Valencia striker David Villa, one of the stars of Spain’s victorious Euro 2008 squad, has signed for Real Madrid for close to 40 million euros (US$56 million), a Spanish newspaper said yesterday.
Marca, citing sources at Real Madrid and Valencia, said both clubs were hammering out the fine details of the deal before officially announcing the transfer.
If confirmed, Villa would be the third big name to join the club under new president Florentino Perez, after Brazilian playmaker Kaka and Portuguese winger Ronaldo from AC Milan and Manchester United respectively. The 27-year-old Villa scored 28 goals in the Spanish championship this season.
PHOTO: AFP
Perez has established a 200 million euro war chest for players, vowing to create a “spectacular team” capable of overtaking arch-rivals Barcelona next season.
In related news, Wigan chairman Dave Whelan revealed on Friday that Manchester United have made an approach to sign Ecuador winger Antonio Valencia.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been tracking Valencia for several months and Whelan admitted the Premier League champions had made an initial offer.
A deal for Valencia, who is valued at around £16 million (US$26 million), would mark the start of Ferguson’s attempt to revitalize his squad after the imminent departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for a world record fee of £80 million.
France’s Kevin Aymoz snatched the men’s title at Skate America on Saturday, winning his first grand prix title with a battling free skate, while short program leader Kazuki Tomono faltered. It was an emotional triumph for Aymoz, who made his grand prix level debut in 2017, with seven prior podium finishes, but no gold. He had struggled with a painful foot injury since a disappointing 10th-place finish at Skate Canada last month. “It was so difficult,” the 28-year-old said. “After Skate Canada I wanted to give up so much and today I’m here and it’s so beautiful to be with my friends competing
A start-up’s entry into prediction market trading is raising fresh questions about the involvement of NBA owners in sports betting. The start-up, Mojo Interactive Inc, was cofounded by Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, the owners of the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves and the WNBA’s Lynx. Mojo has started trading on the outcome of sports games on the prediction market exchange Kalshi, an arrangement that is now being reviewed by the NBA. Mojo began trading event contracts tied to sports during the NFL season this fall, according to Mojo CEO Vinit Bharara. Mojo has yet to trade on any NBA games, Bharara said in
PORTUGAL LOSE: Ronaldo was sent off in their defeat for elbowing an Ireland player, while England, who are already qualified, defeated Serbia 2-0 to stay perfect Kylian Mbappe and France on Thursday booked a berth at next year’s FIFA World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo might be banned from Portugal’s first game there if his team finally win their European qualifying group. Two goals from star striker Mbappe helped two-time champions France to qualify with a 4-0 home win against Ukraine, but Ronaldo was ejected for the first time in his international career and Portugal have to wait until tomorrow to secure a qualifying spot for the seventh straight time after they were stunned 2-0 by Ireland in Dublin. Midfielder Michael Olise and substitute forward Hugo Ekitike added the
Nigeria’s soccer coach has accused the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) of practicing “voodoo” after his squad’s hopes of qualifying for next year’s FIFA World Cup ended in a penalty shoot-out loss in the African playoff final. DR Congo and Nigeria drew 1-1 after extra-time in the tie in Rabat, Morocco, on Sunday and the central Africans won 4-3 on penalties to book a place in inter-confederation playoffs in Mexico in March next year. In his post-match remarks to journalists, coach Eric Chelle said a member of the DR Congo team “did some voodoo, every time, every time, every time.” “That
RSS