Benzema crucial to France´s Nations League triumph – Deschamps

Barcelona have confirmed an agreement with Hamburg for the transfer of Alen Halilovic.

The Croatia international heads to the Bundesliga for a fee of €5million, with Barca retaining the option to buy the player back for €10m in the next two years.

Halilovic spent last season on loan at Sporting Gijon and was not present as the Barca squad returned for pre-season training this week.

Hamburg revealed on Thursday that Haliliovic had completed his medical, posting a picture of the 20-year-old in the club s training kit on Twitter.

Wir wollen euch nicht länger auf die Folter spannen: ist in HH angekommen absolviert den Medizincheck

— Hamburger SV (@HSV)

Halilovic joined Barca from Dinamo Zagreb in 2014, but failed to make a single LaL…

Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio has gone about overhauling his squad with great gusto this summer

Sunderland boss Paolo Di Canio could never be described as boring and the Italian’s summer recruitment is anything but dull.

In fact, already the Black Cats have brought in eight new players for next season.

Limited

Summers at Sunderland have not exactly been exhilarating in recent years under the likes of Steve Bruce and Martin O’Neill.

Last summer the Black Cats brought in just three players Carlos Cuellar on a free transfer from Aston Villa.

Adam Johnson and Steven Fletcher followed for fees believed to be in the region of £30million combined. In truth, the Black Cats team also needed to be strengthened in other areas, as proved by Sun…

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew says he is not concerned by speculation linking midfielder Yohan Cabaye with a move away from St James Park.

The 27-year-old is on the radar of clubs such as Monaco, Manchester United and PSG, but when asked if he was worried about potentially losing the star, Pardew seemed unfazed.

Not really, he told The Evening Chronicle.

Obviously he is a player I want to keep. He is a great technical player and his personality is fantastic. It s a big season for him. He will be a starter for France at the World Cup.

It s important for him. He is focused very much on us. There s no bid for him as we speak now. Until such time as there is he is a Newcastle United player.

And Pardew feels the Frenchman is too much of a professional to let th…

Hull City are reported to have agreed a fee with Manchester City for striker Benjani and is expected at the KC stadium today to complete a medical.

It has been well documented that Hull boss Phil Brown has attempted to bolster the squads attack on numerous occasions and now hopes to add Benjani to the summer signings of Jozy Altidore and Kamel Ghilas. 

Benjani’s future appears to be rather bleak at Eastlands after Mark Hughes’ massive spending spree, including the likes of Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Reports were heavily linking the Zimbabwean striker with a move back to former club Portsmouth, with manager Paul Hart admitting the 31-year-old was among his targets. 

However, it seems with a fee a…

Ajax have signed Yaya Sanogo from Arsenal on a season-long loan.

The striker will spend the 2015-16 campaign at the Amsterdam Arena having played the second half of last term at Crystal Palace.

Sanogo has one goal in 20 Arsenal appearances since joining from Auxerre in 2013, but Arsene Wenger is confident a spell under Frank de Boer will be beneficial to the Frenchman s development.

He needs to play. He came to us injured and it took us a while to get him to the top level, Wenger told Arsenal s official website. 

He s ready to play now and I m sure he can be a good signing for Ajax.

He has an opportunity to play in the Champions League with Ajax, which is good experience. We have a good relationship with them and hopefully he can have a grea…

Aston Villa are closing in on a deal to sign Blackburn Rovers striker Rudy Gestede, .

The France born Benin international moved to Ewood Park initially on loan from Cardiff City in November 2013 before signing for them permanently just five weeks later.

In total, he has racked up seventy-three appearances, scoring an impressive thirty-five goals while he was part of the Cardiff squad that won the promotion to the Premier League after clinching the Championship title two years ago.

Internationally, he has three goals in six outings for Benin, having represented France at Under 21 level.

Villa boss Tim Sherwood has been on the lookout for a new striker since selling Christian Benteke to Liverpool for £32.5m last week.

The Midlands side begin …

Wolves and Rangers have learned their potential opponents in the Europa League third qualifying round.

Wolves qualified for continental competition for the first time since 1980 by finishing seventh in the Premier League and will take on either Pyunik or Jablonec if they get through a tie against Crusaders.

Should Rangers overcome Progres Niederkorn, their reward will be a meeting with Danish outfit Midtjylland.

Eintracht Frankfurt, semi-finalists in 2018-19, face Flora Tallinn in the second qualifying round and if they triumph can look forward to a meeting with either Fehervar or Vaduz.

Aberdeen will take on Rijeka if they defeat Chikhura Sachkere, while the victor of Torino s tie against Debrecen was pitted against Shakhtyor Soligorsk or Esbjerg.

…

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said the Red Devils made a statement with their uncompromising performance in the FA Cup win over Liverpool.

United s 3-2 victory at Old Trafford was clinched by a stunning 78th-minute free-kick from substitute Bruno Fernandes, after earlier goals from Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford on Sunday.

A double from Mohamed Salah had kept Liverpool firmly in the game before Fernandes cracked a sublime shot into the right corner, having spent extra time honing his technique on Saturday.

What most pleased Solskjaer was how United were able to thrive while playing their natural attacking game against Premier League champions Liverpool, rather than make special allowances for the opposition.

We ve found a way we bel…

World Cup hosts South Africa appointed Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira coach on Friday, a South African Football Association spokesman said.

Parreira returns to a post he relinquished in April last year when his wife became seriously ill in Rio de Janeiro, and he was succeeded by compatriot Joel Santana.

International novice Santana, 60, lost his first match in charge away to Nigeria, struggled to improve the team, and was fired after suffering eight losses in nine matches.

Parreira, 66, guided Brazil to the 1994 World Cup title when they defeated Italy after a penalty shootout in the United States, but fared less well three years ago with Brazil making a quarter-finals exit to France.

That defeat cost him his job and he took over Bafana Bafana (The Bo…

Egypt captain Mohamed Salah was forced off with an injury before his side twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Egypt and Liverpool fans face an anxious wait to discover the extent of the problem after the 31-year-old was forced off in the last minute of the first half of a thrilling Group B contest.

Salah slumped dejectedly to the ground with an apparent muscle injury and, after briefly being attended to by Egypt’s medical staff, handed over the armband to defender Ahmed Hegazi as he was replaced by Mostafa Fathi.

A massive blow for Egypt

Mo Salah is OFF with an apparent injury

— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball)

To add insult to injury, moments later West Ham forward Mohammed Kudus broke the…