IFFHS NEWS AND STATISTICS OF THE WEEK 37
Picture : Alex Morgan signed in Tottenham until end of the year.
RECORD
For the beginning of the Premier League new season in England, Mohamed Salah scored three goals and became the first player in the PL History to score in each first match of four consecutive seasons !
His fourth Hat trick of his career (one with AS Roma against Bologna on November 6, 2016 ; three with FC Liverpool against Watford (4 goals) on March 17 2018 ; aganst Bournemouth on December 8, 2018 and yesterday against Leeds) made him totalize 113 goals in 203 games.
ALEX MORGAN WITH TOTTENHAM !
Tottenham Hotspur have sensationally secured the signing of United States women’s soccer star Alex Morgan on loan until the end of the year. A host of the Women’s Soccer League’s biggest stars have already moved to England to take part in the WSL with coronavirus having effectively shut down competition in the States. World Cup winners Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle have already joined Manchester City, while Christen Press and Tobin Heath signed deals with Manchester United.
Now Tottenham – who only played in the WSL for the first time last season after winning promotion – have got in on the act ,they have landed Morgan on loan in a remarkable coup.
The 31-year-old, who gave birth to her first child in May, is arguably the biggest name in women’s soccer and finished joint top scorer at the last World Cup alongside teammate Megan Rapinoe and England’s Ellen White. That victory was her second World Cup win and since 2018 she has co-captained the US team alongside Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd, scoring an astonishing 107 goals in 169 games for the national team.
Morgan is looking for regular game time after her current club in the US, Orland Pride, withdrew from the NWSL Challenge Cup due to a number of positive coronavirus tests. Pride therefore only have four upcoming games in the NWSL Fall Series as a result, while Spurs have a full calendar of fixtures in the WSL to contend with, and the loan spell in north London provides the perfect opportunity to get more games having only played twice since the 2019 World Cup.
Tottenham and Orlando already have a good relationship, with Morgan’s Pride teammates Shelina Zadorsky and Alanna Kennedy having joined the club last month. The signing of Morgan, who has a mammoth 9.1million followers on Instagram and according to Time magazine is the top-paid women’s soccer play on the planet due to a string of endorsement deals, represents a significant step for Tottenham as they look to develop their women’s team.
It is not Morgan’s first spell in Europe: the 31-year-old spent a year at Lyon in 2017, picking up a league title, the French Cup and a Champions League winner’s medal in the process. She also won Olympic gold at the London 2012 Olympics, scoring the extra-time winner against Canada in the semi-final. Morgan and her fellow forward Megan Rapinoe became the first women to sign up to the Common Goal campaign, in which footballers donate 1% of their salaries to footballing charities. She also co-captains the USA team with Rapinoe and the former Manchester City striker Carli Lloyd.
TRANSFERS
Aleksander Kolarov from AS Roma (Italy) to Inter Milan
Rachel Daly loaned from Houston Dash (USA) to West Ham (England)
Patrick Schick from AS Roma (Italy) to Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
Denise O'Sullivan from NCC Courage (USA) to Brighton (England)