Sports Burst – Pepe’s Back Door Departure
Pepe’s less than fond farewell, Pique’s Madrid musings, and a new boss for Pulisic.
By Tim Stannard
1) Pepe leaves Real Madrid wanting more
Someone isn’t getting a nice, fancy send-off from Real Madrid.
Indeed, the farewell is set to be all very Iker Casillas – a party favor bag, a cupcake and a harsh shove out of the Bernabeu back door. That person is Pepe who has announced that he is leaving the Santiago Bernabeu after 10 fun-filled years of rage-filled tantrums and bouts of rather fine defending too.
The Portuguese Casquero-kicker wanted to extend his stay at the club past the termination of his current deal at the end of the month, requesting a year and an option for one more. But Madrid weren’t playing ball with the second half of his demand. That was version of events from Pepe anyway to Portuguese radio. “There are ways of talking and negotiating but the way Real Madrid went about it wasn't the right way to do things."
But do not fret, Pepe fans, the footballer will be landing on his stomping feet with the soon-to-be-ex Madrid man revealing that offers have been flooding in from teams including Inter, PSG and even some in England.
Tune into the XTRA from 7PM ET / 4PM for a cheery reflection on decade of Pepe at Real Madrid and all the top news from both Madrid and Barcelona.
2) More troll time with Pique in Madrid moan
Merciful Zeus, Sports Burst will forever be grateful for the concept of Gerard Pique, one of only about three footballers on the planet worth listening too, purely for the entertainment value.
Indeed, the column is praying for the day that the two coaches of Barcelona and Real Madrid are the Camp Nou titan of trolling and Guti, currently managing in Madrid’s youth system.
But anyway. Pique has spoken forth on what he thinks about Real Madrid’s La Liga and Champions League win and the notion from Cristiano Ronaldo that a new cycle at the Bernabeu has started. ‘Not so fast doll face’, says Pique who remembers the time that Madrid when on a bus parade simply for winning the Copa del Rey. “The day you see us on a victory parade for winning the Cup will be the day when you can say that Madrid are in a dominant period.”
Another fun conversation to be had on Tuesday with Sergio Ramos seeing as both footballers are now on Spain duty for a couple of games.
3) Arsenal in summer signing shock – a defender
TRANSFER TRACKER – Here we go again – Everton striker Romelu Lukaku knows what he wants to do this summer. But isn’t telling anyone else except his agent. Hector Bellerin’s head has been filled with talk of going to Barcelona. “I don't know anything at the moment. I'm an Arsenal player and we'll see what happens,” said the fullback. But while one defender might be leaving the Emirates, another could be coming in with the London club confirming the signing of Schalke leftback, Sead Kolasinac, who joins on a free transfer.
4) A new club coach for Christian Pulisic
It’s a fit that feels as snug and comforting as slipping a snow coat onto a Labrador puppy. The dashing and daring Borussia Dortmund have filled their managerial hole with the dashing and daring Peter Bosz, who took the dashing and daring Ajax to the Europa League final. The 53-year-old Dutchman had only been with the Eredivisie side for a single season, but the temptation to coming second to Bayern Munich for eternity is proving to much for the former player. It was a “good deal” claimed Ajax General Manager, Edwin van der Sar, with the German club buying the coach out of his Dutch deal which originally ran to 2019.
In other sneaky managerial news, former Roma boss, Luciano Spalletti, is off to China to seal the deal on becoming Inter’s new boss. "Everything is in place," claimed the veteran Italian boss. Actually, make that two bits of news. In a lovely piece of synergy, one of Inter’s many coaches last season has become Fiorentina manager – Mr Stefano Pioli – who played for the team 156 times. Tune into the XTRA every night for the latest news, views and made-up stuff on the Transfer Tracker. WHAT IS SPORTS BURST? The life philosophy of Sports Burst is that if you are not upsetting someone, then you are not trying hard enough. SB is a daily trawl and troll through the morning's sports news to bring you fact-nuggets to make you both smile and swear. Hopefully at the same time.