Premier League
JOSE MOURINHO AND DAVID MOYES STEP IN AS FOOD DELIVERY MEN DURING CORONAVIRUS SHUTDOWN
With the English Premier League on indefinite hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic, players and staff alike have opted to spend their free time in different ways.
Some, like Tottenham forward Harry Kane, have used the enforced break to outline their career goals, while others, like striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal, have used Instagram Live to connect with fans.
Spurs manager Jose Mourinho and his West Ham counterpart David Moyes have, however, decided to go the extra mile by becoming volunteer delivery drivers to help those in need of supplies amid the nationwide lockdown.
Earlier this month, the Portuguese coach and several of his players were criticised for flouting safe distancing rules by training together in a London park.
But Mourinho has apologised for that error of judgment and will be going one step further to aid the local community during the crisis.
The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is not only acting as a Covid-19 testing site for essential front-line workers from the National Health Service, but is also doubling up as a food distribution hub for the needy.
Spurs have a garden at their Enfield training ground that grows fresh fruit and vegetables for their restaurant, which caters to the first team.
But with all restaurants closed for dine-in patrons, the club have come up with an innovative way to divert those resources to the most vulnerable.
In a video posted on Spurs’ Twitter account on Thursday (April 23) night, Mourinho, who was pictured standing in front of the garden, said: “Now this food is being taken to our food distribution hub at the stadium so it can be given to those most in need in the community.
“From next week, I will be volunteering my time to help out in the garden and take this food to the stadium.”
Like Mourinho, Moyes has also been helping to bring food to elderly residents in the Lancashire seaside village where he resides when he is not managing the London-based Hammers.
The Scot told the club website on Thursday: “When the virus first started out, I was in a fruit and veg shop in the village here.
“The shop was asking for drivers to deliver fruit and veg, so I became a driver for the fruit and veg shop to deliver the fruit and veg to all the people in the neighbourhood.”
-The Strait Times
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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