Stoke City
Bojan Krkic will make his return from injury in Stoke’s preseason friendly against Brentford on Saturday. The 24-year-old former Barcelona playmaker was one of Stoke’s stand-out players until injuring his cruciate ligaments at Rochdale in the FA Cup in January. The Spaniard is now close to fitness, though, and will face Brentford along with captain Ryan Shawcross, who has had a back problem. “I don’t know what the manager’s team is at the moment, but it is extremely likely that they will get some valuable playing time,” Stoke assistant Mark Bowen said.
United States
Zlatan Ibrahimovic would like a move to Major League Soccer before he ends his career. The Paris Saint-Germain striker, 33, is in the United States with his club on a preseason tour and says the thought of playing in America is an idea he likes. “I would like to play in the US, absolutely,” Ibrahimovic said. “I think (playing in MLS) would be an amazing experience. I see that soccer is growing a lot in the US. I was here 10 years ago and soccer was not on the level that it is today, but it’s growing. It’s growing in the right direction and I want it to be on the level of Europe. It will come here.”
Fifa
Jerome Valcke expects to leave his job as Fifa secretary general after Sepp Blatter’s successor is elected. Valcke said it is not because he is responsible for any wrongdoing in the crisis that has shaken the governing body. Valcke has served for eight years as the top administrator at Fifa, which is at the centre of criminal investigations by American and Swiss authorities. “Whoever becomes the Fifa president should have a new secretary general because it’s the most important relationship for the organisation,” Valcke said.
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