Goals from Graziano Pelle and Sadio Mane saw Southampton reach the Europa League play-offs with a comprehensive victory over Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem. Italian Pelle fired low into the bottom corner to put Saints into a commanding 4-0 aggregate lead after four minutes. Vitesse struggled to create clear openings but pushed forward late on before Mane settled the night’s result. In the second half Pelle made way for Jay Rodriguez, who came on for a first competitive appearance in 16 months. The 25-year-old forward suffered a knee ligament injury playing against Manchester City in the Premier League in April 2014. Away from the pitch, there were violent clashes between fans before the game, with 50 Dutch supporters and three English arrested. Southampton, competing in European competition for the first time since a first-round exit in the old Uefa Cup in 2003, are now one round from reaching the Europa League group stage. They will find out who they face in the two-legged play-off round after Friday’s draw in Switzerland.

American Floyd Mayweather has defended picking Andre Berto as his opponent in what could be his last ever fight. The unbeaten champion, 38, faces fellow countryman Berto in Las Vegas on 12 September, and could extend his winning run to 49 fights. Berto, 31, a former world champion, was a surprise choice given his fall down boxing’s pecking order in recent years. However, Mayweather told a news conference: “I chose Berto because he’s very exciting.” The final match-up of a six-fight deal with broadcaster Showtime, it could be WBC and WBA welterweight champion Mayweather’s final time in the ring. Many critics accused Mayweather of picking an easy fight on which to cement his unbeaten legacy – Berto has lost three of his last six contests. “Berto is a tough competitor, a former world champion. Every time he goes out he gives it 100%,” said Mayweather. “He’s been given backlash. I’ve been given backlash. But Andre Berto is going to push Floyd Mayweather to the limit.”

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West Ham were knocked out of the Europa League in the third qualifying round following a 2-1 defeat by Romanian side Astra Giurgiu to lose 4-3 on aggregate. After letting a two-goal lead slip in the first leg, debutant Manuel Lanzini put the much-changed Hammers ahead. But two goals in four minutes from Astra skipper Constantin Budescu earned the Romanian side victory. Defeat ends a stuttering campaign for Slaven Bilic’s team, who qualified through the Fair Play League. Modibo Maiga missed a late chance to take the game to extra time but with Astra also hitting the post twice, they created better chances at more regular intervals. The result meant the Hammers, in their first European outing since the 2006-07 season, are eliminated from Europe before the start of their domestic season. But with 11 changes made to the side from the first leg, with three players making their debuts, there was an obvious lack of experience on the field and an apparent lack of desperation to save the tie on a hot night in Romania.

Ghana international striker Abdul Majeed Waris has completed a transfer to Lorient, the French Ligue 1 club said on Thursday.  The 23-year-old had been expected to join Rennes in a $4.4m (£2.82m) deal from Turkish side Trabzonspor. But at the last hour Lorient trumped their rivals’ bid to snap up the Black Star, who has 19 caps for his country. Waris previously played in France for Valenciennes in 2013/14 where he scored an impressive nine goals in 16 games.

Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah has joined Roma on a season-long loan, with the Italian club given an option to buy the player at any point in the season. The Egypt international joined Chelsea from Swiss side Basel for £11m in January 2014. However, he has played only 19 times for the Blues, scoring two goals. The 23-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at Roma’s Serie A rivals Fiorentina, where he scored nine times in 26 games. “Salah is regarded by many as the best Egyptian player in the world right now,” Roma said in a statement on their website. 

The Confederation of African Football has declined to back Liberian Football Association president Musa Bility in his bid to become FIFA president. Bility, 48, is one of four men set to stand in next year’s election to replace incumbent Sepp Blatter. “The CAF executive committee decided unanimously not to give Musa Bility the support he requested,” CAF stated. However, Bility told BBC Sport his meeting with the body “was not about CAF endorsing me”. He said: “I’m privileged to have had the opportunity to talk to the entire CAF executive committee, to answer questions – concerns, admirations – all the issues that are wrong with football we discussed. That was a privilege. “I did not go to get a unanimous vote. I was given an opportunity to explain and lay my platform. That’s why I went and I’m happy I got it. “There is a nomination process going on and the door for other people in African remains open. Until that door closes CAF cannot unanimously support me.

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Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor’s move to Aston Villa is on the brink of collapse as the player is understood to be reluctant to move out of the capital. The Togo striker has been in talks with Villa for weeks and look set to be reunited with Tim Sherwood, who was his boss at Spurs. But now the deal, while not totally dead in the water, is pretty close to it. Villa fans will be philosophical as they have had a far busier summer than many would have thought and there are lots of players to get excited about. Furthermore, Sherwood has attacking options now with Rudy Gestede, Libor Kozak, Jordan Ayew and Gabby Agbonlahor.

David De Gea’s girlfriend has inadvertently confirmed the Manchester United stopper’s transfer to Real Madrid. Edurne Garcia, who is a 29-year-old popstar, won’t be doing herself any favours with the Old Trafford faithful especially after she was once quoted as saying Manchester was ‘uglier than the back of a fridge’ while taking part in a TV interview in Spain on Wednesday night. But Garcia’s dislike for the city of Manchester won’t cut as deep as the reported quotes that followed her high profile interview. El Mundo are reporting that Edurne Garcia was caught off-microphone after an interview suggesting De Gea is set to move to Real Madrid. ‘Now, when he is in Madrid,’ she reportedly said, ‘everything will be much easier.’ Manchester United recently signed Argentine No 1 Serigo Romero and have today been linked with a move for Spurs’ Hugo Lloris.

Nigeria have made a bid to snatch rising Liverpool star Jordon Ibe from England’s clutches. The 19-year-old looks certain to be given a Reds starting berth at the weekend ahead of £45million pair Adam Lallana and Lazar Markovic, as manager Brendan Rodgers offers the chance to cement a first team spot this season. That will open the prospect of an England Under-21 call for winger Ibe, who has already represented the national side at U18, U19 and U20 level. But Ibe is eligible to play for Nigeria through his father, David, and representatives from Nigeria were at Liverpool’s Melwood training ground on Wednesday to sound out the player over a switch of allegiances. That could persuade England boss Roy Hodgson to accelerate his progress into the full England squad — especially after Rodgers offered a glowing reference about the youngster’s progress.

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Sporting Lisbon say they will not be signing midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng because of the player’s image rights. The Portuguese club wanted to sign the Ghana international, 28, who has been suspended by Schalke since May. But it announced on its Facebook page  that “after negotiations, it was not possible to reach an agreement relating to his image rights”. The ex-Portsmouth and Tottenham player was told by his German club in May he had no future at the club. Boateng joined the Bundesliga club from AC Milan in 2013 and still has a year left on his contract. The importance of sports image rights as a marketing tool to promote and sell individual athletes and teams has grown into a huge industry.

Lionel Messi appeared to headbutt a Roma defender in Barcelona’s 3-0 pre-season friendly win at the Nou Camp. The Argentina forward, 28, was booked for the incident, in which he also grabbed the throat of France international Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa. Messi has never been sent off for Barcelona, but seemed to retaliate as the two players went head-to-head. He went on to score as the Catalan club continued their preparations for their La Liga title defence. They start the season against Athletic Bilbao on 23 August. Former Newcastle defender Yanga-Mbiwa was also booked as other players intervened.

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Crystal Palace have completed the signing of winger Bakary Sako on a free transfer. The 27-year-old Mali international has signed a three-year deal after leaving Championship side Wolves. Sako joined Wolves from St Etienne in 2012 and scored 36 goals in 118 appearances for the Midlands club. Meanwhile, Eagles boss Alan Pardew dismissed reports of a bid  for Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini saying “he will not be coming”. The 33-year-old centre-back has been with the Magpies for seven years and captained the club during Pardew’s reign. Pardew’s comments came after Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren told a BBC radio phone-in that Coloccini had been “distracted” by links with a move at Selhurst Park. “He wants to stay here so I am delighted,” added the former England manager. “Do I need to change the captain? Why do I need to unsettle everything – he carries on.” Sako becomes Palace’s fifth signing of the summer, after deals for Yohan Cabaye, Alex McCarthy, Patrick Bamford and Connor Wickham. He played a crucial role as Wolves were promoted to the Championship at the end of the 2013-14 season and was named in the League One Team of the Year. Last year, he was the club’s joint-top scorer with 15 goals, and featured in the Championship’s best XI. “I talked to some clubs but when I met manager Alan Pardew I felt a good feeling between him and me and that’s why I chose Palace,” said Sako. “He plays attacking, attractive football so it should be good to play here and score some goals. That’s why I came to join him.”

Amir Khan says he is “disappointed” after Floyd Mayweather choose to fight Andre Berto in September. “I’m disappointed not to have got the fight for what is the third time after having been one of the frontrunners. “However, there are many big fights out there for me and I’m going to continue working hard to establish myself at the top of the welterweight division.”

Ajax were the big casualty in Tuesday’s Champions League third qualifying round, losing 4-5 on aggregate to Austrian side Rapid Wien. The tie was poised at 2-2 after the first leg. But in the second-leg the Dutch side conceded two early goals at the Amsterdam Arena and Louis Schaub goal 13 minutes from time gave Rapid a 3-2 victory.

Partick Thistle’s new signing Mathias Pogba – brother of Juventus midfielder Paul – aims to make a name for himself in Scotland’s top flight. Pogba, 24, has signed a one-year deal. with the Scottish Premiership outfit. However, much like Dundee United’s Rodney Sneijder, the striker knows he cannot be mentioned without reference to his more famous brother. “Definitely as a footballer you would like to be known as you, not as the brother of Paul,” he told BBC Scotland. “Everybody has been talking about my brother, but now it would be nice to say ‘OK, Mathias Pogba is here’.” Pogba could have an immediate opportunity to make his own mark, with Thistle’s upcoming league game this Sunday at home to Celtic. So what about the prospect of a winning debut goal on live television against the defending champions? “I pray to God all that could happen,” he said.

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Bournemouth have signed former Leeds United forward Max Gradel from St Etienne for an undisclosed fee. The Premier League newcomers have agreed a four-year deal with the 27-year-old, who had a loan spell with the Cherries in the 2007-08 season. Ivory Coast player Gradel began his career at Leicester City and moved to Leeds in 2010 after a brief loan stint. He joined St Etienne 18 months later and was their leading scorer in Ligue 1 last season with 17 goals.

Angel Di Maria says he is “very happy” to be joining Paris St-Germain from Manchester United, a year after the Old Trafford club paid a British record £59.7m for him. The Argentina midfielder, 27, had a medical in Qatar on Tuesday ahead of his 63m euro (£44.3m) move. He later told beIN Sports:  “I am very happy to join Paris St-Germain. They’re very important.” Neither club has yet confirmed that the player’s move has gone through. Aspetar, a specialist sports hospital in Doha, announced on its Twitter feed on Tuesday that the player was there “for a medical test ahead of a proposed move”. Di Maria added: “They made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, so my objective was to arrive to Paris and to help them through the quarter-final barrier, because they have struggled in the past two seasons. “I will try to do the best I can to help the club in those objectives and reach the final stages of the Champions League.”

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Undefeated Floyd Mayweather will attempt to match Rocky Marciano’s record of 49 unanswered victories against Andre Berto on 12 September. Former welterweight champion Berto has 30 wins and three losses before his bout with his fellow American. “Promise you this I’m gonna be as ready as I’ve ever been. Don’t act surprised on 9/12,” tweeted Berto, 31.  Britain’s Amir Khan had hoped for a September bout with Mayweather, 38, after beating Chris Algieri in June. Khan thought he was “closer than ever”  to securing a meeting with the sport’s pound-for-pound king after his success over American fighter Algieri and Mayweather’s own points defeat of Manny Pacquiao in their lucrative meeting in May. However Mayweather has instead opted for an opponent who has lost three of his last six fights, with Berto suffering reverses to Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerro – both of whom have also been beaten by Mayweather – as well as Jesus Soto. “I always bring my A-game and this fight against Andre Berto is no exception,” said Mayweather. “He’s a young, strong fighter who is hungry to take down the best – 48 have tried before and on 12 September, I’m going to make it 49.”

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New Nigeria coach Sunday Oliseh is determined to show he has the managerial ability to disprove the critics who say he lacks the experience needed for the job. The 40-year-old former Borussia Dortmund and Juventus midfielder signed a three-year deal last month and succeeded Stephen Keshi, who was sacked at the start of July. Oliseh coached the Belgian lower league side Vervietois between 2008 and 2009 and since then he’s been working as a pundit, sport consultant and Fifa Technical committee member. “People are saying say I’ve never coached at this level before,” Oliseh told BBC World Service. “The only answer I can give is, can they name to me one African former player that has been able to coach any first division team in Europe? “It’s not a question of lack of effort, I got my coaching badge from the English Football Association more than five years ago, I’ve been working with the Fifa technical study group so it’s not through lack of trying. “It’s a question of the fact that at this moment there doesn’t seem to be opening for African coaches in Europe. “Eventually we will get there, I am very optimistic. We will break the barriers someday.”

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Manchester City have agreed a £14m fee with Roma for striker Edin Dzeko. Dzeko, 29, joined Manchester City from Wolfsburg in 2011 and scored 50 goals in 130 Premier League appearances for the Blues. The Bosnian was part of two Premier League title-winning squads, scoring the vital injury-time equaliser in the dramatic final-day encounter with QPR in 2012. He started the 2013 League Cup final win over Sunderland at Wembley and was an unused substitute in the 2011 FA Cup final victory against Stoke.