Iván Márquez returns to the Eredivisie to sign with Fortuna Sittard
'I'm really looking forward to this new chapter in my career,' Márquez said on the club website. 'Through my years at NEC Nijmegen, I got to know the Netherlands well. That period made my family and I feel truly at home here. It feels good to stay in the Netherlands for the next few seasons, at a great club like Fortuna Sittard.'
The Spaniard started his career in the youth academy of Málaga and played in Spain for UD San Padro, El Palo, Atlético Madrileño, Osasuna B, Valencia B and then went on an adventure in Poland with Korona Kielce and Cracovia.
After a strong first period in Nijmegen, Márquez left for FC Nürnberg in the summer of 2023, only to return to NEC on loan last season, for which he played a total of 98 matches.
GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield
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CBS News
a few seconds ago
- CBS News
Son Heung-min signs with MLS' Los Angeles FC after a decade at Tottenham
Son Heung-min agreed to a contract with Los Angeles FC on Tuesday, finalizing his move to Major League Soccer after a decade at Tottenham Hotspur. The 33-year-old South Korean superstar forward is joining LAFC three days after he formally announced his decision to leave Tottenham. Son attended LAFC's Leagues Cup match against Tigres at BMO Stadium on Tuesday night, watching from a luxury suite. LAFC will formally introduce Son at a news conference Wednesday. LAFC, a deep-pocketed club with significant team success in its first eight seasons of existence, reportedly paid a transfer fee of more than $20 million, which could end up being the most ever for an MLS move. Son was a beloved presence at Spurs, scoring 173 goals in 454 competitive appearances for the North London club while rising to global prominence with his combination of speed, playmaking skill and finishing acumen. The captain was given a memorable farewell last week in Seoul during Tottenham's exhibition match against Newcastle, getting a guard of honor from both teams and tearfully exiting in the second half while nearly 65,000 fans roared. But South Korea's most popular athlete — and almost certainly the greatest Asian soccer player in history — has chosen an auspicious stage for the next chapter of his groundbreaking career. Los Angeles has the world's largest ethnic Korean population outside Korea, with the city's vibrant Koreatown district sitting just a couple of miles from LAFC's BMO Stadium. LAFC is undoubtedly hoping to market Son as a soccer counterpart to the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, albeit on a smaller scale. Ohtani, the three-time MLB MVP from Japan who is on a trajectory to become the greatest Asian player in baseball history, draws fans from across the Pacific Rim to Dodger Stadium while attracting millions in sponsorships and partnerships for the Dodgers. Son's move to California also puts him in position to make an impact on and off the field at the World Cup, which will be held across North America in 2026. Son, the captain of his national team, already has said he will play in his fourth World Cup. After leading Tottenham to its first European trophy in decades by winning the Europa League in May in a fitting cap to his English career, Son will go straight into the MLS Cup race when suits up for his new club. LAFC currently sits sixth in the Western Conference at 10-6-6, but with multiple games in hand on every team in front of it because of its participation in the Club World Cup. Son's seven Premier League goals last season were his fewest since his Tottenham debut, but he still appears to have the pace and skill necessary to be a difference-maker at any level. He also turned 33 only a month ago, putting him on the younger end of the global stars recently arriving in MLS. Lionel Messi and Marco Reus were 35 and Luis Suárez was 37 when they went stateside in recent years, while Olivier Giroud and Lloris were both 37 when they joined LAFC last year. Son also will be reunited with longtime Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris, who has been outstanding since becoming LAFC's goalkeeper last season. High-scoring French forward Denis Bouanga is the only designated player currently under contract for LAFC, and general manager John Thorrington has been criticized by some fans for not using the full power of his financial resources this season. LAFC spent months on an ultimately failed attempt to get France's Antoine Griezmann to leave Atlético Madrid. Son seems to be a much better fit for LAFC than Giroud, who moved to Lille last month after one disappointing year in California. LAFC plays a counterattacking, speed-based style that didn't suit Giroud's goal-scoring strengths, while Son theoretically should be right at home in such a system. But LAFC also could alter its style in the winter after coach Steve Cherundolo departs for Germany following four largely successful seasons highlighted by an MLS Cup championship.
New York Times
a few seconds ago
- New York Times
Inside Tottenham's pre-season tour: Torrential rain, minimal downtime and a replica trophy
The final day of Tottenham Hotspur's pre-season tour to Hong Kong and South Korea turned out to be its most eventful. After spending '10 beautiful years' with Spurs, Son Heung-min made what's expected to be his final appearance for them in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Son was given a guard of honour by his team-mates and tears flowed down his cheeks — it felt like the perfect goodbye to a club legend. Advertisement The mood was slightly darkened, though, by the right knee injury James Maddison suffered less than 10 minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute. Maddison was taken from the pitch by stretcher and later left the stadium on crutches. The England midfielder has only just recovered from damaging that same knee in May's Europa League semi-final against Bodo/Glimt. It was an unfortunate ending to what was a productive trip for the squad and new head coach Thomas Frank. Spurs played two friendlies with two entirely different starting XIs against two League One sides on Saturday, July 26, the first against Wycombe Wanderers at Hotspur Way, the second at Luton Town a few hours later. The first-team squad flew out the next day, briefly stopping in Azerbaijan to refuel, before arriving in Hong Kong on the Monday. They were greeted by a large group of fans at the five-star Kerry Hotel, which offers an impressive view of the 552m (1,811ft) Victoria Peak… provided Hong Kong's tallest hill is not shrouded in fog. After their long flight, a group of players, including Maddison, Dominic Solanke and Lucas Bergvall, headed straight for the outdoor swimming pool. Table tennis, pool and foosball tables were set up on the ground floor to help the squad relax. Pedro Porro has a pool table at home and challenged several team-mates and members of Spurs' staff to a game during their stay. Tottenham bought a replica of the Europa League trophy they won in May on tour with them. It was on display between two of the meeting rooms at the hotel, and there were often plates of food provided for the team on nearby tables. Some of the players, including Micky van de Ven, could not resist lifting it again, as they'd done that night in Bilbao, when they grabbed a quick snack. Chairman Daniel Levy, new chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham, sporting director Johan Lange and board member Donna-Maria Cullen flew out for the entire tour. It was announced in June that Cullen is stepping down from her role, but she does not officially leave until the end of August. Advertisement There was a plush lounge on the eighth floor of the hotel where Levy, Lange, Venkatesham and Frank held squad-planning meetings over breakfasts of croissants and fruit. Frank and Lange, Danish countrymen who first worked with each other 20 years ago at Copenhagen-based second-division club B.93, often went on walks together, too. There was a torrential downpour in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning, but Spurs trained that evening under the roof at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. It was an opportunity for fans to get an early glimpse of Frank's tactical plans, having moved across London from fellow Premier League side Brentford to replace Ange Postecoglou. They were probably left underwhelmed by an in-house practice match which finished goalless. The players then started working on penalties and the first three takers, Maddison, Porro and Brennan Johnson, all missed, before Cristian Romero scored. Cameron Campbell has been appointed to the newly created role of individual development (IDP) coach and during the above, he took Yang Min-hyeok and Will Lankshear to the other end of the pitch, where they went through crossing and shooting drills. Campbell has been encouraging the 6ft 2in (188cm) Lankshear to improve his heading. Lankshear, 20, joined Oxford United of the second-tier Championship on a season-long loan after Spurs returned to the UK, and Yang, 19, might benefit from a temporary move in this window too, but their training exercise offered an insight into how the new-look coaching dynamic operates. Head of athletic performance Chris Haslam oversees the warm-up before Matt Wells and Justin Cochrane run the players through game-like scenarios. Frank watches and occasionally intervenes to offer advice. The 1-0 win over north London rivals Arsenal in Hong Kong on Thursday might seem insignificant to some, but it was Tottenham's first serious test of this pre-season. Frank's side looked compact on the pitch, and did not panic as Arsenal bombarded them with corners. The 51-year-old thought it was an important psychological victory because 'positive results and performances reinforce the messages we are trying to get into the players'. Spurs flew on to Seoul on Friday, landing in the afternoon — Levy, Lange and Cullen arrived, on a commercial flight, a couple of hours before the players. Around 500 fans were waiting to greet the squad at Incheon International Airport and one ran up to Wales international Johnson waving the Welsh flag. Another burst into tears after presenting Maddison with a framed piece of artwork. Advertisement That evening, negotiations were taking place with Los Angeles FC of MLS over the sale of Son. The South Korea international informed Frank earlier this summer that he wanted to leave the club. Frank maintained a neutral stance on Son's future in the public but privately offered his support, which the forward appreciated. Spurs had not yet reached an agreement with LAFC but Son decided to publicly announce his desire for a new challenge. He had only confided this to a few of his team-mates before he told the rest of them on Saturday morning, ahead of an emotional press conference in Seoul. Spurs headed to the Anyang Sports Complex, just south of Seoul, for another open training session, which started at 6pm and was attended by 8,000 fans despite a late change of venue. There was a joyous atmosphere, as everyone wanted to celebrate Son. Mixed martial artist Choi Hong-man was in attendance. Standing 7ft 2in (218cm), he scooped up Son in his arms and carried him like a newborn child before posing for pictures with other players and members of club staff. During the session, Cochrane and Wells ran a possession drill in a tightly-spaced box marked out on the pitch. The sunshine was scorching hot but the pair kept pushing the players to maintain a high tempo. A separate group, which included Romero, Djed Spence and Richarlison, enjoyed the far more leisurely activity of head tennis with set-piece coach Andreas Georgson. Solanke followed his own individual training programme and has not featured at all in pre-season due to an ankle injury. 🎾 Group of Spurs players competing against each other in football tennis while the others take part in a intense possession drill in the sun Hardly seems fair 😂 — Jay Harris (@jaydmharris) August 2, 2025 Then came another in-house game, with the teams setting up in slightly different shapes. The starting XI, with Van de Ven, Spence, 18-year-old Luka Vuskovic and George Abbott, 19, in defence, morphed into a 3-2-5 in possession. Their counterparts used a 4-2-4, pushing Pape Matar Sarr up alongside centre-forward Mathys Tel with Son and Johnson out wide — Frank did build a reputation for his tactical flexibility at Brentford, after all. This practice game, like the one in Hong Kong, ended goalless. Georgson then led a session focusing on his speciality — set pieces. The players went through a few different routines, including Tel executing a quick one-two from a short corner before whipping the ball into the box from a better angle. When the rest of the squad practised shooting with Cochrane, or took a drinks break, Georgson asked Spence to aim outswinging corners towards Wilson Odobert at the far post. The trio spent around 10 minutes working on this. Long throw-ins are another weapon Spurs will utilise under Frank, with defenders Ben Davies and Kevin Danso possessing the longest throws in the squad. Johnson has praised the impact of the new coaches, with Cochrane making a strong impression. 'Justin is a great coach,' the winger said. 'His drills are realistic to games. He is really good at working on finishes that people do. It feels like it is almost instinct. He practises on getting the contact right. A lot of finishing, dribbling, movement, which is important. We have such good attacking options and it's nice to learn off the people you are with and see how they like to score and taking bits from everyone.' Lots of players, including Danso, Lankshear and Davies, have praised Frank's tactical approach. Advertisement 'When we came in (to begin pre-season), we had a meeting and it was about what was expected this year and where he (Frank) thinks we can improve as a team,' Davies said. 'From working with these guys, you can see the value that they put on certain aspects of the game. How there is low-hanging fruit where you can pick up goals, which turn into wins, which can turn into a lot of points come the end of the season, for minimal effort if you are in the right headspace for it. 'We have been working on that in pre-season, some different tactical aspects, a bit more structure in the team. Hopefully, we will see the results of that pretty quickly.' It is difficult to analyse Sunday's draw with Newcastle in great detail because everybody was so focused on Son — the crowd even booed when Porro took a free kick instead of him during the first half. After the break, both teams made multiple substitutions which, along with Son's tearful farewell as he was taken off in the 66th minute, disrupted the flow. Frank praised Archie Gray for how he confidently carried the ball in midfield and aggressively snapped into challenges. Gray played the majority of his minutes for Postecoglou last season in defence, mainly due to the club's injury crisis, but it appears he will receive more opportunities in his favourite position under Frank, who tried to sign him for Brentford from Leeds last summer. Brentford's plan was to play Gray, who only turned 19 in March, regularly as a box-to-box midfielder for the first couple of years and slowly mould him into a world-class No 6. Sarr and Davies have impressed Frank, too. Sarr has been operating in the advanced midfield role in a 4-2-3-1 system and pushing up out of possession to help the lone striker press the opposition. Davies admitted to The Athletic that his long-term future was uncertain — he has less than 12 months left on his contract — but Frank values the 32-year-old's experience and mentality. Frank likes to have a senior leadership group of around four to five players. Though Davies might not play regularly this season, he could be a part of that group. Mohammed Kudus was the only new first-team signing involved in the tour, with defender Kota Takai recovering from a foot injury. Tottenham have not been as active in the summer transfer market as Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, who have all spent over £100million. Senior figures at the club compare the situation to when Arne Slot succeeded Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss a year ago. Slot needed time to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the squad he inherited, and Liverpool have now invested heavily ahead of his second season. Advertisement That is not to say that Spurs will not make any more signings before the September 1 deadline, and Slot clearly inherited a better squad at Anfield than Frank did in north London. This tour will have given the Dane a much better idea of what this team lack. He felt like they needed a natural No 6, which has been addressed by the arrival of former Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha, on loan with an option to buy, from Bayern Munich. The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Tottenham will consider signing another centre-back, while they have to buy a playmaker following Maddison's latest injury and after their failed pursuit of Morgan Gibbs-White. Dejan Kulusevski is recovering from knee surgery and will not be fit for the start of the season, which means they do not have a fit creative first-team midfielder. Frank was obviously not involved in any of the planning of the tour, and he was slightly frustrated by a crammed eight-day schedule which included training sessions, two matches and commercial appearances across two different countries and time zones. This is a manager who places strong emphasis on building a positive culture and environment. At Brentford, Haslam was partly responsible for organising team-building exercises which included go-karting, axe-throwing and archery. The Spurs squad and staff were unable to spend any proper downtime with each other on this trip, although they did present new signing Kudus with a birthday cake as he turned 25 on Saturday. Danso, whose parents are from Ghana, has helped Kudus to settle in by speaking to him in the Ghanaian dialect of Twi. Frank and his coaching staff had dinner in Hong Kong with Lange on the top floor of the team hotel. He went on a run every morning, occasionally accompanied by Haslam and Georgson. There are already signs the new coaching staff are growing close to the players but an arranged group activity during the tour would have accelerated that process. Spurs still have a lot of work to do before the transfer window closes in just under four weeks, and their season starts next Wednesday with the UEFA Super Cup against Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in the Italian city of Udine. Their tour of East Asia was intense, but it feels like the building blocks are falling into place ahead of Frank's first campaign in charge. (Top photos: Getty Images)
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
John Eustace signs another former Rovers player at Derby County
Dion Sanderson has joined Derby County on a season-long loan from Birmingham City. Sanderson, who spent the second half of last term on loan at Ewood Park, becomes the latest ex-Rovers player John Eustace has brought to Pride Park. The pair also worked together at Birmingham and Queens Park Rangers, where Eustace was assistant manager. Sanderson has been linked with a move to Pride Park throughout the summer but things progressed quickly over the past couple of days. The 25-year-old says he enjoys playing under Eustace and knows exactly what head coach wants from him. 'I first heard the interest a month ago and it kind of died out, so I was obviously cracking on with training and getting my head down,' Sanderson told the club channels. 'I got the call yesterday from my agent and the gaffer here, and we go again." READ MORE: David Bentley reveals Blackburn Rovers 'regret' and England transfer pressure He added: 'I think he's a quality person, a quality manager. The fans, anyone that's worked with him, players and staff, would say that. You just have to see what he did last season, it was incredible. 'I really enjoy my work under him. I know what he wants from me and I'm just glad to be here. 'I had him as an assistant at QPR. We got on really well there, and then he went to Birmingham after that. 'In the season where he made me the captain, for the first six months he was there, I was probably playing the best football I've played so far and he brought that out of me.' Danny Batth, Andi Weimann and Owen Beck are also among the signings Derby have made ahead of the new campaign. Eustace guided the Rams to safety during the final months of last term and will be aiming to hit the ground running when they head to Stoke City on Saturday.
