July 14, 2022
The brief from today:
Teams vie for AFCON success and World Cup spots
The Women’s AFCON is winding down, and with that, not only will the eventual victor be declared, but also which teams will qualify for next year’s Women’s World Cup. The top four finishers in the continental competition will be able to book automatic places in the World Cup next year. Yesterday, hosts, Morocco, beat Botswana 2-1 to earn one of the four spots—their first World Cup appearance—and Zambia will also join them as debutants after winning their quarterfinal match against Senegal. Today, Nigeria beat Cameroon 1-0, and maintained their streak of appearing at all the Women’s World Cups thus far. The final spot will be decided when South Africa and Tunisia try to outdo one another in the last quarterfinal. So while World Cup qualification is a motivator, the task at hand of winning the AFCON still remains for each of these sides.
Pressure mounts on de Jong
Barcelona midfielder, Frenkie de Jong, is being pressured by the club to accept a transfer to Manchester United. His former Ajax manager, Erik ten Hag, recently took the same position at United, and a lot of parties expected their reunion to be a formality if a suitable offer was made to Barcelona. Well, that offer has been made: a potential €85 million including add-ons, and Barca are desperate to close the deal. The only catch is de Jong is still under contract until 2026, and owed approximately €88.7 million in that timeframe. United can likely offer him a substantial salary as well, but they can’t provide Champions League football next season, something de Jong is intent on. As a result of this, there is an impasse as even though Barcelona are satisfied with the transfer fee, personal terms haven’t been agreed between the player and United. With the Dutchman’s salary still on the books, the La Liga side are still in breach of the league’s financial fair play policy, and are not able to register new signings Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen. They have now been rumored to be insisting de Jong accept the offer. Obviously the player still has leverage due to his contract, but the club have other means they can use that wouldn’t necessarily be in breach of contract. For instance, while unconfirmed, Barca are said to be considering leaving him out of their upcoming North America exhibition tour. Meanwhile, de Jong’s jersey number is suspected to no longer be his. Teammate, Ferran Torres updated his Instagram profile including a “#FT21”, de Jong’s number, in his personal details despite his official jersey number being 19. The club haven’t announced anything official on that front, but it is curious timing to say the least. Time will tell whether player power, or club power, will surpass the other.
Will de Jong or Barcelona get the final say?