It’s been quiet out there in Arsenal land all week, so here is a quick round-up of some wider football stories you might have missed but which caught my eye this morning.
1Nicklas Bendtner go straight to jail
Nicklas Bendtner will now serve 50 days in jail after he dropped his appeal against his conviction for assaulting a taxi driver. Bendtner maintains he acted in self-defence.
Rosenborg, who have pledged to stand by him, said: “Nicklas has regretted the incident and he is taking his sentence. If we make mistakes, it is important that we take responsibility for our actions.”
2Liverpool Barcelona premium
It has been revealed that Liverpool had an agreement that Barcelona would pay £100m above the market rate for any Liverpool players they tried to buy before 2020.
The agreement was reached after Barca lured Philippe Coutinho to Spain.
My knee-jerk reaction was to wonder why Arsenal never came to any such agreement, and then I remembered that sort of deal would have stopped Barca buying Thomas Vermaelen (£15m) and Alex Song (£15m).
3FIFA Ethics judge arrested
Sundra Rajoo, a FIFA ethics committee judge, has been arrested on suspicion of corruption.
4Daily Mail LGBTQ+ hypocrisy
The Daily Mail are continuing to wage war on the PFA and Gordon Taylor and as part of their campaign to get him to resign or be sacked, they have used the above piece to attack both the man and the organisation.
I have no love for Taylor and I’m sure his position should have been questioned long ago, but it sticks in my throat when I see a homophobic rag like the Daily Mail turn to the ‘defence’ of LGBTQ+ people in order to further their own agenda.
Make no mistake, they would quite happily attack LGBTQ+ people if they thought that was the best way to put more pressure on Taylor & co.
5Jordan Nobbs heartbreak
Jordan Nobb’s has broken her silence over her ACL injury that ended her season, admitting she is ‘heartbroken’.
I am heartbroken right now… but I can’t thank the whole football world enough for their support and messages…I have been truly overwhelmed ❤️ #footballfamily pic.twitter.com/L3dSGN9dUP
— Jordan Nobbs (@JordanNobbs8) November 20, 2018
6No Premier League Brexit cap
The Premier League will not introduce any more limits on the number of foreign players allowed at Premier League clubs and the FA will have no choice but to let them do what they want.