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.
The Rakuten Monkeys on Sunday downed the CTBC Brothers 2-1, handing the hosts their second consecutive loss in the best-of-seven CPBL Taiwan Series at the Taipei Dome. Monkeys’ ace starter Pedro Fernandez of the Dominican Republic dominated on the mound, cruising through six scoreless innings before giving up a run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning. He gave up only three hits and walked two batters in a 93-pitch outing, giving his Taoyuan-based team an edge. Offensively, the Monkeys’ leadoff batter Lin Li hit Brothers starter Brandon Leibrandt’s pitch over the center-field wall in the game’s first at-bat,
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal would be motivated by criticism ahead of the Clasico, Barcelona assistant coach Marcus Sorg said yesterday. Teenage winger Yamal has been in the spotlight in the Spanish capital after joking that Real Madrid “steal” and “complain” during an appearance on a social media stream. Champions Barca face Real Madrid today in La Liga at the Santiago Bernabeu, looking for a fifth consecutive win over their rivals. “Lamine is a top player and I think [the criticism] will be motivating for him,” Sorg told a news conference. “I hope we all see him tomorrow [give] the best performance.” The 18-year-old Spain
Rafael Leao on Sunday shot AC Milan to the top of Serie A with a brace in a 2-1 win over ACF Fiorentina who were enraged by the “scandalous” awarding of the penalty that decided the game. Portugal winger Leao pushed Milan one point ahead of local rivals Inter, SSC Napoli and AS Roma with a coolly taken spot-kick, given for what looked like a soft foul on Santiago Gimenez by Fabiano Parisi, with four minutes remaining. That goal capped a fine first league start of the season for Leao and came after he drew the hosts level with a brilliantly struck
Sean Dyche on Thursday achieved in his first game with Nottingham Forest what predecessor Ange Postecoglou could not in eight matches in charge: Win. Under its new coach, Nottingham Forest presented a concentrated display resulting in a 2-0 victory over Porto in the UEFA Europa League. It was the first victory for Nottingham in the competition and only the second overall this season, while Porto were defeated for the first time this season. Morgan Gibbs-White converted from the penalty spot in the 19th minute at the City Ground in West Bridgford, England. Igor Jesus doubled the advantage from another penalty in the 77th
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