
Paul Pogba is pictured as he arrives Manchester his medical today with Manchester United ahead of his multi million transfer from Juventus.

Paul Pogba is pictured as he arrives Manchester his medical today with Manchester United ahead of his multi million transfer from Juventus.

Real Madrid have left Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo out of their squad for tomorrow’s UEFA Super Cup with Sevilla. Wales forward Bale, Portugal captain Ronaldo and defender Pepe, and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos are all left at home following Euro 2016. Real coach Zinedine Zidane has included his 18-year-old goalkeeper son Luca in the squad going to Trondheim, Norway.

Germany Olympic coach Horst Hrubesch is “annoyed” Arsenal do not play Serge Gnabry more often. The 21-year-old midfielder, who has made nine Premier League appearances, has scored three goals at Rio 2016 in two games. “He’s shown what he can do to everybody,” Hrubesch said on sport1.de. “I’m just annoyed that he is never shown this faith by his club.”

Nigeria’s Under-23 team defeated Sweden by a goal to maintain top spot in the Group B. Umar Sadiq put Nigeria ahead of Sweden in the 40th minute when he headed a cross from the right flank, beating the Swedish keeper that had stopped the Nigerian side from scoring in the first few minutes of the game. It is Nigeria’s second victory in the group games. The team defeated Japan 5-4 in their first games. With the victory over Sweden, Nigeria is topping the group with six points while Sweden has just a point.

Nigeria U-23 men’s football team (known as Dream Team VI) who arrived in Brazil just six hours before their opening match against Japan kicked off, won 5-4 in Manaus courtesy of four goals from Oghenekaro Etebo. The match started by 2am Friday morning (Nigerian Time). Sadiq Umar scored Nigeria’s first goal after only five minutes. The Japanese equalised via a penalty three minutes later as Shinzo Koroki put the ball behind the net for his country. Dream Team VI took the lead again through Etebo from a long ball from Abdullahi Shehu. Japan leveled as Takumi Minamino slipped the ball under goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel. Etebo was again on the scorers sheet, with a rebound after a Mikel Obi shot was pushed out by Kushibiki, the Japanese goalkeeper. Two consecutive goals by the Asian champions could not save the day, as Nigeria go atop the table with three points. Sweden and Colombia had played 2-2.

Former Everton, Wigan and Swansea manager Roberto Martinez has been appointed as the new head coach of Belgium. Spaniard Martinez, 43, was sacked by the Toffees in May after three years in charge at Goodison Park. He succeeds Marc Wilmots, who left his post last month, two weeks after the Euro 2016 quarter-final defeat by Wales. The vacancy was advertised online by the Belgian Football Association. It wanted a “strong and open communicator” who has a “proven track record in transmitting tactical and strategic knowledge” to top players. In a statement, the Belgian FA said it was “delighted and proud to have found a coach at this level so quickly”. At Everton, Martinez managed Belgium internationals Marouane Fellaini, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas.

Manchester City have signed 19-year-old Brazilian winger Gabriel Jesus from Palmeiras for £27m plus add-ons. Jesus has agreed a five-year deal but will stay with Palmeiras until the end of the Brazilian season in December. City regard the player as the best young talent in South America and fought off interest from Barcelona. Jesus was voted the best newcomer in the Brazilian top flight last season and is part of his country’s squad at the Rio Olympics. He has scored 26 goals in 67 first-team appearances for Palmeiras and is the top scorer in the Brazilian Serie A this season – but is yet to make his senior international debut. The add-ons in the deal are believed to be worth £4m, depending on his success at Etihad Stadium. “We have many great talents in the team and a fantastic manager in Pep Guardiola that I can learn so much from,” said Jesus. “I’m looking forward to showing the City fans what I can do and I think we’ll have a great future together.” Jesus is capable of playing across the forward line and further boosts new manager Guardiola’s attacking options following Tuesday’s £37m capture of Germany international Leroy Sane from Schalke. Guardiola has now spent around £100m on players so far this summer and also signed Ilkay Gundogan, Nolito, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Aaron Mooy.

Nigeria international midfielder Ogenyi Onazi says he needed to move from Italian club Lazio as he joined Turkish side Trabzonspor. The 23-year-old moves on a four-year deal after five years at Lazio, scoring seven goals in 110 appearances. Despite having a contract at the Serie A outfit until summer 2018, the Super Eagle insists it was time to leave Rome and seek pastures new elsewhere. “I left Lazio for personal reasons,” Onazi said. He made 20 appearances in all competitions for Lazio last season as a lack of form and injury hampered him, but was a more regular starter when Simone Inzaghi took over as coach in April. “Importantly I needed to make this move to clear my head and be happy playing football again. “It might be difficult for some people to understand my decision but this is a step forward in my career. “The Lazio coach [Simone Inzaghi] spoke to the management about keeping me. I was even offered a contract extension to stay but Trabzonspor provides a new lease of life. “I thank the Lazio fans, managers, players and backroom staff at the club who supported me from my Primavera [youth team] days for their love and incredible affection. “I will always be a Lazio fan because the club gave me the platform to be the player I am today.”

Germany midfielder Leroy Sane has completed his move to Manchester City for a fee of £37m plus add-ons. The 20-year-old has signed a five-year contract after leaving Schalke. City manager Pep Guardiola said: “He is a special talent and an exciting player that I think our supporters will enjoy watching.” Sane, who helped Germany reach the semi-finals at Euro 2016, scored eight goals in 33 Bundesliga appearances last season as Schalke finished fifth. “He has great technical ability, is comfortable on the ball and there is much to admire about the way he plays football,” Guardiola added. “He is fast, enjoys creating chances for others, works hard for the team and scores goals too. He also has a very positive attitude and will fit in well. “At 20, he is still developing as a player but he is already a member of the German national side and I think he will be a fantastic asset to our club.” Sane said one of the reasons for joining City was to work with Guardiola. “I think he can make me a more complete player,” said Sane. “I think I will need a bit of time to start with because it’s another league and there’s a different style of play, but I think I can adapt very quickly.”

Russian club Rubin Kazan have signed Barcelona midfielder Alex Song on a free transfer. The 28-year-old former Cameroon player had been expected to join Rubin on loan but has signed a permanent deal after terminating his Barca deal. Song, who left Arsenal to sign a five-year deal with Barcelona in 2012, made 65 appearances for the Catalan club and scored one goal. He had spent the last two seasons on loan at Premier League side West Ham.

Happy August dear readers. We implore August to be good to all of us.