Spanish side Atletico Madrid have signed Portuguese attacking midfielder Diogo Jota from Primeira Liga club Pacos de Ferreira on a five-year deal.
The 19-year-old, who was under contract with Pacos until June 2020, was voted the best young player in the Portuguese top flight last season after scoring 12 goals to help the club based in the Porto district finish seventh in the standings.
"To be a part of such a big club makes me proud," Jota told Atletico's official website.
“It is a great club at all levels and I didn’t think twice about accepting this offer. I want to fight to establish myself in the club. It will be a season of learning. I hope to be in the plans of the coach.”
Atletico did not reveal any financial details of the deal but Spanish media estimated the transfer fee for the Portuguese under-21 international to be in the region of 7 million euros (Dh 28.5 million, $7.75 million).
The National’s Transfer Talk page
The Spanish side’s sporting director Jose Luis Perez Caminero believes Jota will be a great addition to his club.
“He is a young player, very fast and upright, carries the ball very well and has great acceleration,” Caminero said.
“Diogo has a great future and stands out for his one-on-one technique and his versatility, because he can play in several positions.”
Jota will join up with his new team for pre-season training on Thursday.
Lyon replace Umtiti with River Plate star
Lyon concluded the signing of promising Argentine international central defender Emanuel Mammana from River Plate on a five years deal for a fee of 7.5 million euros (Dh 30.52 million, $8.7 million) on Thursday.
The 20-year-old’s arrival follows Lyon’s sale of French international central defender Samuel Umtiti to Barcelona last week.
Lyon coach Bruno Genesio described Mammana, who played 37 times for River last season, as an aggressive defender who likes to build play from the back.
“I Like to pass and watch the play progress, I hate whacking a ball clear,” Mammana said Thursday at his unveiling.
Tevez wage demands dashed West Ham return
West Ham United's bid to re-sign Carlos Tevez stalled because of the striker's salary demands, the Premier League side's co-chairman David Sullivan has said.
The 32-year-old returned to his native Argentina with childhood club Boca Juniors in 2015 after nine successful seasons in Europe, where he won league titles with English sides Manchester United and Manchester City and Italy’s Juventus.
Tevez, who helped save West Ham from relegation during his one-year spell in the 2006-07 campaign, also had an outstanding final season with Juventus to help them win the Serie A and the Coppa Italia and reach the Champions League final in 2015.
“We tried to get Tevez but he wanted 250,000 pounds (Dh 1.2 million, $324,325) a week. In his last year at Juventus he was great. But 250 grand a week!” Sullivan told British media.
“He’ll probably stay where he is now but he doesn’t pay a lot of tax down there. I actually offered him 150 grand a week to come back plus bonuses. I thought that was an incredible offer for someone who loves West Ham.
“He was a fantastic player.”
Czech winger Krejci signs with Bologna
Czech Republic left winger Ladislav Krejci is leaving Sparta Prague for Serie A's Bologna, Sparta said on its website on Thursday.
The 24-year-old has scored four goals in 26 games for the Czech national team.
At Euro 2016, Krejci played all three games for the Czech Republic which bowed out after the group phase after losses to Spain and Turkey and a draw with Croatia.
Krejci has played 131 games for Sparta in the Czech league, winning titles in 2010 and 2014.
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