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Former Swansea striker Michu retires from football
Former Swansea City striker Michu has retired from football due to injury.
The 31-year-old played for boyhood club Real Oviedo last season, making 27 appearances and scoring one goal.
The Spaniard spent 3 seasons at Swansea, moving to the Liberty Stadium from Rayo Vallecano in the summer of 2012 for a fee of around £2 million.
He hit the ground running with the Swansea, scoring 7 goals in his first 9 matches for the club.
In his first season with the Welsh club he went on to score 22 goals and his form saw him called up for Spain in October 2013.
He made his debut for the national side in the same week, starting in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Belarus, but that proved to be his only appearance.
Injury then started to hamper Michu, who scored just 6 goals in 24 appearances during the 2013-2014 season.
He then moved to Napoli on loan but he endured another frustrating period in Serie A as injury restricted him to just 5 appearances under Rafael Benitez.
Spells on the sidelines were becoming a regular occurrence for Michu and he moved to the 4th tier of Spanish football with amateur side UP Langreo, before returning to Oviedo.
However, injury issues have continued which has forced him to retire from professional football.
Reports in Spain suggest Michu will now look to move into coaching and a role with Oviedo has been touted as he looks to remain involved in football.
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Trippier signs 5-year Spurs deal
Kieran Trippier has signed a new deal with Tottenham Hotspur, committing him to the club until 2022.
The right-back joined Spurs from Burnley in 2015 and, following Kyle Walker's £50 million sale to Manchester City earlier this month, appears to be the club's first-choice, having enjoyed an extended run in the team towards the back end of last season.
Trippier made just 18 Premier League starts during his first 2 campaigns, but looks set to become a firmly established part of Mauricio Pochettino's plans as Tottenham aim to improve on their second place finish in 2016-2017.
His displays for Spurs earned the full-back a maiden England cap earlier this year, when he started the 3-2 friendly defeat to France in Paris in June.
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Forster signs new long-term contract
Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster has signed a new 5-year contract with the Premier League club.
The England international was already tied to the St. Mary's outfit until 2021 but his latest deal extends his stay by a further year.
Forster arrived at Southampton from Celtic in 2014 and has made 103 appearances for the club in that time, playing every game of the 2016-2017 league season.
Barkley set to miss season opener
Everton midfielder Ross Barkley is set to miss the start of the Premier League season after undergoing surgery on a groin injury, while defender Ramiro Funes Mori has been ruled out for up to 9 months.
Barkley had treatment on Wednesday, with the issue having prevented him from travelling to Tanzania and Holland as part of the club's pre-season schedule.
The surgery is said to have been a success and it is hoped Barkley will be ready to return to action in 4 weeks, with Everton due to kick-off their season at home to Stoke City on 12 August.
Barkley, whose contract expires in June 2018, has been heavily linked with a move away from Goodison Park during the close season, with Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester United among the clubs credited with an interest in the 23-year-old.
Funes Mori, meanwhile, has had to undergo further surgery on a knee injury and has been sidelined for 6 to 9 months.
The Argentine tore his meniscus while on international duty in March.
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Premier League one-season wonders
After Michu leaves Swansea City, we look at other Premier League one-season wonders who went from hero to zero.
The Spaniard took the Premier League by storm when he moved to the Swans in 2012 from Rayo Vallecano for £2 million, bagging 22 goals in his first season.
The 29-year-old was capped by Spain and helped Swansea qualify for Europe by winning the Capital One Cup, but his second season was disrupted by injury and he scored only 6 times in 25 games.
Here are other Premier League players who set the top flight alight before fading away.
A prolific spell at SC Zamalek prompted Wigan Athletic to stump up £1,5 million to bring Zaki on loan for the 2008-2009 season.
It was a transfer that barely made a ripple, but Zaki burst onto the scene, scoring on his first competitive start against West Ham. By the end of September, he had bagged 5 goals and his bruising style of forward play had scouts at some of the Premier League's biggest clubs watching with interest.
After scoring 2 goals against Liverpool in a 3-2 win for the hosts at Anfield, Reds manager Rafa Benitez confirmed his admiration for the player: "Everybody will be checking his situation now", he said.
However, despite being the Premier League's top goalscorer at that stage with 7 in 8 matches, the goals had dried up come the end of the campaign, with Zaki adding just another 3.
His time with Wigan ended in controversy too, as manager Steve Bruce revealed that the player returned late from international duty 4 times during that season.
Bruce said: "I can honestly say that in all my time in football, I have never worked with someone as unprofessional".
Wigan decided not to turn his loan deal into a permanent one and he was subsequently signed on loan by Hull City the following season but failed to score in 6 appearances.
Regarded as a top-class striker for his exploits with Paraguay and Bayern Munchen, Santa Cruz lived up to his billing in his first season with Blackburn Rovers, bagging 20 goals in 40 appearances.
You would have excused Blackburn fans for thinking they had a genuine superstar on their hands but the goals soon dried up.
He notched only 9 goals in 27 appearances in the following campaign before, amazingly, Manchester City decided to fork out £17,5 million for his services on a 4-year deal.
Those 4 years were unspectacular to say the least. He made just 20 appearances, scoring 4 goals whilst spending time on loan back at Blackburn, and also Malaga and Real Betis.
At 19-years-old, the Manchester City midfielder was heralded as "England's next big star" by Sven-Goran Eriksson after becoming a driving force in the City midfield during the 2007-2008 season.
He made 23 league appearances that campaign and was reportedly the subject of a £12 million bid from Liverpool in the summer of 2008.
However, a succession of injuries derailed his progress and in 2012, Johnson had his contract cancelled by City after playing just one minute of Premier League football for the club between 2008 and 2012.
Johnson continued to struggled with fitness and mental health issues, and sadly retired at the age of 24, telling the Daily Telegraph: "I wasn't dealing with things very well, I was getting into bad habits, but by then I had finished with City for a number of months, it just hadn't been made public".
"If things had gone differently for me, I do believe that I could have been part of this current City team, but the way you have to look at it is not to have regrets."
Not many players have made a bigger instant impact than the former Fulham striker did in the 2005-2006 season.
After joining from FC Twente for £600,000, the 19-year-old scored 11 goals that season despite starting just 15 games and ended the campaign as Fulham's top goalscorer as they finished comfortably in mid-table.
Only 2 Fulham players have since surpassed his haul of 11 Premier League goals in one season: Clint Dempsey and Dimitar Berbatov.
John started 6 of the first 7 games of the 2006-2007 season but his form nosedived when Chris Coleman was replaced as manager by Lawrie Sanchez, and he spent the remaining 2 years of his Fulham contract out on loan at Leicester City, Watford and NEC Nijmegen, scoring just 2 goals in total.
After a spell in the MLS with Chicago Fire, where he was described as "damaged goods", John was most recently seen on these shores playing for Barnet when Edgar Davids was manager.
An unfit-looking John made his debut against Plymouth in 2012 but lasted just 15 minutes as he was substituted with a thigh injury.
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Jagielka pens one-year Everton extension
Veteran Everton captain Phil Jagielka has signed a one-year contract extension.
Jagielka's deal at Goodison Park had been due to expire at the end of the season, but Everton announced he will now remain with Ronald Koeman's team until the end of the 2018-2019 campaign.
Everton have been among the busier clubs in the transfer window, with Wayne Rooney returning from Manchester United, while the likes of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, defender Michael Keane, midfielder Davy Klaassen and forward Sandro Ramirez have also moved to Goodison Park.
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Trippier a doubt for Premier League opener
Kieran Trippier is a doubt for Tottenham's Premier League opener away to Newcastle after picking up an ankle injury in Saturday's 2-0 win over Juventus.
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted the full-back's fitness was uncertain after he finished the Wembley encounter on crutches and wearing a protective boot.
Trippier hobbled away from an early clash with Alex Sandro and, despite setting up Harry Kane for the opener, needed to be substituted before half-time.
Trippier's potential absence leaves a hole at right-back, following the sale of Kyle Walker to Manchester City, with Pochettino indicating England U20 international Kyle Walker-Peters was not ready for a first-team berth.
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