March 1 – Any slight chance the world’s most expensive player had of making his club’s most important game of the season has been ruled out with the news that Neymar will have surgery after suffering a fractured metatarsal and sprained ankle.
February 28 – The world’s most expensive player has suffered a damaging injury at the worst possible time. Neymar’s fractured metatarsal and sprained ankle is expected to keep him out of action for at least six weeks meaning he will miss Paris St Germain’s all-important upcoming Champions League last-16 second leg tie against Real Madrid.
February 28 – He may have successfully campaigned for the European Club Association, which he headed for nine years, to have a voice on UEFA’s decision-making executive committee but Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is annoyed at the decision not to use video assistance in next year’s Champions League.
February 28 – Internazionale have opened their eighth academy outside of Italy, the latest being in Beirut, Lebanon. Inter is working in partnership with Water Resources LTD Company and Sportomondo on the project in Lebanon.
February 27 – Chelsea’s Eden Hazard is the world’s leading dribbler of the ball so far this season, topping Neymar and Lionel Messi in an analysis of Europe’s Big 5 league players.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 27 – Gianni Infantino says he has had no second thoughts about using video assistant referees (VAR) at the World Cup despite a string of controversial incidents that have called into question how effective the system is.
February 20 – Five players at English clubs, two of them in the Championship, make the top 50 list of European U20 players with the best career prospects, according to a ranking compiled by the CIES Football Observatory.
February 16 – Scotland finally have a manager to succeed Gordon Strachan – very much a sense of déjà vu. Alex McLeish has agreed to take over for the second time – 11 years after leaving the post.
February 16 – Research by the CIES Football Observatory into the age ranges within clubs in 31 top division European leagues finds that the most competitive clubs are the ones with older squads.
February 14 – German giant Bayern Munich has formed a player development alliance with MLS side FC Dallas to provide a pathway for players in their professional academies inot the game in Germany and the US.
February 13 – Inter Milan have expanded their academy programme into Indonesia with the launch of Inter Academy Indonesia that will see Italian coaches working in partnership with PERSIB Bandung and its elite academy.
February 13 – In a rare intervention, UEFA have stepped in to order referees to provide greater protection to Europe’s top players during the knockout stages of the Champions League.
February 7 – Ronald Koeman, a legend in his playing days but whose two managerial spells in the English Premier League with Southampton and Everton ended with him being sacked, has taken over as head coach of his national team with a view to restoring credibility after the failure to qualify for the World Cup in Russia.
By Samindra Kunti
February 7 – The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has offered national team coach Stephen Constantine an extension of his contract up to the end of the 2019 Asian Cup. The Englishman qualified India for the continental championship, but within federation circles doubts rose about his suitability to take India forward.
February 6 – Brazil’s top division has rejected implementing video technology both because of cost and uncertainty over the system’s consistency.