FRANCE
PSG sign Ezequiel Lavezzi
Paris Saint-Germain have completed the signing of Argentina international Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli on a four-year deal after he completed a medical on Monday, the French giants announced. No fee has been revealed, but reports say that PSG paid in the region of 30 million euros (US$38 million) for Lavezzi, making him the third most expensive player in their history behind Javier Pastore and Nicolas Anelka. “Paris are giving me the chance to develop as a player and I think that the club is going to become one of the most powerful,” Lavezzi said at a press conference at the Parc des Princes in Paris. “I have come because there is a real project in place and the possibility to win things. I am going to try and do here what I did with Napoli.” PSG sporting director Leonardo added: “We are always looking to improve the personality and mentality of the group. A player like him raises the level of those around him. This is the arrival of a very important player. I think he is going to go down in the history of this club.”
ITALY
Ferrara to manage Samp
National under-21 coach Ciro Ferrara is set to be the new Sampdoria manager, the Serie A club said on Monday. Speculation had grown in the media that Ferrara, a former Napoli and Juventus defender, was favorite to take the job after former Liverpool and Inter coach Rafa Benitez turned down an offer from the newly promoted Genoa club. “The news has been in the air for hours and now it is official: Ciro Ferrara will be the new coach of Sampdoria,” the club announced on its official Web site. “The agreement with the coach will be ratified over the next few days.” Capped 49 times for Italy, Ferrara won the Serie A title seven times as player, twice with Napoli and five times with Juventus, where he also won the UEFA Champions League. Having been part of the technical staff for the Italy national team, he endured a tough time in charge of Juventus and was sacked after less than a season in charge in 2010. Since then, he has enjoyed an impressive run with the under-21 side, unbeaten in qualifiers for next year’s European under-21 Championship.
ITALY
SS Lazio ink Ederson deal
Serie A side SS Lazio on Monday announced the signing of Brazilian midfielder Ederson from Olympique Lyonnais on a five-year deal. Ederson, 26, was out of contract at Lyon after spending four injury-hit seasons at the Stade de Gerland. The Brazil international had been signed by OL for 14 million euros from OGC Nice, but he made just 82 league appearances after his transfer, scoring 11 goals. Ederson, who left Juventude in his homeland for Nice at the age of 19, has won one cap for Brazil. At the end of last week, he gained Italian nationality, allowing him to move to Rome without taking up one of the limited squad places available to non-EU players.
ITALY
Juve snap up Asamoah, Isla
Juventus have signed Kwadwo Asamoah and Mauricio Isla from Udinese, with Cristian Pasquato moving the other way. Both Asamoah and Isla have joined Juve on co-ownership deals, with the Serie A champion paying 9 million euros for half of Asamoah’s rights and slightly more for Isla. Ghana midfielder Asamoah has spent four years at Udinese, while Chile defender Isla plied his trade at the Stadio Friuli for a season longer. Pasquato has progressed through the ranks at Juve, but he has spent most of his senior career on loan and has made only one appearance since 2008.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Hulking Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan on Monday surged away from the pack to win the second stage of the Criterium de Dauphine in Issoire, France, to take the overall lead from Tadej Pogacar. The 1.93m, 87kg Milan had to battle to keep up on a hilly 204.6km run through central France from Premilhat. When the pack hit the home straight, he rocketed away from his rivals to collect a 10-second victory bonus and the yellow jersey. “That was really tough,” Milan said. “I was dropped at one point, and I was really on the limit, but I have to say
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