As the January transfer window reaches the halfway mark, more Canadians have been on the move to new teams in Europe in the past week as both Andrew Hainault and Tosaint Ricketts have signed deals with new clubs.
Ricketts announced on his Twitter page on Wednesday that he is making the move to Sadnes Ulf of the Norwegian Eliteserien. It will be Ricketts’ third club in less than a year. He was a member of Romania’s Politehnica Timosoara until last May when an issue over unpaid wages came to a head. Ricketts then moved on to Valerenga in Norway, where he finished the season scoring one goal in three games played.
Now with the move from Valerenga to Sadnes Ulf, Ricketts finally has some certainty when it comes to his club situation as he’s signed until the end of 2014. Sadnes finished in 14th place last season but avoided relegation by winning a playoff.
The other move was a deal announced on Saturday with Hainault—the former Houston Dynamo defender— signing with Ross County of the Scottish Premier League after a successful trial. Ross County is currently in 11th place in the 12-team SPL.
Another player that’s faced transfer and loan rumours is Simeon Jackson, but for the moment he’s still with Norwich City of the English Premier League. He got his fifth start on Saturday and played 68 minutes in Norwich’s scoreless draw with Newcastle United. Norwich sits in 12th place.
Down in the Championship, defender David Edgar also made a rare start on Saturday for Burnley as they picked up a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. Edgar played the full 90 minutes. Burnley is in 10th place just four points back of a promotion playoff spot.
Iain Hume and Doncaster Rovers’ push for promotion to the Championship from League One is alive and well after Hume spearheaded a second half comeback in their 2-1 win against Marcus Haber and Stevenage.
Stevenage took the lead in the 66th minute, but Hume got things level in the 79th and Doncaster added a winner late into stoppage time to remain tied for first place in the league.
Haber played the full game for 11th-place Stevenage.
In Turkey, goalkeeper Milan Borjan and Sivasspor got back to action after the winter break with a Turkish Cup game against Bursaspor on Sunday.
Borjan was in goal as Sivasspor picked up a 2-1 win in their first game in three weeks. It started a busy week for Borjan and his club, as they have another Cup game upcoming on Wednesday before resuming their league campaign on Saturday.
In Cyprus, Issey Nakajima-Farran played the second half in Alki’s 3-0 loss to Anothorsis. Alki played down a man following a 16th-minute red card and gave up two goals prior to the half. Anothorsis added a penalty in the second half.
Alki is in 12th place in the 14-team 1. Division.
