PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
EUROPE
CARLOS CORBERAN left the coaching staff at Leeds United to replace Danny Cowley at Championship club Huddersfield Town. Birmingham City appointed AITOR KARANKA as manager, former assistants DEAN HOLDEN and JASON TINDALL were promoted to head coach at Bristol City and Bournemouth respectively, while ex-Australia star HARRY KEWELL was appointed Oldham manager. Watford installed Serbian coach VLADIMIR IVIC as manager.
Monaco appointed ex-Bayern coach NIKO KOVAC after firing Robert Moreno.
EUSEBIO DI FRANCESCO took over at Roma following Walter Zenga’s exit.
Villarreal announced ex-Arsenal and Sevilla boss UNAI EMERY would take over from Javi Calleja. PABLO MACHIN was appointed Alaves coach, days after pulling out of a deal to join Chinese side Qingdao Huanghai, and Valencia hired ex-Watford manager JAVI GRACIA. ROBIN VAN PERSIE returned to Feyenoord to begin his coaching career.
DAVID SILVA signed for Real Sociedad having seemingly agreed
“I learn about David Silva’s transfer to Real Sociedad. I have great respect for the player, but not for the man”
Lazio sporting director Igli Tare
to join Lazio. Other notable free transfers included JOE HART joining Tottenham Hotspur, JAN VERTONGHEN to Benfica, WILLIAN to Arsenal, BURAK YILMAZ to Lille, and Champions League winner JON OBI MIKEL moving to Stoke City in the English Championship.
Talented Asian duo, Malaysia striker LUQMAN HAKIM and Iran goalkeeper ALIREZA BEIRANVAND, joined Belgian outfits Kortrijk and Antwerp respectively.
CONCACAF
Former APOEL and Leeds United manager THOMAS CHRISTIANSEN was appointed head coach of Panama’s national team.
ASIA
In South Korea, ex-Premier League players KI SUNG-YEUNG and MODOU BARROW joined Seoul FC and Jeonbuk Motors respectively.
JORDI CRUYFF was appointed coach of Chinese Super League outfit Shenzhen FC, just a month after leaving his post as Ecuador national team boss without managing a game.
EUROPE
Former Schalke and Lokomotiv Moscow defender BENEDIKT HOWEDES announced that he is retiring aged 32 for family reasons. Everton left-back
LEIGHTON BAINES, 35, also ended his career after 420 games for the Toffees.
Veteran Chile goalkeeper CLAUDIO BRAVO left Manchester City after his contract expired.
AFRICA
ARISTIDE BANCE, cult-hero of Burkina Faso, retired after a remarkable career involving 22 different clubs across Europe, Asia and Africa.
ASIA
LEE LIM-SAENG stepped down as Suwon Samsung Bluewings head coach after a disappointing start to the season, with boss CHOI YONG-SOO also departing from FC Seoul.
Ex-China goalkeeper YANG ZHI announced his retirement aged 37.
CONCACAF
Atlanta United and FRANK DE BOER parted ways after the club’s poor showing at the MLS Is Back Tournament.
“I love playing with this lot. We’ve got some special young players. I’m really happy to share the pitch with them. I joined when I was 17 and some of the lads are the same age… I can guide them”
Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho distances himself from a summer move