Zimbabwean teen signs Burnley deal

England born forward, Tinashe Chakwana, has signed his first professional contract with Premier League side, Burnley. Chakwana has been nothing less than phenomenal at the Turf Moor, shining for the club’s youth teams. The 19-year-old was the top scorer for the club’s Under 18 side in the 2016/17 and carried that momentum into the 2017/18 season where he again topped the scoring charts, this time for the Under 23 side. The Wigan-born striker is really showing signs of possibly breaking into the Sean Dyche ’s first team at the club who remarkably secured a seventh-place finish in the English top flight league, behind the acclaimed big six of Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Arsenal.

He is one of only two players from the youth teams that were offered professional contracts by the Clarets. Chakwana and age mate, Mark Howarth signed one-year deals with an option to add another year. Speaking about Chakwana who has been at Burnley since 2015 on scholarship, his former coach, Michael Jolly at the Under-23 side said:

"Tinashe's quality is improving tremendously. He is scoring goals for the team and that's important for a forward player Our aim is to get more players into the first team and we have more players training as part of the first team group from the Under-21 side and Tinashe is one of those players who have the potential to break into the first team soon." - Michael Jolly

By virtue of being born in England, Chakwana is eligible to play for the Three Lions or his parents’ origin. Zimbabwe will most definitely be keeping tabs with this exciting talent.

Marcos Alonso receives a 3 match ban

Chelsea met Southampton last Saturday and the London team came out the victors with 3-2 score line. Southampton failed to build up on their win against Arsenal in the previous week. An issue was raised to the Independent Regulatory Commission board concerning the clash between Marcos Alonso and Shane Long on the 44th minute in the match that was played during the weekend. Initially, the referee gave no card to the Chelsea defender because he did not have a clear view of how Alonso caught the English forward but a lot was expected from the fourth official, Roger East, who was directly in front of the pair when the incident happened. The Spanish left-back has been charged with violent conduct which can be seen in video replays as he stepped on Long’s calf when he could retain the ball from the striker. The ban is set at 3 matches and the player still denies the charge. This means that Alonso will not be available for selection against Southampton again in the FA Cup semifinal as well as Premier League matches against Burnley and Swansea City. This could be the chance that new signing Palmieri would take as he is expected to replace the Spaniard in defense and make a claim for a starting spot for next season.

Controversial Barton to become Fleetwood coach

The 35-year old midfielder who is currently serving his football match ban has been appointed to become the new head coach at low league Fleetwood. The midfielder is infamous for his free-spirited opinions and saying the most bizarre of things that one would not expect. He is very cocky, and it is quite shocking as to how Fleetwood have made this decision to trust the midfielder to lead their team to glory. The player has already represented some big clubs not just in England but in Europe as well as he has played for Newcastle, Manchester City, Burnley, Rangers, and Marseille. The player has signed a three year deal with the club and is expected to retire from being a player first that is after the 2nd of June where his ban will end.

He had this to say about the move, “I’m very excited by the challenge and the project at Fleetwood Town. It’s a club I’ve known for a long time, and a chairman I already have a very good relationship with.”

This move has brought some excitement to the chairman of the club who believes that the Barton will bring his experience and profile. A lot of optimism surrounds this move, but we all know what Joey is capable of. What happens when he does not agree with the chairman of the club or anyone above his pay grade? Will he throw a tantrum like he is known for doing or will he be mature and be smart about not placing himself in awkward situations? This is an interesting one. We will live to see how long this tale will last. Aren’t you as excited as well?