Nigeria international striker Brown Ideye is set to join Bundesliga club Hamburg from Premier League campaigners West Bromwich Albion. . Ideye is West Brom’s record signing after he joined the Baggies from Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv for £10 million. . The striker has, however, failed to impress since his switch to the Premier League and Sky Sports is now reporting that he is on his way to join Hamburg on a season-long loan deal. . West Brom manager Tony Pulis is scouring the market for strikers and Georgios Samaras and Ideye are the favourites to leave the Hawthorns now that…
Author: David F.
Borussia Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp does not expect to see players line up to leave the relegation-threatened former champions if they fail to bounce back this season and secure a European spot. . The 2011 and 2012 German champions are in 17th place, level on 15 points with last-placed Freiburg. They have lost 10 of their 17 league games so far this season and have won just four. . “As things stand now I have no problem staying in the league and spending next season training a lot,” Klopp, who led Dortmund to the Champions League final in 2013, told…
The Bundesliga posted record turnover of €2.45 billion for 2013/14, up by more than 12 percent, marking uninterrupted growth for the 10th straight season, the German football league (DFL) said on Thursday. . Turnover was up from €2.17 billion in 2012/13 and has more than doubled from a decade ago when it stood at just over one billion. “German professional football has used its solid financial foundation well in the past years to make an outstanding sporting development,” DFL CEO Christian Seifert said. . “The outlook is positive because financial growth is uninterrupted.” . It still, however, trails Spain’s La…
Tottenham Hotspur stormed back from 2-0 down to beat Burnley 4-2 in their FA Cup third-round replay on Wednesday despite mirroring the other Premier League sides by resting their main striker. . Red-hot Harry Kane watched from the bench as Danny Rose sealed the home win for Spurs after Burnley, who gave Danny Ings a breather, had scored twice in the first eight minutes. . The overbearing significance of the Premier League in modern football was underlined by Southampton also resting top scorer Graziano Pelle for much of their replay at second tier Ipswich Town. . Fellow forward Shane Long,…
La Liga strugglers Granada have turned to former coach Abel Resino to rescue them from relegation for a second time, bringing him back on Monday to replace the sacked Joaquin Caparros. . Granada are bottom at the halfway stage of the campaign and Caparros was dismissed on Friday following their exit from the King’s Cup two days earlier. . Resino, who has also coached Atletico Madrid, Levante and Celta Vigo, helped save Granada from the drop in 2011-12 after taking over for the second half of the season. . The 54-year-old former Atletico goalkeeper has agreed a contract until the…
Cristiano Ronaldo confirms he has broken up with his longtime girlfriend, Russian model Irina Shayk. . Ronaldo says on Tuesday in a written statement to The Associated Press, “After dating for five years, my relationship with Irina Shayk has come to an end. . “We believed it would be best for both of us to take this step now.” . He says he is making the statement to end speculation about their relationship and his private life. . Ronaldo recently picked up the Ballon d’Or after being voted the world’s best football player, but Shayk did not accompany him to…
Five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant has a torn rotator cuff, according to preliminary results of an MRI exam, the Los Angeles Lakers said on Thursday. . Bryant, who hurt his right shoulder on a dunk in the second half of Wednesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, will return to Los Angeles later on Thursday and be examined by team doctors on Friday, the team said in a statement. . The high-scoring guard will miss Thursday’s game against the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs and the rest of his season could be in jeopardy. . Bryant, a former league…
Christian Atsu says the Black Stars have put the loss to Senegal behind them. . In their 2015 Afcon group opener Ghana gave off an impressive first-half display only to subsequently lose the game 2-1 to Senegal through a very late Moussa Sow goal. . The Chelsea attacker has been fingered for missing two crucial opportunities which could have changed the face of the game in the first half, but he says his intention was to score. . “Nobody goes into a game to miss a chance. My intention was to score and make Ghanaians happy but it didn’t happen.…
Arsenal are in negotiations to sign Brazilian central defender Gabriel Paulista from Spanish club Villarreal, the Premier League club’s manager Arsene Wenger said on Thursday. . “We are talking at the moment, can we find an agreement or not I don’t know,” the Frenchman told a news conference ahead of this weekend’s FA Cup, fourth tie at Brighton and Hove Albion. . Arsenal allowed former club captain Thomas Vermaelen to join Barcelona last August and did not strengthen the central defensive areas which have been criticised this season. . Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny have been Wenger’s preferred duo at…
Southampton manager Ronald Koeman will continue to scour his native Netherlands to strengthen his squad, the Dutchman told a news conference on Thursday. . Koeman’s decision to sign Eljero Elia on loan from Werder Bremen has already paid dividends, with the Dutch striker scoring both goals against Newcastle United last weekend to keep Southampton in third place in thePremier League. . Koeman says more could follow. . “I have (my eyes) on several young players, but not now, for next season, of course. . “It’s a philosophy of this club to work with young players and there are some good…
Cruzeiro have agreed to sell defensive midfielder Lucas Silva to Real Madrid, the Brazilian champions said on Thursday. . Spanish media reported the fee would be around €15 million. . Silva, 21, is considered to be one of Brazil’s most promising young players and has represented his country at junior level. . “We have been in touch with Real Madrid since last year and we’re now discussing a fee,” Cruzeiro’s director of football Valdir Barbosa told ESPN radio. “I think a deal should be complete by the start of next week.” . Silva was released from training on Thursday to…
Liverpool will be back challenging for the Premier League title next season after slipping off the pace this time round, manager Brendan Rodgers said on Thursday. . The Northern Irishman took Liverpool to the verge of their first English title since 1990 last year before they faltered badly with the prize in sight, missing out to Manchester City. . Now they find themselves in eighth-place, 17 points behind leaders Chelsea, and struggling to secure the top-four finish which would at least provide Champions League qualification. . The sale of forward Luis Suarez to Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge’s ongoing injury problems…
Barcelona’s recent strong run is helping the club put a series of off-field problems behind them and suggests they may be starting to move up the gears at exactly the right stage of the season. . Wednesday’s 1-0 King’s Cup quarterfinal, first leg win at home to Atletico Madrid was Barca’s fifth victory in a row since they fell 1-0 at Real Sociedad in La Liga on January 4. . In this period, they have beaten Atletico twice, once in the Cup and once in La Liga, something they failed to achieve in six meetings between the two sides in…
Yassine Chikhaoui’s glancing header three minutes from time secured Tunisia a 2-1 win over Zambia in their African Nations Cup Group B match at Estadio de Ebebiyin on Thursday. . It gives Tunisia four points and a strong chance to advance to the quarterfinals while Zambia, who were tournament winners in 2012, are in deep peril but have only themselves to blame after missing a host of chances. . Emmanuel Mayuka, who had two good first half opportunities, broke the deadlock on the hour with a rasping shot but will rue heading straight at Tunisia goalkeeper Aymen Mathlouthi in the…
Cape Verde and DR Congo played to a goalless stalemate in their Africa Cup of Nations Group B match at Nuevo Estadio de Ebebiyin on Thursday night. . The match was one in which the defences were very much on top and the clash of styles – the Leopards’ physicality and directness contrasted with the Blues Sharks’ possession-oriented game – didn’t necessarily make for great entertainment. . With Tunisia having beaten Zambia 2-1 in the evening’s earlier match, the draw in this encounter means the two teams are tied in second place on two points apiece, while the North Africans…
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has joked that he could try to sign Steven Gerrard on loan next season following the former England captain’s departure from Liverpool. . Gerrard has agreed to sign for MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy in the United States. When asked if he would try to persuade Gerrard to stay in the Premier League, Mourinho tells the BBC on Tuesday: “Or perhaps to take him on loan?”, before breaking into laughter. Mourinho, who tried to sign Gerrard in 2005, says “I’m not happy he leaves. I would love the Premier League to keep the best players and…
Newcastle United might wait until the end of the season to appoint a new manager, the Premier League club’s managing director Lee Charnley said. . Alan Pardew left Newcastle after four years in charge to take the helm at struggling Crystal Palace at the beginning of the year. . Caretaker coach John Carver took temporary charge at St James’ Park and has overseen one draw and three defeats in all competitions. . The 50-year-old confirmed he has applied for the job on a permanent basis and urged the club to make a decision on the appointment quickly but Charnley says…
Arsenal have completed the signing of 17-year-old Polish defensive midfielder Krystian Bielik from Legia Warsaw for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League club announced on Wednesday. . The player had a medical at Arsenal last week and moves to the Emirates Stadium in a deal that British media reports have put at around two million pounds. . Bielik, who has been capped for Poland’s under-17s, signed for Legia from their arch rivals Lech Poznan in July. . He has made six appearances in all competitions for the capital club this season. . Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said last week that…
Senegal midfielder Sadio Mane returned to full training on Tuesday raising hopes he could be fit for their next game at the African Nations Cup against South Africa. . Mane was hurt playing for English Premier League side Southampton last month and ruled out of the tournament in Equatorial Guinea by his club manager Ronald Koeman. . But Senegal insisted on picking Mane in their 23-man squad despite him not having fully recovered. . The 22-year-old, one of the stand-out players in the qualifying competition, is now in contention for a place in the team to face the South Africans…
The Ivory Coast needed a second-half equaliser by substitute Seydou Doumbia to rescue a point after Guinea had struck first through Mohammed Yattara in their opening Group D African Cup of Nations (Afcon) game in Malabo. . Ivory Coast were down to ten men when Gervinho was sent off in the second half, but Doumbia lifted their spirits with a well-worked leveller to cancel out Mohammed Yattara’s volleyed goal against the run of play. . As expected Guinea were happy to sit back and allow Ivory Coast to keep the ball and do all the thinking while they looked for…