Tag: Monaco

USMNT star Balogun says Henry influenced his decision to join Monaco

The 22-year-old striker left Arsenal to join the Ligue 1 side in a reported €40 million deal

Folarin Balogun has said France legend Thierry Henry helped convince him to choose Monaco as his new club.

Balogun completed a transfer to the Ligue 1 side on Wednesday, joining in a reported €40 million move from Arsenal.

The U.S. national team striker starred on loan with Reims last season, scoring 21 goals in Ligue 1 to send his transfer stock soaring.

Speaking at his introductory press conference on Thursday, Balogun said he had been in touch with Henry, who began his professional career with Monaco before eventually becoming a legendary figure at Arsenal.

“When I played against Monaco with Stade de Reims last season, he sent me a message to congratulate me on my goal,” Balogun said of Henry.

“He was just telling me about the the club, the history, he also said the city is very nice. That put the thought in my mind, and over time it became more clear that this is the next step for me and the step I wanted to make.

“Yesterday, after my signature, he congratulated me again, I am very happy to have his encouragement.”

Unlike Henry, Balogun did not get the chance to establish himself as a regular during his time with the Gunners. The 22-year-old played just 10 games with Arsenal, and took in a loan spell at Middlesbrough before his time at Reims.

Balogun said that despite his lack of opportunities with his boyhood club, he left Arsenal without any hard feelings.

“As a young player, I want to play,” he said. “I want to prove what I’m capable of. What’s done is done. You don’t always get the opportunity. Sometimes that opens door to new opportunities. I am happy with the way things turned out. I wish Arsenal all the best for the season. We’re looking to achieve great things at Monaco this season.”

Balogun could make his debut for Monaco on Saturday in a league match against Lens.

[lawrence-related id=22511,27083,26732]

USMNT’s Balogun departs Arsenal, joins Monaco in €40m-plus transfer

It’s good bye Arsenal, bonjour Monaco for Balogun

U.S. men’s national team striker Folarin Balogun is heading back to France.

The 22-year-old has sealed a move to Monaco, with the Ligue 1 club confirming a permanent transfer for the (now former) Arsenal forward on Wednesday. Terms were not announced, but reports have valued the deal as somewhere north of €40 million.

A report from Fabrizio Romano on Wednesday said that Arsenal will maintain a sell-on clause for the USMNT man for nearly 20% of a future sale.

“I think it’s a fabulous move for him,” USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter told reporters on Wednesday. “He’s familiar with the French league. He’s already performed at a really high level with a French team and now he’s going to a bigger club in the French league. I think it’s a really strong move.

“We expect him to be able to score goals, continue to score goals, like he’s done. Having met him and spoke to him, he’s a really humble guy who’s focused on the process and and continuing to improve, and he sees this as the next step for him on his way as he climbs the ladder in European soccer.”

Balogun’s return to Ligue 1 looks like very good news for him and the USMNT, and very bad news for teams in France not named AS Monaco, who overcame strong interest from Inter.

Last season, Arsenal sent Balogun out on loan to an unfancied Reims side due to a backlog of strikers in north London. Balogun responded with 22 goals in 39 appearances, including over 46% of the team’s 45 league goals. Balogun finished the season in fifth in the Ligue 1 goalscoring table.

Balogun won’t just walk into the team once he arrives at Stade Louis-II. Manager Adi Hütter has so far played out of a 3-4-2-1 formation this season, and Monaco’s lone striker has been its captain, Wissam Ben Yedder.

The 32-year-old has four goals in three games thus far in Monaco’s 2023-24 campaign, scoring at least once in all three of the club’s Ligue 1 matches. Furthermore, Monaco’s attack is firing on all cylinders at the moment, producing at least three goals in each of those games.

Ben Yedder can play underneath a striker as well. With Switzerland target man Breel Embolo going down with an ACL injury early in the club’s preseason, the big transfer fee is a clear statement that Monaco will be expecting Balogun to deliver the goods.

[lawrence-related id=25143,24074,23368]

Jesse Marsch reportedly in the mix at Monaco and Celtic

Marsch has been unemployed since leaving Leeds in February

If the U.S. men’s national team intends to make Jesse Marsch its new head coach, it may want to get moving.

As the European season comes to a close and teams begin to plan for 2023-24, Marsch has appeared on the radar of at least two big clubs.

Monaco has sacked Philippe Clement after a disappointing campaign in which the Ligue 1 club missed out on Europe entirely. According to multiple reports, Marsch is one of the top candidates to take over at Stade Louis II.

Meanwhile in Scotland, treble-winning Celtic is on the lookout for a new manager after Ange Postecoglou moved on to Tottenham. Marsch is among the top contenders to succeed the Australian, according to Sky Sports.

This presents something of a conundrum for U.S. Soccer, which is methodically conducting a search for its USMNT head coach.

Marsch is considered one of the top candidates for the job, which is now being filled by B.J. Callaghan — the second interim head coach the team has had in 2023.

Callaghan will be in charge for both of the USMNT’s summer tournaments, the Nations League and Gold Cup, which will see him in his position through July at least.

U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker will oversee the coaching search and although he’s said the federation has already spoken to some candidates, he won’t even start his full-time role until August.

Should U.S. Soccer wait until the end of the summer, some names on its list will surely be unavailable. Marsch, who has been unemployed since leaving Leeds in February, looks like he could be one of them.

[lawrence-related id=19833,17087,20682]

Cassidy triumphs in Monaco to take Formula E championship lead

Nick Cassidy fired to the top of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with a storming drive from ninth on the grid to win the race in an absorbing 2023 Monaco E-Prix. Cassidy led home Mitch Evans, having fended off his countryman until a …

Nick Cassidy fired to the top of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship with a storming drive from ninth on the grid to win the race in an absorbing 2023 Monaco E-Prix.

Cassidy led home Mitch Evans, having fended off his countryman until a late-race safety car made the win certain.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1394]

The 150mph game of chess ebbed and flowed as leaders vied for control and to set the pace but Cassidy’s decisive early-race moves yielded the ultimate result. Once his engineer gave the green light for a six-lap sprint finish, Cassidy didn’t look back – despite the close attention of Evans’ factory Jaguar.

“It’s insane, I’ve got nothing against Berlin – but this feels amazing! This is so, so special. I’m lost for words,” said Cassidy. “It is going to take a bit to sink in, man we had such a tough day, I was 21st I think in both Free Practices which struck me a lot. I qualified 10th and I was really happy with that, so that was kind of how our day was going. Credit to our guys, both car crews and everyone in our garage helped out with the issues. I am so happy we got the reward after the work.

“There is a long way to go, this guy right here Mitch (Evans) he showed today how bloody strong he is. It is going to be a really cool fight, but for the moment let’s just enjoy the fact we won in Monaco.”

Evans had himself clambered from sixth on the grid to second at the chequered flag and was within touching distance of the Envision right up to the safety car three laps from the race finish. That New Zealand one-two made it four wins in succession, a new Formula E record for a single nation.

The Formula E field navigates the famous Grand Hotel Hairpin. Sam Bagnall/Motorsport Images)

Jake Dennis couldn’t quite live with the lead pair but he had torn through from 11th on the grid to make the final step on the podium.

Sacha Fenestraz , who thought he had sealed pole position only for a post-session penalty to hand that honour to Jake Hughes, steered home to fourth, unable to compete with the lead trio’s benchmark combination of speed and efficiency. Hughes followed him across the line, with Dan Ticktum hanging on for sixth position despite a couple of late-race scrapes and some damage to his car.

Long-time Drivers’ standings leader Pascal Wehrlein could only improve to 11th from starting 12th on the grid, which resulted in both the driver and his TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team losing their grip on their respective championships.

Fellow title contender Jean-Éric Vergne recovered to seventh from the very back of the grid after DS PENSKE’s tyre pressure infringements saw them disqualified from qualifying. The 15-position overtaking masterclass earned Vergne the inaugural ABB Driver of Progress race award, honouring intelligent, efficient driving resulting in the most places gained in a race.

Reigning world champion and DS PENSKE teammate Stoffel Vandoorne was also able to climb to the points with ninth place.

Cassidy’s 121 pts moves him ahead of Wehrlein on 100 pts in the Drivers’ table with Jake Dennis now third on 96 pts and Evans just behind on 94 pts. Vergne leaves Monaco fifth in the running.

Envision Racing now leap to the top of the Teams’ standings on 182 points, 14 points ahead of TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team on 168 points, while Jaguar TCS Racing sits third on 157 points.

Source: Monaco and Benfica leading race for USMNT prospect Josh Wynder

The 17-year-old appears set for a move sooner rather than later

Josh Wynder could be on the move soon, as the race for one of the top prospects in the United States heats up.

Benfica, Monaco and Red Bull Salzburg have made offers for the 17-year-old Louisville City FC central defender, a source close to the situation tells Pro Soccer Wire.

According to the source, Benfica and Monaco are leading the chase to capture the teenager on a permanent move. It is believed it will take a fee of roughly $1.5 million to land Wynder, which would be a record for a USL club.

Wynder started 21 games in the USL Championship in 2022, an impressive feat for a player who only turned 17 midway through the season. The U.S. Under-19 defender’s exploits last year earned him a nomination for U.S. Soccer Young Male Player of the Year.

He is positionally very solid and passes well between the lines. As he showed this week in preseason, he can also strike a ball from distance pretty well.

Wynder signed a new contract with Louisville City earlier this month and though the deal is through 2025, there were plenty of indications he would not be staying for nearly that long.

“For me to make whatever my next step is, I think it will shine a light on Louisville and make people see the USL Championship is a great league and this is a great club,” Wynder said in a release.

Were Salzburg to win out for the player, the source indicated that Wynder could be loaned out to sister club New York Red Bulls for the 2023 season. That would be an intriguing move for the MLS club, who certainly need center back depth.

It appears that a decision by Wynder, who turns 18 years old in May, could be coming as early as next week.

[lawrence-related id=14072,13929,13764]

Hughie Fury off Alexander Besputin-Radzhab Butaev card because of illness

Hughie Fury, hoping to bounce back from a loss to Alexander Povetkin, pulled out of Saturday’s fight against Pavel Sour because of illness.

Heavyweight Hughie Fury is off the Alexander Besputin-Radzhab Butaev card Saturday in Moncao because of illness, Matchroom Boxing has announced.

Fury, coming off a unanimous-decision loss to Alexander Povetkin in August, was scheduled to fight Pavel Sour on DAZN.

“Due to a virus Hughie Fury has unfortunately had to pull out of his fight tonight in Monaco,” Matchroom said in a prepared statement.

Fury (23-3, 13 knockouts) is 3-3 in his last six fights, with losses against Joseph Parker, Kubrat Pulev and Povetkin.

Besputin (13-0, 9 KOs) and Butaev (12-0, 9 KOs) meet in a 12-round battle of welterweight contenders.

Also on the card, Cecilia Braekhus (35-0, 9 KOs) defends her welterweight titles against Victoria Bustos (19-5, 0 KOs).