracts are no exception. Enzo Fernandez even signed for nine and a half years until 2032, when he transferred 121 million in January 2023. Palmer is one of 17 players under contract until at least 2030.

Palmer, for whom Chelsea paid £39m from Manchester City last year, celebrated his breakthrough last season. While he did not go beyond the role of an extra player for the Skyblues, he was directly involved in 33 Premier League goals in 2023/24, a league-wide record. That was 25 goals and 15 assists in 45 games in all competitions.

Fenerbahçe-Lille, pre-match

Tonight at 7pm, LOSC will finish the job in Istanbul in order to validate its ticket for the play-offs of the
Champions LeagueIn the first leg, the Dogues managed to snatch victory (2-1) in injury time.

« We are halfway aheadnoted Bruno Génésio at the end of this meeting. On the other hand, the match is based on a great fight in an extraordinary atmosphere, almost already known. The game can be played on the field, in different directions. We have a goal in advance, we will see if that will be enough.

For this already crucial match, the new northern coach will have to do without the services of Umtiti, Bentaleb and Bouaddi. To get his revenge, Ismaily has returned to the group. In the opposing camp, José Mourinho will not be able to count on Fred.

Fenerbahçe-Lille, the probable lineups

Fenerbahce: Livakovic – Müldür, Söyüncü, Oosterwolde, Kadioglu – Szymanski, Yüksek – Kahveci, Tadic, Saint-Maximin – Dzeko.

Lille: Chevalier – Meunier, Diakité, Alexsandro – André, Gomes – Tiago Santos, Cabella, Haraldsson, Gudmundsson – David.

Fenerbahçe-Lille, how to watch the match?

The match between Fenerbahçe and Lille will be broadcast directly on RMC Sport’s Twitch channel, also on RMC Découverte, on March 13 at 7 p.m. You can also watch the coverage on BFM Grand Lille and BFM Grand Littoral.

“Images” Report

VfB Stuttgart spent 47.7 million euros on Deniz Undav (28) and Ermedin Demirovic (26) alone, without any possible bonuses – and apparently still want to strengthen their attack. As reported by « Bild », the Swabians are interested in two foreign players: Armando Broja (22) from Chelsea and Chuba Akpom (28) from Ajax. In both cases, VfB is likely to prefer a loan.

With a market value of €22 million, Broja is the more valuable of the two. The Englishman, who plays for the Albanian national team and took part in the European Championships in Germany, is back at Chelsea after his second-half loan at Fulham FC. However, he is among the candidates for sale there. The key thing is that after recovering from a torn cruciate ligament, the Blues and Cottagers have played 776 minutes spread over 27 appearances (two goals/one assist) throughout the season. Broja was also recently traded to VfL Wolfsburg. According to the report, VfB have made contact.

As for Akpom’s personality, VfB has had positive discussions with the player’s management. The former England U21 international is said to be able to imagine a transfer to Stuttgart. Only last year, he moved from Middlesbrough FC to Ajax for €12.3 million, for whom he played 39 games with 15 goals and three assists. His market value is €12 million.

VfB has already signed 13 new signings, including permanent signings Jamie Leweling, Anthony Rouault, Leonidas Stergiou and Undav. So far, spending amounts to €64 million against revenues of €65.7 million. In the Bundesliga, only FC Bayern (€142 million) has invested more; VfB is the leader in terms of revenues.