MAIN EVENTS
MEGA TRANSFERS TO WATCH!
page 2 New Stars to watch see on page 9
“If you don’t believe you’re the favorite, you’ve already lost.”
EVENTS MAIN MAIN EVENTS
FEB
UEFA Knockout Stage Begins
Title races intensify across Europe’s top leagues. 02
UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Conference League return with knockout-round playoffs and Round of 16 matches.
MAR
International Break & World Cup Preparation
National teams gather for friendly matches and tactical camps ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026.
Final squad planning and international test matches take place worldwide. 03
04
APR
European Semi-Final Race
Domestic leagues enter the decisive closing phase.
UEFA club competitions reach quarter-finals and semi-final qualification rounds.
JAN
League Season Resumes & Winter Competitions. Major European leagues return after the winter break. Domestic cup rounds and international club competitions continue as teams begin the second half of the season.
MAY
Finals Season Across Europe
League champions are crowned in major competitions.
Domestic cup finals are played, followed by UEFA Europa League and UEFA Champions League finals. 05
JUN
FIFA World Cup 2026 Begins
The FIFA World Cup kicks off in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Teams compete in the group stage and opening knockout rounds of world football’s biggest tournament. 06
JUL
FIFA World Cup 2026 Final & New Season Preparation
The FIFA World Cup concludes with the final match in July.
Clubs begin pre-season training and summer transfer activity ahead of the 2026–27 campaign. 07
SPECIALNewsignings
TRANSFERS MEGA
Premier League clubs are in full negotiation mode with the January transfer window now into its final 10 days
Europe’s most lucrative league has splashed out obscene amounts of money in recent transfer windows. In the summer of 2023, Premier League teams spent a combined €2.84 billion (£2.44bn), which beat their previous record set in 2022.
In January 2023, English top-flight clubs spent more than double the rest of Europe’s top five leagues on its own. The January 2024 transfer window has not yet reached the insane levels from 2023, partly due to the concerns of Financial Fair Play, with Everton, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Man City among the clubs either charged or scrutinised for their spending.
Premier League have yet to reach triple figures in terms of spending. However, there is still plenty of activity, with clubs throughout the Premier League buying and selling and loaning players. The first confirmed transfer of January 2024 saw Brighton sign 18-year-old Romanian winger Adrian Mazilu from Farul Constanta for €3 million.
It was the end of an era at Tottenham as Hugo Lloris left the club after 11 years to join LAFC on a free transfer, while Eric Dier departed for Bayern on loan due to a lack of playing time.
On the incoming front, Spurs sealed the mega arrivals of Timo Werner on loan from RB Leipzig and Radu Dragusin from Genoa. Djed Spence went to Genoa on loan as part of the Dragusin deal.
Manchester United have been very busy in the outgoing loan market in January. They sent Jadon Sancho back to Borussia Dortmund until the end of the season, while Donny van de Beek has been loaned to Eintracht Frankfurt, Hannibal has joined Sevilla for the same time period, while Alvaro Carreras has been sent to Benfica. Facundo Pellistri is set to be offloaded on loan to Granada.
They also ended their loan of Sergio Reguilon from Tottenham six months early, with the Spaniard subsequently joining Brentford on loan.
Chelsea made their first signing of January by bringing in Dujuan Richards from Phoenix
All Stars Football Academy. In terms of outgoings, they sent Ian Maatsen to Borussia Dortmund and David Datro Fofana to Burnley, both on loan.
Meanwhile, Wolves shipped Fabio Silva to Rangers and Sasa Kalajdzic to Frankfurt on temporary deals, and Brighton loaned Jeremy Sarmiento to Ipswich Town. Man City’s first move of the window saw them sell Nahuel Ferraresi to Sao Paulo. They also sold Zack Steffen to Colorado Rapids and loaned Lewis Fiorini to Charlton Athletic. Kalvin Phillips is expected to leave City this month.
West Ham’s transfer business got underway with Thilo Kehrer’s loan to Monaco.
Done Deals for January 2024: Every Premier League club’s new signings
The 2023-24 January window opened its doors on Monday, 1 January 2024 and will close on Thursday, 1 February at 11pm GMT. Players out of contract in 2024 will also be able to negotiate summer transfers with foreign clubs once the January window opens.
LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER CITY
LATEST ON ALMIRON, TRIPPIER AND WILSON
Ben Jacobs has given a comprehensive update on the situation surrounding Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier.
He summarises that Newcastle are open to offers for Almiron, but as reported earlier, the Paraguayan has no desire to leave St James’ Park.
INTERESTED IN KIMMICH
Bayern Munich’s pursuit of Trippier appears to be over, while Wilson could still leave Tyneside this month.
LATEST ON ALMIRON, TRIPPIER AND WILSON
Ben Jacobs has given a comprehensive update on the situation surrounding Miguel Almiron, Callum Wilson and Kieran Trippier.
He summarises that Newcastle are open to offers for Almiron, but as reported earlier, the Paraguayan has no desire to leave St James’ Park.
Bayern Munich’s pursuit of Trippier appears to be over, while Wilson could still leave Tyneside this month.
Liverpool are reportedly facing a transfer battle with Manchester City to sign Bayern Munich mid elder Joshua Kimmich. The Premier League’s top two sides are interested in the German mid elder. The 28-year-old’s future at the Allianz Arena has come under scrutiny in recent weeks as manager Thomas Tuchel looks to strengthen his mid eld ranks.
VERMEEREN ARRIVES IN MADRID
Arthur Vermeeren has arrived in Madrid ahead of completing his move to Atletico Madrid, with the video courtesy of Belgian journalist David Van den Broeck.
The Belgium international looks set to join the La Liga side in a fee worth in the region of €22million plus add-ons, as reported by Fabrizio Romano.
KERR AGREES DEAL IN PRINCIPLE TO EXTEND CHELSEA CONTRACT
The Athletic’s Charlotte Harpur reports that Sam Kerr has agreed a deal in principle to extend her contract at Chelsea.
Her current deal expires this summer, but the Australia captain is widely expected to commit her future to The Blues. The 30-year-old is currently recovering from an ACL injury.
JOSHUA KIMMICH
JOSHUA KIMMICH HISTORY
Joshua Kimmich was born on 8 February 1995 in Rottweil and plays for FC Bayern München. He played for VfB Bösingen from 2006-2007, for VfB Stuttgart from 2007-2013, for RB Leipzig from 2013-2015 and has played for FC Bayern München since 2015.
CURRENT SEASON 2023/24
In the current season, the player with the shirt number 6 has scored one goal and takes ninth place within his squad. He shares this rank with Thomas Müller, Dayot Upamecano, Matthijs de Ligt and Minjae Kim. With three assists, Joshua Kimmich presently has the fourth-most in his team along with Kingsley Coman, Noussair Mazraoui and Alphonso Davies.
His pass success rate amounts to 90.81 per cent, with which the 28-year-old occupies fifth place in the team-internal statistics. His tackle success rate amounts to 53.33 per cent. With this, he occupies fourth place in the team-internal statistics.
Joshua Kimmich played his last game on the 13th matchday of the 2023/24 season (24 January 2024). He was victorious over 1. FC Union Berlin while playing for FC Bayern München with a score of 1-0. He played as a midfielder throughout this entire game. In terms of total touches, he had 124 individual ball possessions.
Furthermore, he had 12 tackle challenges in the last match. Of these, Joshua Kimmich was able to win nine. He was additionally able to make 97 successful passes.
During his total playing time in this game, he ran 12.6 km and thus covered a longer distance than all other players in the club. In doing so, Joshua Kimmich had a total of 17 sprints.
NEW STARS TO WATCH
All players must be 21 or under at the start of the year and will be hoping to emulate some of our previous picks in making a huge splash on the European stage – Erling Haaland (2019), Rafael Leão (2020), Jude Bellingham (2021) and Gavi (2022) to name but a few.
António Silva (POR, 20 – Benfica)
Broke into the Benfica side when 18 at the start of 2022/23 and the cultured centre-back has been first choice ever since. A tough defender capable of accurate passing across any distance, he became the youngest player ever to represent Portugal at the World Cup, aged 19 years 33 days.
Arnau Martínez (ESP, 20 – Girona)
The right-back spent several years in Barcelona’s La Masia academy but came of age when helping Girona reach the top flight in 2021/22. Capable of carrying the ball forward at pace and supplying incisive passes, the Under-21 international has been a star in Girona’s incredible start to this season.
Noah Atubolu (GER, 21 – Freiburg)
Freiburg placed their faith in the Germany U21 goalkeeper following the summer departure of Mark Flekken and Atubolu has
not hidden from the challenge, displaying the reactions and distribution that have drawn comparisons with a young Manuel Neuer.
Johan Bakayoko (BEL, 20 – PSV Eindhoven)
Started making an impact for PSV in early 2023 and ended his break-out season with seven goals and five assists. His pace and one-on-one ability make the traditional rightwinger a constant threat to defenders, and he made his international debut for Belgium in March.
Tommaso Baldanzi (ITA, 20 – Empoli)
The attacking midfielder has been at Empoli from the age of eight, while he has represented Italy at numerous age levels and reached the FIFA U-20 World Cup final in 2023, playing in all seven games. Blessed with excellent vision and flair, Baldanzi’s passing ability has shone for the Italian side in the past 18 months.
Roony Bardghji (SWE, 18 – Copenhagen)
The Kuwait-born forward has been eased into the first-team set-up since turning 16 and already has more than 50 appearances for the club.
MESSI’S PLANS
Lionel Messi is set for an eventful start to 2024 as his schedule with Inter Miami unfolds, featuring an array of international matches and crucial domestic competitions.
The journey commences with a preseason clash against the El Salvador national team on January 19 at the Cuscatlan Stadium in San Salvador. This fixture marks the beginning of Inter Miami’s preparations ahead of the exciting 2024 campaign. Following this, Messi embarks on a tour of Asia, encountering some emotional reunions and challenging matchups. On January 29, he face Al Hilal in Riyadh, reuniting with his close friend Neymar.
A subsequent meeting on February 1 sees Messi locking horns with Cristiano Ronaldo and Al Nassr, potentially marking the last showdown between the two football icons. Amidst these international engagements, Messi’s heartwarming return to the DRV-PNK Stadium on February 15 is a standout moment. Inter Miami square off against Newell’s Old Boys, the club of Messi’s youth, in a match that resonates globally.