DEFOE SET TO JOIN BOURNEMOUTH
Jermain Defoe is set to join Premier League side Bournemouth after undergoing a medical, he told BBC Radio on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old, who scored 15 goals in the Premier League for Sunderland last season but is able to leave for free as he had an escape clause in his contract should they be relegated, said it would be announced officially in July.
“It’s out there, a lot of people obviously knew. I did a medical and said when this is finished and I’ve had a break, come July everyone will know anyway,” he said.
Defoe, who also numbers West Ham United, Tottenham Hotspur (twice) and Portsmouth among his other clubs, had been at Sunderland since 2015 after a spell in Major League Soccer with Toronto FC.
He also spent the 2000/01 season at Bournemouth on loan when they were in the third tier, scoring 18 goals in 29 league appearances.
The veteran England striker said he did not want to announce the move officially out of respect for the Sunderland fans who were still depressed following relegation.
“Two-and-a-bit years at Sunderland, I enjoyed my time there. It’s not nice when you get relegated, and I don’t think it’s fair on the Sunderland fans to come out so soon after they’ve been relegated and say ‘yeah, I’m signing for someone else’,” he said.
“It’s too soon to put it out there. At the right time, I would like to say ‘this is the club I’ll be playing for’.”
LUKAKU SAYS HE IS MOVING ON FROM EVERTON
High-scoring Everton striker Romelu Lukaku said on Tuesday he had decided where he wants to move ahead of the next season and had reached an agreement with another club.
Lukaku, who moved to Everton in 2014 after a season-long loan spell, has been linked with his former club Chelsea as well as Manchester United and Bayern Munich in recent weeks by the British media.
“My agent knows what’s going to happen and I know as well. I’m staying calm and we have an agreement with the club as well. We stay calm and at least we have a direction where we want to go,” the Belgium international, 24, told Sky Sports.
“I’m just going to rest for a few days and then just prepare for next season. I want to put the time in on my holiday to take everything to another level and be better than I was last year.”
Lukaku was Everton’s top scorer last season with 25 goals in 36 Premier League appearances. He helped his team secure a seventh place finish but in March rejected a new contract to extend his stay at Goodison Park.
Lukaku’s agent, Mino Raiola, said last week that Everton would allow him to leave if “certain clubs” met the US$128.94 million (Dh473.5m) price tag placed on him by the Merseyside club.
LIVERPOOL SET TO BREAK RECORD FOR VAN DIJK
Dutch international defender Virgil van Dijk could become the world’s most expensive defender and join Premier League giants Liverpool from rivals Southampton, according to British media reports.
The 25-year-old – who joined Southampton in 2015 after impressing at Scottish champions Celtic – would cost around £60 million (Dh284.4m), according to reports.
BBC Radio Solent and other media outlets reported later on Tuesday that Southampton were unhappy and had asked the league to probe whether there had been an illegal approach by Liverpool.
Van Dijk would be Liverpool’s most expensive signing – striker Andy Carroll having cost £35 million in moving from Newcastle United in 2011.
Celtic would be in line for 10 percent of the fee having included a sell-on clause in his transfer to Saints.
David Luiz is presently the most expensive defender in the world having been sold to Paris Saint-Germain by Chelsea for £50 million in 2014.
According to The Sun, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has convinced the Liverpool owners Van Dijk is deserving of earning a weekly wage of almost £200,000, which will make him their highest-paid player.
Van Dijk – who also caught the eye of both Manchester City and champions Chelsea – is keen on a move to Liverpool not only for Uefa Champions League football but to join compatriot and close friend Georginio Wijnaldum.
Southampton have become a favoured hunting ground for Liverpool in the past three years having signed five players – including Adam Lallana and Senegalese star Sadio Mane – for a total of almost £100m.
ARSENAL SIGN KOLASINAC
Arsenal made defender Sead Kolasinac the Premier League club’s first off-season signing on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old left back will join on a five-year contract from German club Schalke, where his contract is ending.
“Arsenal has a huge tradition and I followed the club as a young boy, in the days of Jens Lehmann and Thierry Henry,” Kolasinac said.
Arsenal, which said the move has not yet been officially completed, is strengthening the squad after manager Arsene Wenger signed a two-year contract extension.
Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League and will play in the Europa League rather than the more lucrative Champions League next season.
EVERTON’S LUKAKU SAYS DECISION MADE OVER FUTURE
High-scoring Everton striker Romelu Lukaku said on Tuesday he had decided where he wants to move ahead of the next season and had reached an agreement with another club.
Lukaku, who moved to Everton in 2014 after a season-long loan spell, has been linked with his former club Chelsea as well as Manchester United and Bayern Munich in recent weeks by the British media.
“My agent knows what’s going to happen and I know as well. I’m staying calm and we have an agreement with the club as well. We stay calm and at least we have a direction where we want to go,” the 24-year-old Belgium international told Sky Sports.
“I’m just going to rest for a few days and then just prepare for next season. I want to put the time in on my holiday to take everything to another level and be better than I was last year.”
PIOLI TAKES OVER AT FIORENTINA
Former Inter Milan and Lazio manager Stefano Pioli has agreed terms to take over at Fiorentina on a two-year deal, the Serie A club announced on Tuesday.
Pioli was sacked three games before the end of a rollercoaster Serie A campaign with Inter that saw a quality-packed Nerazzurri side go from Uefa Champions League qualification contenders to missing out on European football altogether.
Fiorentina, where Pioli played 156 times between 1989 and 1995, were quick to make the 51-year-old manager an offer following the departure of Portuguese manager Paulo Sousa.
“Fiorentina announces the club has reached agreement with Stefano Pioli, who will take over as first team coach,” a statement by Fiorentina read. “The new coach will sign a two-year deal, with the option of a third.”
Fiorentina finished eighth in Serie A, three points adrift of the Europa League qualification places.
Pioli’s appointment means fans will be hoping for a return to qualifying for Europe.
He led Lazio to a third-place finish in his first season with the club in 2014/15, only to be sacked in April 2016 after a 4-1 derby defeat to Roma.
Pioli took over from sacked Inter Milan manager Frank de Boer on November 8, leading Inter to a 2-2 derby draw with AC Milan in his first game in charge of the Nerazzurri.
But after steering the club to 12 victories in his first 16 games at the helm, Inter’s troubles began in March.
Following a 7-1 San Siro rout of Atalanta, Inter went on an eight-match winless run featuring six defeats and including humiliating reverses to Sampdoria and Crotone that saw them fall out of contention for a place in Europe.
SPALLETTI HAPPY TO LAND AT INTER
Luciano Spalletti said on Tuesday he was happy to be the new manager of Inter Milan as he prepared to fly out to China to finalise a deal with the club’s owners.
Spalletti led Roma to second place in Serie A this season but left last week after deciding not to renew his contract.
Since then, he had been widely expected to take over at Inter Milan, who finished the season under interim coach Stefano Vecchi.
“It’s all done because we’ve shaken hands,” he said. “I’m one of those old-fashioned types who does things with a shake of the hand. I’m happy to be the new coach of Inter.”
Inter have been under Chinese ownership since June last year when electronics retailer Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd bought a nearly 70 per cent share for Dh1.1 billion.
However, they have had a turbulent first year.
Roberto Mancini resigned two weeks before the start of last season and was replaced by De Boer, who himself was dismissed after 85 days. His replacement, Stefano Pioli, was himself fired last month after a seven-match winless run.
There was no official comment from the club on Tuesday.
DORTMUND DECIDE ON BOSZ
Dutchman Peter Bosz has been named as the new coach of Borussia Dortmund, the German giants announced on Tuesday.
“Peter Bosz is the new BVB Head Coach. Contract will last until 2019. Further info in a press conference this afternoon,” a statement from Dortmund read on their English-language Twitter account.
Bosz, 53, arrives from Ajax after leading the Dutch side to the final of the Europa League, where they lost 2-0 to Manchester United last month.
Briefly a player in Germany with Hansa Rostock in the 1990s, he replaces Thomas Tuchel, who was sacked despite Dortmund winning the German Cup – their first major silverware in five years – and finishing third in the Bundesliga in the season just finished.
Switzerland’s Lucien Favre, formerly in charge at Borussia Moenchengladbach, had been linked with a return to the German game with Dortmund but his current side Nice refused to let him go.
UNHAPPY PEPE TO MOVE ON FROM REAL MADRID
Pepe’s title-laden decade as Real Madrid’s bruising enforcer is over.
The 34-year-old Portugal centre-back has been a key figure for Madrid, one of the most intimidating – and on occasion volatile – defenders in Europe. But he said late on Monday that he will not be around next season.
“It’s clear that I won’t continue at Real Madrid,” Pepe told Spanish radio COPE.
Pepe has won with 15 trophies with the club, including three Champions Leagues and three Spanish league titles.
But he has fallen out of favour with manager Zinedine Zidane.
A regular starter for most of his career, injuries and Zidane’s preference for Raphael Varane and Nacho Fernandez meant Pepe made only 18 appearances in 2016/17.
“I took the decision in January, when things weren’t going well. I saw that the club’s treatment of me wasn’t ideal,” Pepe said. “The policy of the club is to not offer players over 33 two-year contracts. So they only offered me one.
“There are ways to negotiate, but that way wasn’t right.”
While Zidane is receiving praise for guiding Madrid to the Champions League-Spanish league double this season, Pepe said he preferred Zidane’s short-lived predecessor, Rafa Benitez.
“I liked Benitez’s sincerity. I identified with him because he is a very direct and honest person,” Pepe said. “What [Zidane] has done with Madrid has been spectacular, but there are things I don’t understand, that I can’t explain. I don’t know why I disappeared from the team.”
Despite losing his important role with Madrid, Pepe proved he was still among the very best defenders on the continent last year when he was Portugal’s most consistent player in its run to the European Championship title in France.
Pepe’s contract with Madrid expires on June 30. He has been linked to Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan, and said he had at least one suitor “from England”.
Wherever he goes, he will take his reputation with him.
Pepe almost sabotaged his career during a match in 2009 when he repeatedly kicked and stomped on Getafe midfielder Javier Casquero while he was on the ground. Pepe was given a 10-match ban for the rampage.
Pepe managed to control his emotions during his final seasons with Madrid, but the Casquero incident and several other sendings-off will continue to haunt him.
“When I arrived, I defended Real Madrid tooth and nail. It was a difficult position to play. We centre-backs had to cover a lot of ground, and we had to be very physical with the opposing strikers,” he said. “What happened against Getafe marked my career, it defined me in Spain. People were left with that image, and what I did was very ugly.”
Even so, Pepe said he will take the good with the bad when he leaves Madrid.
“I am very proud of my years spent at this club, giving it my heart and soul,” Pepe said. “I finished my time at Real Madrid giving it all I had.”
ZOBNIN FIFTH RUSSIAN PLAYER RULED OUT OF CONFEDERATIONS CUP
MOSCOW // Midfielder Roman Zobnin became the fifth Russian player to be ruled out of the Confederations Cup because of injury on Tuesday.
The Russian Football Union (RFU) said Zobnin damaged cruciate and lateral ligaments in his right knee during Monday’s 3-0 friendly win over Hungary.
The RFU said he was heading to Rome for treatment and “will not take part in the Confederations Cup.”
Zobnin, 23, has started Russia’s past seven games and was a key player in Spartak Moscow’s run to the Russian league title this season.
Russian national team doctor Eduard Bezuglov said Zobnin would be out for at least four months, according to Russian media.
Out of its original 30-man provisional squad, Russia has also lost midfielder Alan Dzagoev, forward Artyom Dzyuba, naturalized Brazilian right back Mario Fernandes and goalkeeper Andrei Lunyov to various injuries.
Russia starts its Confederations Cup campaign in St Petersburg against New Zealand on June 17, followed by group games against Portugal and Mexico.
* Agencies
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