World Cup winner Kaka scored for Orlando City as the Major League Soccer side beat West Brom 3-1 in a friendly in Florida. The Baggies took a 14th-minute lead through Callum McManaman’s goal but 33-year-old Kaka, who helped Brazil win the 2002 World Cup, equalised when he ran with the ball from 40 yards out and scored past Boaz Myhill. Second-half goals from Carlos Rivas and Bryan Rochez secured the win for the American side.
Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat has also been adding to his squad. The Black Cats have signed Netherlands midfielder Jeremain Lens from Dynamo Kiev for £8m. The 27-year-old, who has joined on a four-year contract, worked with Advocaat at AZ Alkmaar and PSV Eindhoven. If you want to know what sort of player he is, he’s quite happy to tell you. “My qualities are that I’m fast, I can score goals and I can create chances,” said Lens. Lens is Sunderland’s third signing of the summer after the arrivals of defenders Adam Matthews and Sebastian Coates from Celtic and Liverpool respectively.
Manchester United goalkeeper Victor Valdes will be sold after manager Louis van Gaal claimed he “refused to play” in the reserves. The 33-year-old Spain international was a surprise omission from the pre-season squad currently touring the US. “He doesn’t follow my philosophy. There is no place for someone like that,” said Van Gaal of his January signing. United’s number one David De Gea, 24, has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid this summer. Valdes, who won La Liga six times with Barcelona, joined United as De Gea’s back-up after recovering from major knee surgery. Van Gaal responded to questions about Valdes’ absence. He said: “Last year, he refused to play in the second team and there are other aspects you need as a keeper at United. “When you are not willing to follow those principles, there is only one way and that is out. “It is a big disappointment. It is a pity because we have given him the opportunity to rehabilitate, gave him a contract and then he is fit to play.” Valdes, whose contract expires in 2016, made three appearances for the under-21 side last season – against Liverpool in January, Chelsea in February and Spurs in March. His only first-team start was in United’s final game of last season, and Van Gaal added: “I played him at Hull because I wanted to help. I am always a very social human being.”
Sunday Oliseh today signed contract to become the new Super Eagles of Nigeria coach. He signed a contract with the NFF which ties him to the Super Eagles until 2020 thus becoming the fifth player in the 1994 class to handle the senior national team after Austin Eguavoen, Samson Siasia, Daniel Amokachi and Stephen Keshi. “It’s a great honour to be coach of this great national team,” said Oliseh at the unveiling ceremony in Abuja. “I’m not coming as a messiah. I’m coming as a man who wants to serve his country and give 150%. “Gone are the days when we had individual players who can win games on their own. But we have potential,” he said. He also laid down the law to players of Nigerian origin on his requirements before they can feature for his team. “No player outside of first division in Nigeria or elsewhere will play for the Super Eagles. We will work together with the technical committee because if we fail, they fail,” he concluded.
Stoke City have completed a deal for Barcelona winger Moha El Ouriachi, and the 19-year-old could make his first appearance for the club in today’s Asia Trophy tie against Everton. Moha turned down Barcelona’s offer of a new contract to move to the Potters, where he links-up with ex-Barca players Bojan and Marc Muniesa. He has represented Spain at youth level and – confusingly – has also been called-up by his native Morocco for their under-23 squad. Talking about the signing of Barcelona winger Moha El Ouriachi, Stoke’s chief executive Tony Scholes said: “He’s excited about joining a Premier League club, especially one that already has two former Barcelona players in their squad. “Moha has seen the progress made by Bojan and Marc and wants to try and do likewise.”
Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez will miss the start of the season after helping Chile win the Copa America. The 26-year-old scored 25 goals for the Gunners last season as Arsene Wenger’s side finished third in the Premier League, and added a stunning goal as they won the FA Cup. Wenger said: “Alexis will be back with us on 3 August and usually it takes three weeks to be competitive. “With Alexis it could be a bit less. He will miss certainly the first game.” Sanchez will miss the Community Shield against Chelsea on 2 August. The Gunners open their Premier League campaign against West Ham on Sunday, 9 August, and if Sanchez did need a full three weeks to be match fit he could also miss games against Crystal Palace and Liverpool. Sanchez scored the winning penalty as hosts Chile won their first Copa title against Argentina on 4 July – the end of a 58-game season for the former Barcelona forward. Manchester City defenders Pablo Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis and Manchester United pair Angel Di Maria and Marcos Rojo all played for Argentina in that final. Tottenham winger Erik Lamela was an unused substitute.
Watford have signed defender Allan Nyom from Udinese on a four-year contract. The 27-year-old Cameroon right-back never played for the Italian side in six years, spending the entire time on loan with Spanish club Granada. Thirteen members of Watford’s current squad have played for Granada, Udinese or both – with all three sides owned by Giampaolo Pozzo. Nyom was part of the Cameroon squad at last summer’s World Cup finals, playing in the 4-1 defeat by hosts Brazil. He is Watford’s seventh signing of the summer after they were promoted to the Premier League in May. Nyom was still in contract at Udinese with no details of a transfer fee being revealed.
Former Nigeria skipper Sunday Oliseh will tomorrow in Abuja sign a contract with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) as the country’s new coach. The contract signing will be done at a public presentation slated for the Abuja National Stadium Wednesday morning, officials have informed. Oliseh, 40, replaces Stephen Keshi, who was sacked for a breach of trust.
Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling on a five-year deal. Speaking about his new signing, Blues boss Manuel Pellegrini described Sterling as “one of the best attacking players in world football”. “I am very much looking forward to him joining our squad out in Australia later this week,” added the manager. “He is a young player with outstanding ability, and I am sure the Manchester City fans will be very excited about seeing him in action for the team.” Sterling will wear the number seven shirt.
Robin van Persie has officially completed his move from Manchester United to Fenerbahce for an undisclosed fee. The Netherlands striker, 31, was unveiled in front of about 10,000 supporters inside the club’s stadium. He said: “I promise you one thing – I will do everything in my power to help Fenerbahce win as many trophies to make you happy. Let’s do it together.” Van Persie spent three years at United, scoring 58 goals, after signing from Arsenal for £24m.
Swansea manager Garry Monk has confirmed that Spain international Michu will not play for the club again. Michu took the Premier League by storm in his first season in English football in 2012-13 when he scored 22 goals following his £2m move from Rayo Vallecano. But his second season was disrupted by injury and the same happened again when he was on loan at Napoli last term. “He won’t be with the squad this year,” Monk told the South Wales Evening Post. “I now think we have kind of moved on as a squad. We had a big transition last year.” Michu – who had a year remaining on his Swans contract – is now free return home to Spain, with reported interest from Granada and former club Rayo.
Coach Fabio Capello has left his role as Russia head coach after three years in the post. The 69-year-old signed a four-year contract extension in 2014 to keep him under contract until the 2018 World Cup, which will be staged in Russia. But the Italian’s deal has been ended after a run of poor results. Russia have eight points from six games in their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and face the prospect of needing to win a play-off to reach the tournament. They were knocked out of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil in the group stage without winning a game. The Russian Football Union (RFU) said it had “reached an agreement to terminate his contract by mutual consent”. Reports in Russia suggest Capello has received 15m euros (£10.7m) in compensation from the RFU. Last month, a group of fans launched a fundraising campaign to buy the Italian out of his contract.
Bad news for Cheick Tiote – the Newcastle midfielder is training back on Tyneside after being refused a visa to join the rest of the squad in the United States. The Ivory Coast international was not among the party which jetted out to America and head coach Steve McClaren has since confirmed he did not travel because of an administrative issue. McClaren told the Chronicle: “He has had visa complications and trying to get him over the visa issue has been difficult, but it wasn’t successful. He is training back home.” Tiote was given a seven-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months and 180 hours community service in October 2013 after admitting possession of a fake driving licence – though it is not clear whether this had anything to do with the 29-year-old failing to get a visa.
Former Barcelona and Spain midfielder Xavi has hit out at Real Madrid for failing to give departing captain Iker Casillas a fitting send-off before his switch to Porto. A tearful Casillas appeared alone in the Bernabeu stadium press room on Sunday, though after much criticism from media and the fans the club responded by organising an official presentation yesterday. Xavi, who received a glittering farewell ceremony when he left Barcelona to join Qatari side Al Sadd last season, told Spanish paper La Vanguardia: “It cannot be that maturing Spanish athletes are not shown sufficient respect, that people neglect to value everything they have done for their sport and instead focus on their defects, sometimes with malicious intent.”
Former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri has been appointed Leicester City’s manager on a three-year contract. The 63-year-old Italian replaces Nigel Pearson, who was sacked on 30 June despite keeping the Foxes in the Premier League last season. Ranieri has not worked in England since leaving Stamford Bridge in 2004, and was sacked as Greece manager last year. “Since I left Chelsea I have dreamt of another chance to work in the best league in the world again,” he said. “I wish to thank the owner, his son and all the executives of the club for the opportunity they are giving me. Now I’ve only one way for returning their trust: squeeze all my energies to getting the best results for the team.” Ranieri left as manager of Atletico Madrid to join Chelsea in September 2000 and during his four-year spell, the Blues finished runners-up in the Premier League, reached the Champions League semi-final and were FA Cup finalists. Ranieri was replaced at Chelsea by Jose Mourinho and the Italian went on to manage Valencia, Parma, Juventus, Roma, Inter Milan and Monaco. He took over as Greece coach after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil but was sacked four months later after a home defeat by the Faroe Islands.
Henry Kasperczak has been appointed coach of Tunisia for a second stint, replacing Belgian Georges Leekens. Kasperczak, who signs a three-year deal, had been on the final three-man shortlist to coach Ivory Coast. The 69-year-old parted ways with Mali after this year’s Africa Cup of Nations. He coached Tunisia for four years from 1994, leading them to runners-up at the 1996 Nations Cup where they lost to hosts South Africa in the final. The former Poland international coached Ivory Coast to third place at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations and has also had spells in charge of Morocco, Mali and Senegal. His latest job was a second spell with Mali that ended after the Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea, where they failed to progress beyond the group stages despite being unbeaten. The Eagles finished tied with Guinea in Group D but were eliminated after the drawing of lots to separate the teams. Leekens left his post last month by mutual consent saying his vision for the future differed from the football association’s.
Schneiderlin, a 25-year-old France international, has signed a four-year deal, with the option for a further 12 months for a fee in the region of £25m.. He will join Louis van Gaal, fellow new boy Bastian Schweinsteiger and their new team-mates on their flight to Seattle for the start of their US tour on Monday afternoon. Schneiderlin said: “Once I learned that United were interested in signing me, it was a very easy decision to make.” “I have enjoyed seven very happy years with Southampton and it’s a club that will always be in my heart. But the chance to be part of this squad to help this great club be successful was too good to miss,” the midfielder said. “I’m excited to be starting that journey on our trip to the USA. I know what Manchester United means to fans all over the world and I’m looking forward to experiencing that.”
Manchester United has completed the signing of Bastian Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich. The 30-year-old Germany international joins United on a three-year deal. “Manchester United is the only club I would have left Munich for,” says Schweinsteiger. Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says Schweinsteiger “brings a wealth of experience and is an excellent addition to our squad”.
Stoke City have agreed a deal to sign former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson. The 30-year-old has signed a two-year deal with the option for a third year, after his release by the Reds. Potters boss Mark Hughes said of the England international: “He will be a fantastic addition. He’s a talented defender who also chips in with goals.” Hiss arrival remains subject to finalising of formalities, but he has joined up with Stoke in Singapore ahead of the Barclays Asia Trophy. It comes after Hughes confirmed that he expects goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to seal a move to Premier League champions Chelsea. Right-back Johnson, who arrived at Anfield for £17.5m from Portsmouth in 2009, will link up with summer arrivals Marco van Ginkel, Shay Given, Joselu, Philipp Wollscheid and Jakob Haugaard at the Britannia Stadium. The former West Ham trainee won 54 caps between 2003 and 2014. He appeared in the 2012 European Championship finals, and last year’s World Cup in Brazil. He spent six years at Anfield, with his final game for Liverpool coming in the 1-1 Premier League draw at Chelsea in May.
Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic has just completed his transfer to Chelsea where he will become the understudy for first choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Begovic was in goal when Nigeria defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina at the group stage of 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Nigeria’s goal was scored by Begovic’s then teammate Osaze Odewingie.
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