Latest Football Transfer Stories And Titbits For the 21st of July 2015

Here are the latest football transfer deals, rumours and titbits as compiled by Our man Paul Ayorinde

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Done Deals:

– Empoli have completed the signing of defender Andrea Costa as a free agent on a three year-contract.

– Crystal Palace have completed the signing of Patrick Bamford form Chelsea on a season-long loan deal

– Derby County defender Raul Albentosa has joined Malaga on a season-long loan deal.

– Newcastle United have signed Aleksandar Mitrovic from Anderlecht on a five-year deal subject to a work permit.

– Napoli have completed the signing of midfielder Allan from Udinese.

– Paris Saint-Germain have completed the signing of Benjamin Stambouli from Tottenham on a five-year contract.

– Saint Etienne have completed the signing of Nolan Roux from Lille.

– Turkish side Kasimpasa have completed the signing of Kenneth Omeruo from Chelsea on a season-long loan deal

Kenneth Omeruo

Today’s reports and rumours:

– Chelsea are pushing to conclude a £14m deal with Augsburg for left-back Abdul Baba Rahman, according to reports.

– Wolfsburg do not want to sell midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, says the chief of the club’s supervisory board Francisco Garcia.

– Roma are reportedly on the verge of signing Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny on loan.

– Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert could be a West Brom player by the end of the week, according to reports

– Joao Moutinho has been given the green light to join Arsenal this summer after Monaco revealed he could leave the club, according to reports.

– Roma are close to signing Barcelona defender Adriano for €8million,according to reports.

– Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm admits he cannot guarantee Thomas Muller will not follow Bastian Schweinsteiger to Manchester United.

– MLS club Chicago Fire have submitted an offer to former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, according to Sky Sports sources.

– Louis van Gaal says Manchester United “are in the process” of signing a striker not previously linked with the club .

– Tottenham have reportedly launched a £7million move for Lyon forward Clinton Njie.

– Jeremy Menez’s agent assures the forward ‘will definitely stay at Milan’, despite reports linking away from the club.

Petr Cech. photo credit chelseafc.com

– Nemanja Matic has criticised Chelsea’s decision to sell keeper Petr Cech to Arsenal, admitting he is a “very important signing” for the Gunners.

– Real Madrid have rejected a £31million bid from Arsenal for striker Karim Benzema, according to reports.

– Chelsea will lodge an improve £34million bid for John Stones in an attempt to weaken Everton’s
resolve, according to reports.

– West Ham are ready to submit a second bid for Everton winger Kevin Mirallas after having an opening £6million bid rejected, according to reports

– Ivan Perisic’s agent admits Wolfsburg are ‘very reluctant’ to sell the forward to Inter Milan, but talks are ongoing.

– Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke is likely to be the last new face brought into Liverpool this summer,according to Sky Sports sources.

– Juventus are reportedly in talks with Cagliari for 19-year-old midfielder Godfred Donsah.

– Xherdan Shaqiri likes Schalke 04 and returning to the Bundesliga “is an objective, but at the moment I’m still an Inter player.”

Mario Balotelli. photo credit imageion.net

– Walter Zenga says Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli “won’t come to Sampdoria. We need different types of people here.”

– Esteban Cambiasso has announced he will not be renewing his contract with Leicester City

– Stuttgart and Borussia Monchengladbach have expressed an interest in taking Chelsea defender
Nathan Ake on loan next season.

– Luis Suárez has urged his fellow Barcelona forward Pedro to remain at the club, as interest in the Spain international grows.

– Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has blasted Porto’s decision to sign Iker Casillas on a lucrative contract.

– According to reports, Feyenoord are considering a move for Ron Vlaar, who is available on a free transfer

– Sunderland are interested in signing Tottenham midfielder Moussa Dembele, according to reports.

– According to reports in Spain, Manchester City are now the clear favourites to land Valencia defender Nicolas Otamendi ahead of rivals Manchester United.

– Crystal Palace have been offered Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato, according to reports.

Chicharito o Nino per il Milan, Destro legato a Benatia http://www.diggita.it:v.php?id=1388790

– Tottenham are set to make an opening bid of £8million for Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez.

– Napoli are considering Hull City striker Abel Hernandez, according to reports.

– Fenerbahce are interested in signing Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon, according to reports.

– Manchester United will not sign Robert Lewandowski or Thomas Muller, claims former Red Markus Neaumayr.

– Carpi are on the verge of signing Udinese defender Igor Bubnjic,according to reports in Italy.

– Schalke 04 “authorised Juventus to speak with Julian Draxler,” but are reportedly unwilling to release him on loan.

– Jose Mourinho says Chelsea are in search of a new left-back in the transfer window, as he expects to sell Filipe Luis in the next few days.

Football tit bits:

– British comedian Simon Brodkin to be charged with trespassing by Swiss authorities after throwing money at FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

– Greece coach Sergio Markarian has handed in his resignation after only five months in charge.

– Ivory Coast have named Michel Dussuyer as their new coach on a two-year deal.

– Mario Balotelli has angered Liverpool fans after he congratulated former team-mate Raheem Sterling for scoring on his Manchester City debut.

– The West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis has rebuked his Irish midfielder James McClean for not respecting the British national anthem before a friendly match in the United States.

– The former FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb has provided 11 luxury watches to secure the $10million bond that enabled his release from custody, along with his wife’s wedding ring, three opulent cars and 10 properties.

– A Spanish High Court has turned down Elche’s petition to be reinstated to the Primera Division for the 2015-16 season, leaving Eibar in the top flight.

The Undertaker Makes Shock Appearance At WWE Battleground

Now we did not see that coming did we? The Undertaker returns to a WWE main event that isn’t Wrestlemania.

The Dead Man made a shock appearance at WWE Battleground on Sunday during Seth Rollins’ WWE World Heavyweight title defense against Brock Lesnar.

The last time the legendary wrestler was seen in a WWE ring was at Wrestlemania when he defeated Bray Wyatt earlier in the year and fans were not expecting him to make an appearance until next year’s event.

But the Undertaker returned to the ring just as Brock Lesner was about to seal his win against Seth Rollins and twat the beast chances of reclaiming his WWE World Heavyweight title.

The Undertaker makes shock appearance at WWE Battleground

The two men engaged each other physically but it was the returning legend that overcame the stunned Lesnar to set up a potentially tantalizing encounter in the near future.

The Undertaker will have revenge in his mind after Brock Lesnar defeated him during their last encounter and ended the Dead Man’s over 20 years winning streak at Wrestlemania.

Shehu Bello
amebosports.com

Mauritius Back To African Nations Championship After 14 Years

2015 Men’s African Nations Championship

Mauritius Men’s Volleyball team arrived to Cairo to participate at the 2015 Men’s African Nations Championship after 14 years of absence from the African volleyball peak event.

Mauritius will participate in the African Nations Championship due to start in Cairo, Egypt on July 22 till 30 for the first time since 2001 aiming to achieve good results and also to prepare for the Indian Ocean Games to be held as from 1st August 2015 in Reunion Island.

To achieve their goal, Mauritius Volleyball Federation called Fabrice Chalendar, a French coach at Lyon to supervise the team and gain the experience from that higher level of teams like Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Botswana, Rwanda, Kenya and Cameroun.

“It will be a good test for the team and also to gain experience with these teams who possesses players of high quality,” Fabrice Chalendar said.

“We will also use this tournament to reinforce our team spirit as our main goal remain the Indian Ocean Games,” added Melchior Miniopoo, the Mauritian national coach.

Mauritius team

The Mauritian squad includes Gilbert Alfred, Stephane Moonisamy, Gino Sophie, Evans Sauteur, Ashwin Ramkalawon, Sunil Mudhoo, Éric Louise, Hansley Casimir, Brian Perrine, Kevin Larose, Akash Doobraz et Jason Raddoo. Head Coach is Melchior Miniopoo, Technical supervisor: Fabrice Chalendar, Team-manager: Bose Soonarane and the accompanying referee: Rohit Caullychurn

CAVB web site: http://www.cavb.org
Twitter: CAVB Tweets
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CAVBVolleyball
YouTube: CAVB Video
Instagram: CAVB_ volleyball

Riza Itola

Seeds Announced For 2015 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Play-Offs

The ITF has announced the seeds for the Draw for the 2015 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group play-offs. The Draw will take place on Tuesday 21 July at the ITF offices in London at 10:00 local time (09:00 GMT). The seeds are based on the new ITF Davis Cup Nations Ranking of 20 July: http://www.daviscup.com/en/rankings/current-rankings.aspx

The eight seeded nations in the World Group play-offs are:

Czech Republic (1)
Switzerland (2)
Italy (3)
USA (4)
Japan (5)
Germany (6)
Croatia (7)
Slovakia (8)

Each of the seeds will be drawn against one of the following unseeded nations:

Brazil
Colombia
Dominican Republic
India
Netherlands
Poland
Russia
Uzbekistan

The 2015 World Group play-offs will take place alongside the World Group semifinals on 18-20 September. The eight winning nations will contest the 2016 World Group, while the eight losing nations will contest their respective Zone Group I events in 2016.

The line-up for the World Group play-offs was confirmed when Dominican Republic, India, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Uzbekistan all won their Zone Group I second round ties on 17-19 July (Colombia won its second round tie on 6-8 March). They joined the losers from the 2015 World Group first round ties.

Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the World Cup of Tennis. It is the largest annual international team competition in sport, with 126 nations entered in 2015. The competition is 115 years old having been founded in 1900. The title sponsor is BNP Paribas, the Official Bank of Davis Cup. International sponsors are Rolex (Official Timekeeper), Adecco (Official HR Sponsor) and NH Hotels (Official Hotel). beIN SPORTS is the Official Global Media Rights Partner. Follow all the action on http://www.daviscup.com, http://www.copadavis.com, http://www.twitter.com/daviscup, http://www.facebook.com/DavisCupTennis, http://www.Weibo.com/daviscupofficial and http://www.daviscup.tv.

ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers: Dutch Reflect On Victories Past To Visualise Next Success #wt20q

The Netherlands will seek to draw inspiration from the World Cricket League Division 2 final earlier this year in its bid to beat Namibia on Tuesday and so qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 2016.

The Dutchmen believe they are the better team and memories of that comfortable victory last January in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, remain prominent in their minds and, they hope, in the minds of their vanquished opponents. Meanwhile, a highly motivated Afghanistan will face one of the surprise packages of the tournament, Hong Kong, in the other play-off of the day.

The winners of those two games in Malahide on Tuesday will join Ireland and Scotland in qualifying for India while the losers must then play off against the fourth-placed teams from the group stage, Papua New Guinea and Oman, for the final two qualification spots.

Netherlands captain Peter Borren scored 60 not out in that 50-over World Cricket League final as his team successfully chased Namibia’s 212 with eight wickets and nine overs to spare. And despite knowing that Twenty20 cricket is a different proposition, Borren feels the momentum is with him.

Sharad Vesawkar, Nepal, in action against Ed Farley, Jersey. ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015, Nepal v Jersey. Malahide, Dublin. Picture credit: Sam Barnes / ICC / SPORTSFILE

“We have beaten them before so we know we can do it,” said the 31-year-old all-rounder. “It makes it easier to prepare for the game knowing we beat them recently. That definitely gives us confidence. We know Namibia is a dangerous batting side. Craig Williams is a very good player and so is Stephen Baard and of course Gerrie Snyman so they’re not a team to be taken lightly. But we know them from playing in that World Cricket League final earlier this year so we feel we can beat them again.”

For most observers, Group B was by far the tougher pool at this qualifier so while he would have preferred to take top spot, Borren is relieved just to be in the competition still.

“We knew coming into this competition that we were in a tough group. It was so competitive. We are a little disappointed not to have won our group, losing out to Scotland on net run-rate, but that’s the tournament. We are still happy to have made it through the group and we still have a good chance of qualification. We are confident of progressing and it’s still our goal to win the tournament so that is the focus.”

There is a completeness about the Netherlands team. On the bowling front, the pacey Mudassar Bukhari and Timm van der Gugten have been a handful while in Michael Rippon (who took five wickets in that WCL final), Peter Seelar and former South Africa ODI player Roelof van der Merwe, they have plenty of spin options. Throw in the skipper’s nagging line and length and there aren’t many weak links for opposition batsmen to target.

And with bat in hand, Wesley Barresi, Stephan Myburgh, Ben Cooper and Borren himself have been in good form.

Irfan Ahmed, Hong Kong, hits a one of his fours. ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015,…

“We have good balance in our side, lots of variation in our bowling. We have spin options and our pace bowlers also vary their attack a lot, which I think is important in this format. Roelof has been a great addition to the team. In many ways, our team spirit is our main asset and he adds to that hugely. His energy and his competitive nature has been great for us. He is a very good bowler and a fantastic fielder. We haven’t seen much of his batting so far in the tournament but we know how good he is and hopefully we’ll see some of that from him soon.”

As for the Namibians, the way Group A ended, they will rue a missed chance to finish top but a fantastic innings of 98 by Hong Kong’s Irfan Ahmed proved to be the difference on the day.

Captain Nicolaas Scholtz is ready for the next challenge. He said: “We are disappointed not to have topped the group. We really wanted to beat Hong Kong, which would have given us qualification for India but it wasn’t to be. That’s Twenty20 cricket – one guy batted really well for them and took the game away from us. It’s important now that we put it behind us and we go again.

“We are in a good space as a team. We know the Dutch guys quite well. We know all their players and how good they can be on their day. They will come hard at us. We know exactly what they are going to do and they usually do it very well so we will have to be at our best to beat them. We have a game plan for them and we will do our best to execute it.

“Most of us are in pretty good form. We have guys scoring runs, taking wickets and we have a great team spirit. We like to play with freedom and in a way Twenty20 allows you to do that but it’s a fine line between going hard all the way and being irresponsible so we know when we need to bat sensibly, for example, and when we go all out.”

With a warm and friendly attitude, the Nambians have endeared themselves to their hosts since being in Europe and it seems the feeling is mutual.

“We have been in Scotland and Ireland now for a few weeks and the hospitality we have been shown has been amazing. We have been treated so well. This is a beautiful part of the world and all the guys have said how impressed they have been with the facilities and the way in which the people have been so kind. It is really an honour and a privilege to be here and to be playing in this competition,” said Scholtz.

It’s worth noting that three of the top four high-scoring batsmen from the tournament will be playing in this match so no target will be seen as out of range.

In the other play-off Afghanistan, which has played some of the most entertaining cricket in the tournament so far, will feel that it deserves a little luck. The Afghans’ game against Canada was abandoned in Stirling without a ball being bowled and had they beaten the Canucks as expected (Canada’s only point in the competition came from that no-result) it would have put them over the top of Scotland in the group.

But those are the vagaries of cricket, where the weather is often a factor and Afghanistan will need to focus on what it can control as it heads into a big game against Hong Kong.

For HK, Irfan has been in fine form with bat and ball and he has been well supported by the likes of batsmen Nizakat Khan and Mark Chapman and bowlers Haseeb Amjad and Nadeem Ahmed. Having taken the scalp of defending champion Ireland at Malahide earlier in the tournament, the Hong Kong players will believe they can beat anyone.

19 July 2015; Sarel Burger, Namibia, bowls to Babar Hayat, Hong Kong. ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2015, Hong Kong v Namibia. Clontarf, Dublin. Picture credit: Cody Glenn / ICC / SPORTSFILE

Tomorrow’s fixtures:

Tue, 21 July – Qualifying Play-Off 1 (Hong Kong v Afghanistan), Malahide, Dublin (1000-1310);

Qualifying Play-Off 2 (Namibia v Netherlands), Malahide, Dublin (1415-1725)