Football Culture

🚨 Does FFP actually protect the big clubs?

- Chelsea fined £10m for 74 breaches, zero points deducted
- Everton docked 10 points for a breach a third of that size
- Forest lost 4 points for a £34.5m breach, appeal rejected
- Man City's 115 charges have sat unresolved for 3.5 years
- City already beat a UEFA ban on appeal back in 2020
- Villa sold their women's team for £55m just to stay legal
- Villa still fined ~£20m by UEFA over that same deal
- Newcastle sold Minteh, Anderson, Isak, Tonali to stay compliant
- Howe admitted PSR, not football, drove some of those sales
- Smaller ambitious clubs losing players while big clubs stall
- Is FFP just protecting whoever can afford the longest fight?

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🚨 Milan's Alphadjo Cisse names Mario Balotelli as his Italy role model after first senior call-up

- Milan forward Alphadjo Cisse says Mario Balotelli is "without a doubt" his role model as an Italy player
- He has received his first senior Italy call-up, alongside former Catanzaro teammate Mattia Liberali
- Cisse is currently the top-scoring Italian at club level, with eight goals in all competitions for Milan
- He missed several months through injury while on loan at Catanzaro last season
- Asked which Milan teammate has impressed him most, he said: "Luka [Modric] would be too obvious, so I'll say Mario [Gila]"
- He credited Alberto Aquilani, recently sacked by Sassuolo, for giving him "great confidence" and backed him to have a great coaching career
- He said he can play in any attacking position
- He said: "I like pressure; it motivates me to do better"
- He could make his Italy debut against France at San Siro on Thursday
- He said a debut at San Siro, where he recently scored his first goals for Milan, would be "even more special"

🚨 Jordi Cruyff hints at quiet January for Ajax after Marc-Andre ter Stegen coup

- Ajax technical director Jordi Cruyff says he is delighted with the club's summer transfer window
- He was particularly pleased with the loan signing of Marc-Andre ter Stegen from Barcelona
- Ter Stegen reportedly turned down several other offers to join Ajax
- Cruyff said: "Ter Stegen can play wherever he wants, yet he has the drive to come and play for Ajax"
- On January plans, he joked: "The more I say, the more expensive the players become"
- He added: "It won't be as busy as the summer, but perhaps we'll do one little thing. If we sell someone, we'll have to act too"
- Ajax are third in the Eredivisie, level on points with Feyenoord and one point behind leaders PSV

🚨 Rizespor target Azerbaijan Premier League top scorer Joy-Lance Mickels

- Turkish Super Lig side Rizespor are interested in Sabah striker Joy-Lance Mickels
- Rizespor will first look at the terms of his contract before deciding whether to make an official offer
- The 32-year-old Rwanda international is under contract with Sabah until the summer of 2028
- He was the Azerbaijan Premier League's top scorer last season with 19 goals in 25 games
- His goals helped Sabah win their first-ever Azerbaijani title
- A return to former club Borussia Monchengladbach had previously been suggested, but nothing came of it

🚨 Kris Boyd wants 'ruthless killers' in Rangers attack as he backs them in title race

- Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd wants the club's forwards to develop a "ruthless" streak in front of goal
- Ryan Naderi has nine goals this season, including a penalty in Saturday's 2-0 win over St Mirren
- Kevin Kelsy has scored five goals in 10 appearances
- Attacking midfielder Kim Min-su has yet to score, while winger Badredine Bouanani has one goal
- Boyd said Rangers "could quite easily have won by four or five" against St Mirren
- He added: "I don't see that ruthless killer at the top end of the pitch that is obsessed with scoring goals"
- Strikers Youssef Chermiti and Lawrence Shankland are both currently injured
- Rangers are four points behind Premiership leaders Celtic with a game in hand
- Boyd believes Rangers are "the team in the ascendancy", while Celtic feel like there is "a crisis around the corner"