Sunderland
Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet has admitted striker Ignacio Scocco’s future is likely to lie away from the club.
Scocco, known as “Nacho”, arrived on Wearside in January as Poyet invested £3.2million (Dh20m) in his services in the search for goals to keep the club in the English Premier League.
Ultimately, it was a gamble which did not pay off as the 29-year-old Argentinian made only eight appearances and failed to find the back of the net.
Former club Newell’s Old Boys have been on his trail for several weeks and River Plate have also expressed an interest as South America beckons once again.
Poyet told the Sunderland Echo: “My first idea – and I knew it would be difficult – was to use Nacho last season to help us get out of the problems we were in.
“It was always going to be difficult for a player who had played in Argentina and Brazil over the last year to come to the English Premier League
“We were in a fight and he’s not that type of player – he needed us to be controlling games in order for him to do his bit.
“The type of player he is, we were not playing to his strengths – he needs to be in a team that is on top in games, so my idea then was to take the closed season to improve the team and to improve Nacho in terms of him being used to the environment over here and the football itself.
“But there are options now and everything is being analysed, we will see what happens over the next few days.”
Meanwhile, Sunderland’s pursuit of Fiorentina full-back Marcos Alonso has been dealt a blow amid reports from Italy that he has been taken off the market.
Sunderland have been in talks with Fiorentina over the man who spent the second half of last season on loan at the Stadium of Light for several weeks, and are understood to have made a cash-plus-player offer with Modibo Diakite the make-weight.
But Alonso is reported to have impressed manager Vincenzo Montella in pre-season training and may now have a role to play at Stadio Artemio Franchi.
It remains to be seen whether or not the latest development is a bargaining ploy designed to prompt an improved offer from the Wearside club.
West Bromwich Albion
Andre Wisdom has become West Brom’s sixth signing of the summer courtesy of Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers singing the defender’s praises.
England Under-21 international Wisdom has joined new head coach Alan Irvine’s side on a season-long loan from Anfield.
Wisdom scored on his Liverpool debut in a 5-3 Europa League win over Swiss side Young Boys in September 2012, going on to make a further 18 appearances that season.
Following three appearances for Liverpool at the start of last season, the 21-year-old then joined Derby County on loan for the season, starting 38 games, including the Championship play-off final defeat to QPR.
Capable of playing at right-back or centre-back, and going on Rodgers’ word, Irvine said: “I’ve spoken to Brendan, who I’ve known for a very long time and who I trust implicitly.
“He said Andre would do a good job for us. That was reassuring.
“You can see the player, but you want to find out what they are like as a person. Brendan spoke very, very highly about him.”
Elche
Mario Pasalic has joined Spanish club Elche on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
The 19-year-old midfielder, who was named in Croatia’s provisional 30-man World Cup squad but did not make it to Brazil, joined Chelsea from Hajduk Split earlier this month but has been immediately sent out on loan.
Elche confirmed on their website that Pasalic has already passed his medical with the La Liga club and begun training with his new teammates.
Pasalic said at his official presentation on Tuesday: “I wanted to play in La Liga and my coach (Jose) Mourinho thought the best thing for me was to come to Spain to play against big teams.
“I’m grateful for this opportunity with Elche. I’ve come here because I believe I can be an important player and help the club have a good season.”
Leicester
Leicester have signed striker Leonardo Ulloa from Brighton and Hove Albion for an undisclosed fee, the English Premier League newcomers have announced.
The Argentinian, who turns 28 this weekend, has penned a four-year contract at the King Power Stadium and could feature in Sunday’s pre-season friendly against Everton in Thailand.
Ulloa scored 25 goals in 52 appearances for Brighton since joining them from Spanish side Almeria in January 2013, including 16 goals last term to help the Seagulls reach the Championship play-offs, where they lost to Derby County in the semi-finals.
Brighton confirmed they had received a club-record fee for the striker, saying in a statement: “Leo Ulloa has completed his transfer from Brighton and Hove Albion to Leicester City, after the club reluctantly agreed to sell the striker for a club record transfer fee.”
Leicester manager Nigel Pearson said the former Castellon and San Lorenzo forward was someone the Championship winners had been looking at for quite a while.
He said on his club’s website: “We identified Leo as a player that could help us move forward quite some time ago.
“He complements the forwards we already have very well and his attributes broaden the options available to us, which will be important this season. I’m delighted we’ve been able to add him to the squad.
“He has adapted extremely well to the English game in a relatively short period of time and I’m sure he will have a great deal to offer us in the Premier League.”
Juventus
Striker Alvaro Morata’s 20 million euros move to Juventus has quickly turned sour after the Spaniard injured his knee in his first training session and was ruled out for seven weeks.
The 21-year-old, who completed his move from Real Madrid on Saturday, suffered a second degree injury to the medial collateral ligament in his left knee after being injured on Monday, the Serie A champions said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The forecast for a full recovery is of 50 days,” the club said.
A highly-rated product of the Real youth academy, Morata came to the fore in the 2012/13 season, former coach Jose Mourinho’s last at the club.
He scored eight goals in 23 La Liga appearances last season.
Even before the injury, he was expected to have a hard time breaking into the Juventus team where Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente formed an outstanding partnership in attack last season.
Russia
French forward Damien Le Tallec has signed for Russian top flight side Mordovia Saransk from Ukrainian outfit Hoverla Uzhgorod, the Russian club confirmed on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old Le Tallec, who played for German Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund in 2010-12, signed a two-year contract with Mordovia, who won promotion into the Russian Premiership last season.
No financial details of the deal were disclosed.
Serbia
Serbian media say Dick Advocaat, who coached the Netherlands and South Korea at World Cups, has agreed to take over the Balkan country’s national team.
The reports on Tuesday say Advocaat will become Serbia coach on Aug. 1.
The Football Association of Serbia president Tomislav Karadzic was quoted by B92 radio and television station as saying a formal announcement will be made soon.
Advocaat would take over from Sinisa Mihajlovic, who switched to Sampdoria after failing last year in World Cup qualifying.
Advocaat has also led the national teams of United Arab Emirates, Belgium and Russia, and clubs PSV Eindhoven and Rangers. Last season, he returned home to coach AZ Alkmaar, which reached the Europa League quarter-finals.
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