Sarpreet Singh - Hansa Rostock (German Bundesliga 2)

This current transfer window burst open with all sorts of anticipation for impending kiwi transfers but that shouldn’t surprise anyone because that’s quickly become the norm these days. One of the most fascinating situations was that of Sarpreet Singh – a situation that’s since come to a resolution after he signed a three-year contract with Hansa Rostock in the German second tier.

This means an end to the Bayern Munich stage of his career... but realistically that whole thing ended two years ago. Too many changes of manager and too many tricky loans had cost him that slim opportunity to break into the first team there. Still, there were some incredible moments. That first preseason tour. A starting debut in the Bundesliga, one of two competitive appearance for the top team. A Bundesliga championship medal. Winning the third tier with the reserves as one of their most influential players. It’s a sneaky fact that only two NZers have played Bundesliga football, Wynton Rufer being the other, yet both have won the league title.

Singh’s first loan was to second tier FC Nürnberg and that one went so poorly, with Singh a bad fit in that team’s conservative style of play, that he was recalled halfway through and went back to the Bayern reserves. They gave him a one-year extension so as to write that whole season off and the following campaign it was SSV Jahn Regenseburg instead, also in the second tier, and for about six months that move proved to be an incredible thing as Singh was up amongst the top creative players in the division. Then he got injured. Missed the last four months of the season. Also missed the All Whites World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica. Then having agreed a permanent move to top division club Werder Bremen he failed the medical as the injury lingered on

Again Bayern gave him a one-year extension (protecting his on-sale value by keeping him from reaching the last year of his contract) and he went back to SSV Jahn with the plan of picking up where he left off. But they botched his registration so even after he got back to fitness he couldn’t play until the January transfer window. A couple assists and a goal in his first few games went swell but then his form tailed off playing for an absolutely dire Regensburg team that ended up getting relegated.

Thus Singh entered a pivotal point of his career without any clarity or direction. His luck with loans had been mostly tragic. A long term injury had only exacerbated that. It was time for a permanent transfer to give him some stability but he’d already missed out on one chance to sign with a Bundesliga club and a troublesome season left it up in the air as to whether he’d be able to demand another.

Well, he hasn’t... but that’s alright. Instead Hansa Rostock should offer him room to play regular footy at a level that he (and they) know that he’s capable of excelling at. He has a multi-year contract to provide assurance, particularly if the pelvic injury flares up again, hence for the first time since he moved to Germany he won’t specifically be playing for his next contract. And if he’s able to do what he’s done before then, mate, the Bundesliga’s still only a cheeky transfer (or promotion) away.

Halil Altintop, sporting director for FC Bayern campus: “We thank Sarpreet for his contributions to FC Bayern. Especially in the season of the third division championship, when he played a large part in the success of the team. He was also able to repeatedly indicate his qualities at his loan stations – in his first Regensburg season in particular where Sarpreet played a major role. We wish him all the best for the future.”

Kristian Walker, sporting director at FCHR: “With Sarpreet Singh we have signed a technically very experienced player, who feels at home in the attacking areas and will give us new impetus with his footballing intelligence. He has already demonstrated his quality in the second division and will give our game even more variety.”

Hansa Rostock are from the old East Germany and since reunification have been one of the better clubs from that side of the wall. In particular the ten years they spent in the top flight around the turn of the millennium. They have since dropped as far as the third tier but were promoted back to the seconds three seasons ago and have finished 13th in consecutive campaigns since. Along with having a fantastic club crest which looks like it could’ve been on a 1950s jazz album cover, they also have a new manager in Alois Schwartz.

Singh was the eighth signing they’ve made this summer. Only two of those, Singh and Christian Kinsombi, required transfer fees plus Singh was also the only one who wasn’t signed from a lower division (although technically he was if you count him as coming over from the Bayern Campus). He trained with the team for the first time on Thursday local time, the day after a 9-0 preseason win over Malchower. He played for the first time in a friendly against VSG Altglienicke, getting the second half of action as a central number ten... good signs.

Up Next: Further preseason efforts, you know the drill

CJ Bott - Leicester City (English Super League)

CJ Bott: “It’s amazing to have things signed, sealed, and delivered before jetting off for the World Cup, and it’s nice to have some stability for the next two years, so now I can focus on the summer and performing with New Zealand. I’m so excited for the next season and beyond. The Club is going in the right direction and I’m ready to get started and help the team achieve great things.”

That takes care of that then. A two-year contract for CJB to remain with Leicester City in the English Women’s Super League. Fantastic news. Her first eleven status over the past season combined with the fact that she wasn’t listed on the club’s release list suggested that if she wasn’t already under contract then a new one had been offered. And yeah, sure enough.

This is one of a number of moves that the Foxes have made lately to lock down the core of the team that performed so well over the second half of last season – avoiding relegation despite having lost their first nine games in a row. Aussie international Courtney Nevin’s loan was made permanent. Same deal with influential German keeper Janina Leitzig. A couple other younger players have been extended. Good positive signs. Bott’s extension was announced on Wednesday NZT though of course she’d already been in Aotearoa with the Football Ferns for at least a week by then... got to spread the announcements out when there are so many.

With this update, all four of the NZers who played WSL last season are under contract to return to their same clubs next term. Ria Percival signed an extension while still out injured, that’s how much she means to Spurs. Meanwhile Rebekah Stott (Brighton) and Anna Leat (Aston Villa) had signed two-year contracts the year before when first joining those clubs... or, second joining in the case of Stott. Leat’s offseason has been a funky one with the boost of last year’s number one keeper Hannah Hampton leaving for Chelsea being overturned by the club signing Dutch international keeper Daphne van Domselaar. We’ll see how that goes, though Villa manager Carla Ward is definitely a big fan of Leat and even if she’s a clear second choice there’ll still be cup games to keep the progress going.

Also... let’s not discount the possibility of any other additions to the Flying Kiwis x WSL brigade. Last season set a new record for kiwi appearances in a WSL season (35 games between the quartet) and that was despite Percival and Stott being injured for long portions – otherwise the record for minutes would’ve gone down too. That one still stands as 2281 mins from the 2019-20 season when Liv Chance (Bristol City) and Ria Percival (Spurs) were the only two New Zealanders to feature yet both were regulars. This season went close at 2245 mins. Should see both of those marks beaten next time around even if it’s only these four again but with the shop window of the World Cup on the horizon there’s every chance we sneak another player or two into the mix as well. Claudia Bunge had some WSL rumours a year ago, for example.

Up Next: Just the small matter of the FIFA World Cup

Abby Erceg – Racing Louisville (American National Women’s Soccer League)

A weird thing happened in the sixth minute of Racing Louisville’s game against Kansas City Current. RL were on defence with a loose ball in their penalty area. Abby Erceg gave it a rocket clearance... but the ball only travelled about two metres before it his teammate Jaelin Howell in the back. Actually not the back, apparently there must’ve been some arm involved because the referee awarded a penalty. Baffling football all around. Michelle Cooper scored from the spot to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

Not to worry. The remaining 83 minutes of the game were all about Racing Louisville. Corner kicks gave them a foothold up the other end and they thought they’d gotten level as soon as the 14th minute when Erceg was able to get the last touch on a deflected Carson Pickett cross, flipping it over the line from a maximum of about thirty centimetres out via a flick of the hip. But they disallowed that for some wild reason. Seems they thought it had hit the arm of Erceg. Maybe it did but her arms were tucked into her frame... two very harsh handball calls going against Abby Erceg specifically.

But a few minutes later her CB partner Elli Pikkujämsä slammed in a goal that did count following a corner kick that had bounced off a bunch of bodies. The goal had been coming. As was a second goal with Louisville continuing on the same way. They forced several good saves which was the only reason it was still 1-1 at the break... but then Paige Monahan scored a belter 49 seconds into the second half. They didn’t score again even if it wasn’t for lack of trying. But neither did Kansas City so log that one in the books as a 2-1 win for RL – who are now only two points off the top six with seven games remaining in the season.

They’re definitely starting to find their stride now. And massive within that form has been the immense mahi of Abby Erceg at centre-back. Don’t think that folks are noticing it either. Erceg was picked in the NWSL Best XI for June, the first time she’s made a Team of the Month since June 2021 but a whopping ninth time in her career overall. The only players with more Monthly Best XI selections: Casey Krueger (11), Debinha, Sam Kerr & Bekcy Sauerbrunn (all 10).

NWSL.com: Abby Erceg (LOU): Featuring in every minute of action for Racing, Erceg currently owns a 93 percent passing accuracy in Racing’s defensive half and 90 percent overall pass success rate.

Got to report that there was one attack that Abby Erceg wasn’t able to defend this week though...

Up Next: Challenge Cup action on Saturday at 11am against Chicago Red Stars (NZT)

Logan Rogerson & Ollie Whyte - FC Haka (Finnish Veikkausliiga)

Funky game for the Haka crew, drawing 2-2 with Inter Turku having had to twice come from a goal down. Both teams had plenty of shots though aside from the goals the finishing was pretty mud. Good thing then that Logan Rogerson was on hand to break the defensive line then put one on a platter for Stavros Zarokostas to score the second equaliser and ensure a split of the points after neither team could add to their tallies in the second half.

Rogerson played the full match while Ollie Whyte got the last fifteen off the bench. The first goal they conceded was one the keeper should have saved at the near post only a few minutes after kickoff – though he made up for that with a couple banger saves as Inter Turku kept up the pressure. Zarokostas’ first goal was very much against the run of play but parity didn’t last long, less than ten minutes later the away team had slammed in another one that the keeper got a hand to yet couldn’t deny. Then that Rogerson assisted effort five mins before the half.

Other than Inter going close with a backheeled volley, there wasn’t a lot going on in the second half up until Inter rattled the crossbar with ten to go. This was a 2-2 draw in which Haka will have been much the happier team based on the respective performances. Unfortunately the two teams directly below them both won so Haka have dropped to second to last after this result.

Well, they’re just gonna have to shrug that off and switch focus because their next task is going to be the highlight of their season: the Europa Conference League qualifiers. Haka were drawn against Crusaders of Northern Ireland in the first qualifying round. The first leg is at home on Friday morning at 4am NZT... and if you fancy it you can go straight from that game into Zac Jones and Haverfordwest County’s own first leg which kicks off at 6am on the same day, they’re away to Shkëndija of Macedonia (those are the only two clubs with NZers involved). Impossible to know how those teams from such varied leagues will match up. That’s the exciting thing about these early rounds if you’re lucky enough to partake.

Up Next: ECL qualifiers, Haka vs Crusaders, Friday at 4am (NZT)

Liberato Cacace – Empoli (Italian Serie A)

See that? That’s the bloke who kept Libby Cacace on the sidelines for most of last season. All the talk had been that Parisi would be leaving going back at least six months – in fact his agent came out and said it in plain old Italian. The president of Empoli more recently claimed that not only would Parisi be staying but that he’d be made club captain... an exaggeration that tipped his hand as to the negotiating bluff at work. Meanwhile the manager there, when given the opportunity, had stressed that Cacace remains a key part of his project moving forward even if the minutes weren’t always there last term.

Add that all together and the plan was always to sell Parisi – who had emerged as one of the hottest prospects in Italy – and promote Cacace to starting left-back duties. The only surprise from this Fabrizio Bomb is that it’s apparently Fiorentina that he’s agreed with as opposed to Juventus who have been after him very publically ever since last season ended.

Empoli have signed Daniel Maldini on loan, the son of Paolo Maldini aka the greatest Italian left back of all time... but fortunately Danny’s an attacking midfielder so no bother. In fact he may now have access to one of the great defensive footballing minds. Parisi will be one of several first teamers to leave Empoli this offseason – although they got good fees back for Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham), Kristijan Asllani (Inter), and Nedim Bajrami (Sassuolo) with Parisi soon to follow. That should give them money to spend and they have been able to lock in one of their key defenders, Sebastiano Luperto, on a permanent deal. He’s the left-sided CB so that’s an important combination for Cacace. Empoli are one of those clubs that always fill their squad out with loan signings so expect more where Mr Maldini came from.

Up Next: Libby Cacace Serie A Breakthrough Season

Oscar Obel-Hall - Esbjerg fB (Danish Division 2)

More fine news in what’s shaping up to be another banger of a transfer window with 19yo forward Oscar Obel-Hall signing a senior contract with Esbjerg in Denmark. He’d been with their academy teams for the last couple seasons and now the Christchurch native has been elevated to the first team on an initial one-year contract.

Lungi Sørensen, head coach: “Oscar Obel-Hall is a physically strong attacker who also possesses a fine technique. At the same time, Oscar has a very good understanding of the game which he uses wisely to put himself into dangerous positions in the attacking areas. He has some top skills that are not always common amongst attackers and we look forward to working on at the senior level. I believe we can move further steps in the right direction.”

Obel-Hall was one of the surprise omissions from the recent U20 World Cup squad having featured in an earlier preparation tour. Safe to say he’s been chipping away behind the scenes, although this elevation probably has a bit to do with the club’s own slipping stature as well. Esbjerg were a top division club not so long ago until they suffered two relegations in three years amidst a bit of turmoil around the club. Then last season they missed out on promotion back to the second tier by a single pesky point.

Thus they’ll be battling their way out of Division 2 again this campaign. That should give OOB much more of an opportunity to make his senior debut so no dramas there. This is the division that Dalton Wilkins won last time out with Kolding, while Wilkins and Eli Just also won the second division with Helsingør a few years prior.

Up Next: First team preseason areas, how good?

Tyler Boyd - Los Angeles Galaxy (American Major League Soccer)

Get this man back in the USA squad, surely. He did make the extended cut for the Gold Cup but not the actual squad itself. However the buzz is growing after scoring yet another banger, this time in front of 82,000 fans against archrivals LAFC in the derby dubbed ‘El Trafico’. In fact Tyler didn’t settle for just that either. He also assisted Riqui Puig’s winner after LAFC had equalised ten mins into the second half. That was a new MLS attendance record by the way. The boy from Tauranga delivering on the big occasion.

Then he did it again, scoring the opening goal a few days later as the Galaxy won 3-1 against Philadelphia...

Boyd’s up to four goals and an assist this season. He’s started roughly three-quarters of LA Galaxy’s games to where it’s become a common sight to see him advancing that ball up the wing. Safe to say that he really should’ve found his way to the MLS a lot sooner than he did but he’s there now and having a blast.

Up Next: Away to Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday at 2.30pm (NZT)

Bill Tuiloma – Charlotte FC (American Major League Soccer)

CFC didn’t play last week so we had a long time to linger on whether that Bill Tuiloma right back experiment would be something they persisted with. The answer to that question, as Charlotte took on FC Cincinnati... was: yes, but. Because Tuiloma was left on the bench as Charlotte got things up and running with a Karol Swiderski double inside 25 minutes. Guzman Corujo and Derrick Jones were the starting CBs while Jaylin Lindsey lined up on the right edge. At least Tuiloma had a good seat for the initial festivities.

It got weird after that. Actually they began to get weird directly after Swiderski’s second goal when the commentator suddenly transformed into Mickey Mouse for no reason at all, turn the volume up and have a laugh at this...

Further weirdness included Derrick Jones going off injured in the first half and Jan Sobocinski getting the summons ahead of Tuiloma, suggesting that Tui’s dropped even further down the CB rankings. However he did end up playing. By the 82nd minute Cincinnati had hauled it back to 2-2 but a red card had put them in danger of losing that territory. Part of Charlotte’s attempts to find a winner included Tuiloma entering in play of Lindsey at right back... so there you go. Another fullback appearance for Billy T.

Alas, there was to be no third goal for either side (although Charlotte did hit the post). It ended in a 2-2 draw. On the one hand, CFC were two goals up and blew that lead then couldn’t take advantage against ten men. On the other hand, they didn’t create much outside the goals and a draw was definitely a fair reflection of the game. They’re gonna need to start winning these kinds of games very soon if they’re to make the playoffs.

As for Minnesota United, if you ever wondered what they’d look like without Michael Boxall at the heart of defence you got your answer this week. Boxy missed the game through yellow card accumulation suspension and the Loons were pumped 4-1 at home by Austin. Flush the dunny and move on. They’ve got two games this upcoming week and a couple of wins would surge them up into the playoff zone.

Up Next: Montreal vs Charlotte at 11.30am Sunday; Houston vs Minnesota on Thurs at 12.30pm & Minnesota vs LAFC on Sun at 12.30pm (NZT)

Max Mata & Nando Pijnaker – Sligo Rovers (League of Ireland Premier Division)

Last week was a good one as Sligo Rovers earned a much needed victory as Max Mata scored one goal and assisted another. This week... not so good. They were up against Derry City (who apparently had some transfer interest in Mata) but weren’t able to get much going. That led to them falling behind to an excellently designed goal scored by Jamie McGonigle after half an hour, although a stroke of luck tied things up ten minutes later when Daniel Lafferty’s left wing shot snuck under the goalie for 1-1.

That was okay. Most of the game was okay. But stoppage time was not. First half stoppage time saw Nando Pijnaker stepping towards a ball in behind the defence. He had the man tracked but the ball spun past him which caused them both to get tangled and Pijnaker was called up for the foul. It happened just outside the penalty area. Pijnaker was booked although the Derry players thought it was worth a red. Luckily the free kick was fired over the top.

Derry City had more possession but neither team had too many chances in the second half. That is, until the last twenty when DC ramped it up and Sligo were stuck deep on defence trying to hold on. Pijnaker was a big part of that. Leaping for headers and launching into blocks. The post was struck. With ten minutes to go it looked like Derry City would get what they were seeking as a penalty was awarded for handball in the box. But keeper Luke McNicholas saved not only the penalty but also the follow-up. Sweet as.

But remember that thing about stoppage time? Fourth minute added on and Pijnaker got tangled with an opponent in the area. Not much in it but enough for a penalty (though not a second yellow, at least). Different bloke took this one and scored. There was still enough time for one last attack and Max Mata rose highest with everyone up for the corner, keeper included, only for his header to fly just over the top. Derry City won it 2-1. Pijnaker conceded the late penalty and Mata missed a golden chance to equaliser. That’s... not ideal.

Up Next: Sunday at 6.45am against Cork City (NZT)

Moses Dyer - FC Tulsa (American USL Championship)

Righto, just a causal fifth minute goal that ended up being the winner in a 1-0 victory. Steady as she goes for Moses Dyer who now has 3 goals and 3 assists this year, adjusting nicely to the USL after his time in Canada.

Up Next: Thursday at 1pm against Miami FC (NZT)

Ben Waine – Plymouth Argyle (English Championship)

Up Next: More where this came from, hopefully

Marley Leuluai - Burnley (English Premier League)

Another sneaky rumour for ya. Bit more on this in last Friday’s Substack email, by the way.

Up Next: [staring eyes emoji]

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