Kroos Heading To Real
Madrid
Toni Kroos has confirmed he will join Real Madrid after
helping Germany to World Cup glory. The midfielder starred
throughout in Sunday’s final as Germany beat Argentina 1-0 at the Maracana to
secure their fourth World Cup title. Speaking after the match, Kroos told
Brazilian webesite UOL: “We’ve finished the World Cup in the best way possible.
Now I’m going to Madrid, so that’s two dreams achieved.” Kroos has long
been linked with a departure away from Bayern Munich. The player had been
pursued as a key summer signing by former Manchester United manager David
Moyes, but his successor Louis van Gaal ruled out a move, saying he did not
want Kroos at Old Trafford. Kroos finished the World Cup top of the assists
charts with four, as well as scoring twice in the 7-1 semi-final humiliation of
Brazil. The 24-year-old is thought to have agreed a five-year deal with the
Champions League winners with a transfer fee in the region of £20million.
Despite failing to
inspire his team to the trophy, Lionel Messi was still named Player of the
Tournament at the 2014 World Cup. The Argentine superstar scored four goals
to help the South Americans to the deciding match, where they lost 1-0 to
Germany at the Maracana. While Messi won the Golden Ball, Germany’s Thomas
Muller was awarded the Silver Ball, while Arjen Robben of Netherlands got the
Bronze Ball. Colombia youngster James Rodriguez won the Golden Boot after
scoring six goals in the2014 World Cup, including a contender for Goal of the
Tournament in the Last 16 victory against Uruguay. German goalkeeper Manuel
Neuer won the Golden Glove award, while France’s Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba
was named Best Young Player.
Argentina icon Diego
Maradona feels Lionel Messi did not deserve to win the Golden Ball at the 2014
World Cup. Messi, who helped La Albiceleste reach the final with four goals
in the group stages, was named the tournament’s top player – beating the likes
of fellow attackers Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben and James Rodriguez to the
accolade. Maradona, though, believes Messi was handed the prize for commercial
reasons. “Messi? I would give him heaven if possible,” Maradona said
during a TV show. “But it’s not right when someone wins something that he
shouldn’t have won just because of some marketing plan.” Maradona went on
to express his disappointment at his country’s 1-0 defeat to Germany on Sunday,
with Mario Gotze netting with a well-taken volley in extra-time at the
Maracana. “I feel sorry for my country. Mario Gotze’s goal really hurt.
There’s a huge sadness in my heart that we lost the Final. All things put
together, I think Argentina deserved at least penalties. That Germany won was
the result of a misunderstanding in the Argentine defence.”
Colombian sensation James Rodriguez has expressed a strong
desire to join Spanish giants Real Madrid. Rodriguez’s future has
become the subject of speculation on the back of his six goals at the World
Cup. The 22-year-old currently plies his trade at Monaco, where he scored 10
goals for in 38 outings last term. “Now I’m enjoying a little holiday
after the World Cup,” Rodriguez told Marca. “I think it has been very
positive for me and Colombia. Then there will be the opportunity and time to
talk about the market. I’m very well in Monaco, but of course I would come to
Real Madrid even with my eyes closed.” Rodriguez joined Monaco in a
€45-million deal from FC Porto in the summer of 2013.
Chelsea have ‘opened
up talks’ with former striker Didier Drogba to bring him back to west London as
a player-coach next season. According to the Mail, Blues boss Jose Mourinho
wants to re-sign the 36-year-old as a second striker and will tempt him back to
Stamford Bridge with an offer of also gaining coaching experience at the club. The
Portuguese tactician is keen to bolster his attacking options ahead of the new
Premier League campaign with Samuel Eto’o having left Chelsea and Demba Ba and
Romelu Lukaku expected to depart on temporary deals. Drogba – whose contract at
Turkish giants Galatasaray expired this summer – is believed to be partial to
returning to the Blues next season despite lucrative offers from several Qatari
sides, with some clubs ready to offer the Ivory Coast international up to £3m a
year after tax.
Newcastle United are
poised to complete a successful fortnight in the transfer market with the
signing of Holland international full-back Daryl Janmaat from Feyenoord and
striker Emmanuel Riviere from Monaco. Alan Pardew, the Newcastle manager,
has already welcomed four new players to the club this summer, with Spanish
striker Ayoze Perez joined by former Sunderland midfielder Jack Colback, Dutch
international forward Siem De Jong and France attacking midfielder Remy
Cabella. Mike Ashley, the owner, will continue to release funds for the squad
to be strengthened, with the kitty augmented by the £10 million that Arsenal
have agreed to pay them for right-back Mathieu Debuchy. Janmaat is expected on
Tyneside for a medical after a fee of about £5 million was agreed with Feyenoord,
while Moncao are willing to sell the former France Under-21 forward Riviere for
around £6 million and he is also expected to be confirmed as a Newcastle player
before the end of the week.
Manchester United target Arturo Vidal has hinted that he’d be
open to a move to the Red Devils this summer after calling the club “one of the
best teams in the world”. Recent reports have claimed that the Chile
star is close to securing a £40m move from Juventus to United in the coming
days – despite the Italian champions insisting that the 27-year-old is not for
sale. And with rumours rife about his future, Vidal has now dropped what seems
to be the biggest hint of his imminent arrival in the Premier League during an
interview with Chilean publication, La Tercera. When asked about the link to
United, he said: “I’ve heard the rumours, but did not speak with anyone. I am
enjoying the holidays and when I return to Italy I’ll see what happens. I am
very calm but we would all like to play for one of the best teams in the
world.” The Chile international – who only signed a new contract with Juventus
last year – will reportedly be offered £230,000-a-week to join United. His
agent Fernando Felicevich negotiated a £30m move for Vidal’s compatriot, Alexis
Sanchez, and could well do the same for the Juve star in the coming days.
Atletico Madrid have
reportedly banished Filipe Luis to the reserves as he tries to force through a
transfer to Chelsea. The left-back, targeted by the Blues as a replacement
for Ashley Cole who has departed the club on a free, is believed to have told
the Spanish champions he wants to join Jose Mourinho’s men. But with Chelsea
yet to agree a fee with Atletico, Luis has been made to train with the club’s
reserves since the return to pre-season training last week. The Blues had a
£12m offer for the 28-year-old rejected earlier this summer, but despite
increasing it to £15m, have yet to reach a deal. Atletico are said to be
holding out for £20m for the Brazilian but Chelsea believe they can get the
price to drop. In the meantime, it looks as though Luis could be in for a long
summer.
Arsenal aren’t messing around in this transfer window. After
snapping up Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona last week, reports now believe the Gunners have agreed a £23m deal for Sami Khedira. The German
international, who cruelly missed the World Cup final after suffering an injury
in the warm-up, has been a target for Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger this summer.
And despite reports last week suggesting Chelsea were planning to hijack the
Gunners’ move for the Real Madrid man, it seems Wenger has taken the biggest
step yet to securing his signature, by agreeing a £23m fee. Arsenal still have
to agree personal terms with Khedira though, with the 27-year-old believed to
be demanding £150,000-per-week.
Ecuador winger Enner
Valencia is closing in on a move to West Ham from Mexican club Pachuca after
undergoing a medical with the Premier League side on Monday. Valencia
impressed for his national side at the World Cup in Brazil – scoring three
goals in the competition – which resulted in several clubs, including The
Hammers, Inter Milan and Newcastle, weighing up a move for the striker. But it
now seems that the east London club have won the race for the 25-year-old, with
the player close to finalising a deal that looks likely to be near the £15m
mark. The chairman of Pachuca, Jesus Martinez, recently insisted that Valencia
would not be allowed to leave the club for anything less than a Mexican record
fee. If he complete the move to the Premier League in the coming days, West Ham
will be hopeful that Valencia will bring his goalscoring prowess to the team
after netting 18 goals in 23 appearances for Pachuca since January.
Arsenal are expecting
to complete the signing of Nice goalkeeper David Ospina later this week after
agreeing a £3.2million fee for his services. Ospina was strongly linked
with a switch to Arsenal over the weekend, with reports saying a move was
close. And now French newspaper Nice Matin says the Ligue 1 club have accepted
a £3.2million bid from the Gunners, with the deal set to be done in the next
few days. Arsenal have been following Ospina for the last few months but Arsene
Wenger was convinced by his ability after the 25-year-old sparkled for Colombia
at the World Cup. An agile shot stopper with brilliant reflexes, Ospina was
available on the cheap after rejecting a new contract at Nice last season.
Adidas have signed a
deal to provide kit to Manchester United for the next 10 years. The German
sportswear giants will start their sponsorship from the start of the 2015/16
campaign after Nike announced it would be ending its association with the club
after the new season. The deal is reportedly worth a staggering £70million a
season to the Red Devils – more than three times what Nike were paying. It also
far surpasses the previous kit sponsorship record of £31million-a-year deal
which Adidas paid to Manchester United. Adidas, who last sponsored United in
the 1991/92 season, saw their share price rise by 2.78 percent following the
announcement. The next most valuable kit deals in terms of average annual value
belong to Real Madrid (£31m), Chelsea (£30m), and Arsenal (£30m). Real Madrid
and Chelsea are both sponsored by Adidas and Arsenal is sponsored by Puma. £30m per year might seem like a pittance now
(as much as £30m can be considered a “pittance”), but keep in mind
that Chelsea received more money from a kit deal than any other club in the
history of English football last season (Arsenal’s new deal doesn’t kick in
until this season).
Spanish club
Barcelona have been prevented from unveiling new signing Luis Suarez by world
soccer governing body Fifa. Suarez, who is due to complete the move to the
Nou Camp in the next few days, has been banned from “all football-related
activity” for his bite on Giorgio Chiellini at this year’s World Cup, and thus
will not be allowed to be publicly presented in the traditional manner at his
new La Liga side. “The ban relates to all football-related activity,” said
Fifa’s head of media Delia Fischer. “He cannot be in a football-related public
event irrespective of the venue. He cannot even be involved in a
football-related charity event.”
Tottenham striker
Emmanuel Adebeyor is suffering from a mild bout of malaria and will therefore
miss the club’s pre-season tour of North America. The Togo international,
who is reportedly responding well to treatment, is expected to be released from
hospital on Wednesday after being admitted on Saturday. Adebayor will need at
least seven days to recover before returning to training. He has been advised
not to travel on medical grounds. Spurs will leave for the US later this week
and will play their first game against Seattle Sounders on Saturday. They then
head to Canada to take on Toronto FC before concluding their tour with a match
against Chicago Fire.
Brazil coach Luiz
Felipe Scolari has “resigned” following the country’s fourth-placed finish at
the World Cup. Scolari’s contract was due to expire after the tournament. The
65-year-old initially said at the weekend he would leave his fate in the hands
of the CBF, but it is understood he has now stepped down. Scolari’s position
was cast in doubt after Brazil were humiliated 7-1 by eventual champions
Germany in the semi-finals last week. The Samba Boys were then beaten 3-0 by
the Netherlands in the third place playoff on Saturday. Scolari, who guided
Brazil to World Cup honours in 2002, supervised 19 victories in 29 games during
his second spell in charge, winning the Confederations Cup – also on home soil
– in 2013.
Kudakwashe Mahachi caught the eye of Radamel Falcao during
his trial with French giants Monaco, according to the Mamelodi Sundowns man’s
agent Godwin Emmanuel.Mahachi scored in the principality club’s
12-0 friendly rout of Austrian side FC Saint-Veit on Saturday. And Emmanuel
says his client earned praise from Colombian superstar Falcao, who watched the
match from the sidelines as he continues his recovery from injury. “He [Falcao]
told Kuda that with his talent he belongs at Monaco,” Emmanuel is quoted as
saying by Downs’ official website.
Brazil striker Fred
announced his retirement from international football a day after the Selecao’s
World Cup campaign ended with defeat to Netherlands in the third-place
play-off. Fred, 30, has been a much-maligned figure in his homeland during
the finals after a string of poor performances. The Fluminense forward, who was
top scorer at last year’s Confederations Cup, netted just one goal in six
games, against Cameroon.
AC Milan have signed
Adil Rami from Valencia on a three-year deal following his successful loan
spell in the Italian capital last season. The France defender, who is
believed to have cost around €4.25 million, initially joined the Rossonerri in
January and went on to make 22 appearances for the Serie A giants.
Yaya Toure’s agent
has claimed the Ivorian has been overlooked for football’s top individual
prizes because of his skin colour. Dmitri Seluk believes the three-time
African Footballer of the Year – who came 12th in the Ballon d’Or voting –
would have won either the PFA or FWA Footballer of the Year awards this past
season were he white. Luis Suarez claimed the English accolades, while Eden
Hazard and Steven Gerrard came second in the PFA and FWA voting respectively,
with Toure placing third in both categories. Seluk told The Times: “If he
was white, 100 percent he would have won one of those top awards. I don’t want
to talk too much about racism or the politics of football, but he does not get
the praise he should get. Yaya has three times in a row won the African Player
of the Year, but it is different with the other awards. I agree with Jose
Mourinho when he said that the Player of the Year should come from the team
that wins the title. I have very much respect for Suarez and Gerrard, but what
Yaya did from midfield, not often a player can do this. Who was the best team
this year? Manchester City. Who was their best player? Toure. Gerrard is really
good but Liverpool finished second in the league and Yaya is third (in the FWA
vote).”
Pop star Rihanna gave everyone at the Maracana a bit more
than they bargained for when the singer celebrated Germany’s World Cup win over
Argentina on Sunday – by lifting her top.Mario Gotze’s extra-time
strike clinched Germany’s fourth World Cup title in Rio de Janeiro, and
following the full-time whistle, Rihanna decided to give the German players
(and everyone else in the stadium) something to look out for when she pulled up
her shirt in what we can only assume was pure ecstasy.