The League Cup will be known as the Carabao Cup after a new sponsorship agreement was reached, starting next season.
The Football League (EFL) announced yesterday that the Thai energy drinks firm would become the competition’s new title sponsor from June 2017.
The competition has been without a sponsor since the deal with credit card service company Capital One ended at the conclusion of last season.
The deal with Carabao runs until 2020, the EFL said.
’Pool appoint new sporting director
Liverpool have appointed Michael Edwards to a newly-created role of sporting director at Anfield.
The 37-year-old, who has previously held posts as head of analy-tics, director of technical performance and technical director, will oversee the “club’s overall football development”, a position which will see him take a key role in the Reds’ future transfer activity.
The move has also been welcomed by manager Jurgen Klopp, who worked under a sporting director at previous club Borussia Dortmund and is an advocate of the model.
Ibra to face no action over Kjaer clash
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not face retrospective action following a clash with Simon Kjaer during Manchester United’s Europa League loss at Fenerbahce.
Ibrahimovic got involved in a heated discussion with the Danish defender during Thursday’s game in Istanbul and pictures appeared to show him grabbing his opponent by the throat.
Referee Milorad Mazic did not take any action at the time, but it is understood the incident was seen by the fourth official, who determined no sanction was necessary.
Fenerbahce manager Dick Advocaat also played down the incident after the game.
“That is part of football… I don’t talk about it,” he said.
Villas-Boas gets Shanghai SIPG job
Former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas has been appointed head coach of Shanghai SIPG, the Chinese Super League side confirmed yesterday.
Villas-Boas, who is replacing former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, is set to become one of the world’s highest-paid managers with reports suggesting the Portuguese will earn a salary of around $13.7m per year.
The 39-year-old will be taking up his first job since leaving Russian side Zenit St Petersburg earlier this year.
Shanghai SIPG finished third in the recently completed Chinese Super League season, 12 points behind champions Guan-gzhou Evergrande, and will compete in an Asian Champions League play-off round for a spot in the 2017 tournament.
Toure apology for ‘misunderstandings’
Midfielder Yaya Toure has apologised to Manchester City for the “misunderstandings” that have resulted in him being frozen out of manager Pep Guardiola’s team.
Guardiola has refused to pick the 33-year-old until he receives an apology from the player’s agent, Dimitri Seluk, who criticised the manager’s decision to leave Toure out of City’s Champions League squad.
“I wish to apologise – on behalf of myself and those who represent me – to the management team and all those working at the club for the misunderstandings from the past,” Toure said.
“Those statements do not represent my views on the club or the people who work there.”
Mazzarri insists he never met Riva
Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri says he has never even met Raffaele Riva, who resigned as club chairman on Wednesday.
Riva stepped down after allegations Watford provided a forged letter to the Football League in 2014. The letter was used as evidence that incoming owner Gino Pozzo could bankroll the club.
“I am perfect. I am not worried at all,” Mazzarri said.
“I never met him. I know he was in charge in that position but I never had the pleasure to meet him. I always speak inside the club with the president Giam-paolo Pozzo, chief executive Scott Duxbury and sporting director Luke Dowling.”
Police protection
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes hopes the extra police protection for today’s match against West Ham United at the London Stadium will ensure the safety of supporters.
Following last week’s violent scenes during the League Cup match against Chelsea, British media reported that lines of police officers will supplement stewards in keeping Stoke’s travelling support segregated from the home fans.
Hughes said: “We’ve been reassured that there is a different policy to address concerns we had.
“We’ve got a fantastic following away from home so we hope the things that have changed will protect them on the day.”