Bayer 04 Leverkusen signed Croatia defender Vedran Corluka from Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday on a loan deal until the end of the season.
Leverkusen also obtained an option to sign Corluka on a longer contract, without elaborating.
At the same time, Michael Ballack’s agent said the former Germany captain would not be leaving the club in this window.
Sports director Rudi Voeller said Corluka was exactly the kind of versatile defender Leverkusen had been looking for.
“He can play not only rightback, but also in central defense and on the left,” Voeller said.
Shortly before the transfer deadline expired on Tuesday, FSV Mainz 05 announced that Egypt striker Mohamed Zidan was returning to the club from Borussia Dortmund.
Zidan arrives on loan until the end of the season, but Mainz have the option then to sign him for two seasons.
In other Bundesliga last-day transfers, SC Freiburg said they were taking striker Ivan Santini from the Croatian club Zadar on loan until the end of the season.
Kaiserslautern added midfielder Ariel Borysiuk from Legia Warsaw, giving him a contract through June 2016.
Two strikers left VFL Wolfsburg on loan deals until the end of the season: South Korea international Koo Ja-cheol went to Augsburg and Srdjan Lakic of Croatia moved to TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB