SoccerAll in the Game

All in the Game: There’s no mocking Tudor’s ability as Ipswich target brain box Mendel-Idowu

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s Greek warning; and Roy Keane’s beef with Bruce Springsteen ultras

Tudor Mendel-Idowu, the attacking midfielder who knows his divinity. Photograph: Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
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Mary Hannigan
Mon Sept 02 2024 - 06:00

After signing Sammie Szmodics, Dara O’Shea and Chiedozie Ogbene in the summer transfer window, adding to a Republic of Ireland contingent that already included Jack Taylor and Marcus Harness, Ipswich are now the English Premier League club that you will root for if you have even one patriotic bone in your body. And that’s before even mentioning Kieran McKenna, their Fermanagh gaffer.

But perhaps the quirkiest signing they’ve made – although it still has to be finalised – is that of Tudor Mendel-Idowu from Anderlecht, the 19-year-old England youth international who started his underage career in Chelsea’s academy.

If his footballing intelligence comes anywhere near his academic smarts, then he’ll have the Ballon d’Or wrapped up in no time at all. At 13, Mendel-Idowu was adjudged to be among the top 14 brightest students in Britain, earning himself a scholarship at Eton College after excelling in “Maths, Latin and Divinity exams”, according to SportBible.

By the age of 22 he wants to be “playing in, and winning, Champions Leagues, playing at a World Cup, maybe even getting a world player of the year award.” Academically? “I’m studying Latin, Greek and Modern History, which open other pathways like Philosophy, Law, Literature and Archaeology. Foreign policy and international relations have always interested me too. I can go in any of these directions.” In short, this lad has options.

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Andros Townsend (centre), back when he knew which club owned him. Photograph: Jacob King/PA Wire
Those who can’t play, beach

Most nightmarish summer transfer window move? We’ll go with Andros Townsend’s switch from Luton to Turkey’s Antalyaspor. But add an “ish” to switch.

The gist: Antalyaspor bid for the former England international when they were about to be landed with a transfer ban due to unpaid debts on previous deals. Luton accepted their bid, so Townsend set off for Turkey. “Something was telling me this is the right move for me, to go and experience something new in Antalya, which is a beautiful city right near the beach. Something was telling me to make it happen.”

But? By the time the move was tied up, Antalyaspor’s transfer ban had kicked in. Now? Townsend is in a beautiful city right near the beach, but has no club to play for. “I don’t know who owns me!” The moral of the story? Hire a better agent.

Some might say tickets are overpriced

By all accounts, a lot of folk were trying to buy tickets on Saturday for concerts by a certain Mancunian band in Croke Park next summer, and there was, so we learned, no little frustration involved in the process, not least because of the truly bonkers prices of those tickets. Those who are mad for a ticket to see the Republic of Ireland take on England in the Nations League next Saturday could relate. By Saturday evening, the cheapest tickets available on Ticketmaster for the game were priced at ... €120. Laugh or cry? Probably both.

Number: 232,350,000

That’s how much (in Euros) Brighton spent on players in the summer transfer window, Chelsea are the only club in Europe to spend more. Swanky Seagulls.

Word of Mouth

“Do you know what annoys me? When people say they have been to see Bruce Springsteen 60 times. Why? One or two is enough.” – Ah here Roy Keane, you can never see The Boss enough. Although, yes, 60 times seems excessive.

“Once we’ve beaten England we cannot celebrate for three days and lose against Greece.” – Heimir Hallgrímsson – grin-on-face alert – on the need not to obsess over that England game when the Greeks will come bearing gifts a handful of days later.

“It’s much easier to criticise than appreciate what you really have. We know how the press works. If you speak good, it doesn’t sell. You have to speak bad. And if you speak about Cristiano, you’re going on the front page.” – Third-person-speaking-alert: yes, Ronaldo.

“At the beginning it was difficult but in the end we achieved something historic for Rayo Vallecano, like Napoli did with Maradona. We have to take care of him, he’s like a Formula 1 car, he has to last the whole season.” – Rayo Vallecano president Raúl Martín Presa putting no pressure at all on new signing James Rodriguez, apart from comparing him to Diego and a very fast car.

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