The Africa Cup of Nations "is the biggest inconvenience" for EPL side Leicester City, among clubs in England's top flight. While ManU footballer Eric Bailly has been "called up" by the Ivory Coast and Liverpool has lost Senegalese int'l Sadio Mane, Leicester has "had to cede" Riyad Mahrez, Islam Slimani and Daniel Amartey. Fifteenth in the table, Leicester is "fighting to avoid being dragged into a relegation dogfight" (SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST, 1/10).
League One side Oldham Athletic Manager Stephen Robinson said that the club "should be able to exit" its transfer embargo "within a week." The club has been under the embargo since November because of a £300,000 bill with U.K. tax authority HMRC and "fees owed to other clubs." Robinson: "As far as I'm led to believe it should be cleared at the latest next week" (BBC, 1/10).
League Two side Morecambe Chair Peter McGuigan said the club is "staggered" by the actions of Brazilian businessman Diego Lemos since he took over. Since then, "there have been financial issues including wages being paid late" and the club is also "operating under a transfer embargo." Co-Chair Ali Abdulrahman Al Hashemi and Dir Nigel Adams "have left because of the current situation" (BBC, 1/10).
