Spartak Moscow have announced that they have completed the signing of German defender Serdar Tasci from Stuttgart.
The 26-year-old becomes club s fifth major signing of the summer, following in the footsteps of Denis Glushakov, Alberto Costa, Aras Ozbiliz and Lucas Barrios.
Tasci decided to leave Stuttgart after spending seven years at Mercedes-Benz Arena, just few days after head coach Bruno Labbadia was sacked for some dismal results at the start of the season.
The defender has been a loyal servant to the club ever since he was handed his debut in 2006, and has captained the side over the last couple of years.
Tasci amassed a total of 181 Bundesliga appearances for the Swabians, scoring 9 goals and winning one league title in the process.
He al…
Juan Sebastian Veron, 41, has come out of retirement to sign an 18-month contract with Estudiantes and he will not be paid a penny.
Former Manchester United and Chelsea midfielder Veron started his senior career with the Argentine club in 1994 and enjoyed three stints in La Plata before retiring in 2014 to take up the role of chairman.
Veron had promised to play in the 2017 Copa Libertadores if supporters purchased 65 per cent of the boxes at the club s new stadium.
And the former Argentina international will fulfil that promise after committing to the club in a playing capacity until 2018, when he will be 43.
Fútbol Profesional | Juan Sebastián Verón firmó contrato y se convirtió en el segundo refuerzo del plantel.
— Estudiantes de L.P.…
French defender Jeremy Mathieu finally returned to full fitness this week after more than two months of injury lay-off.
The experienced shot-stopper has nevertheless been excluded from Barcelona’s squad for the Wednesday’s match with Athletic Bilbao which sparked plenty of rumours regarding Mathieu’s future at Camp Nou.
The 33-year-old centre-back is the oldest player in the squad and is slowly falling behind in the pecking order for Barcelona manager Luis Enrique, who is relying on Gerrard Pique, Javier Mascherano and Samuel Umtiti which is the reason why Spanish press claim that Mathieu is nearing an end of his time with the Catalans.
His contract expires in 2018, but the club are not planning on offering Mathieu an extension and are instead engaging in…
At least 129 people died with 180 more injured after violence broke out following an Indonesian Liga 1 match between rivals Arema Malang and Persebaya Surabaya on Saturday.
Police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse rioting fans who had stampeded on to the pitch after hosts Arema lost 3-2.
East Java police chief Nico Afinta said people died after being crushed and suffocated as they ran for the same exit.
Afinta said 3,000 of the approximately 40,000 spectators in attendance had invaded the pitch initiating riots , forcing security and police to intervene with tear gas.
That process caused shortness of breath [and] lack of oxygen and medical teams tried to do rescue efforts in the stadium, he said.
Images captured from inside the stadium sho…
Not many will have doubted that a goalscorer like Erling Haaland would work well with the vision and passing ability of Kevin De Bruyne when the Norwegian striker joined Manchester City this summer.
On Sunday, De Bruyne assisted Haaland twice as the Premier League champions dismantled city rivals Manchester United at the Etihad, and the Belgian playmaker is obviously pleased that his passes have such a target upfront.
I know he is going to make the run.
Kevin De Bruyne is enjoying playing with Erling Haaland as a teammate
— Football Daily (@footballdaily)
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The absence of injured star midfielder Michael Essien is weighing heavily on Ghana as they head into their second World Cup, but the Black Stars are confident that one of their young squad can fill his shoes.
The absence of Essien, one of Africa s true superstars who features prominently in TV commercials for the tournament, is a blow for the entire continent after he failed to recover from a knee ligament injury he suffered in December.
One of the players left to fill the gap, Stephen Appiah, revealed that although the Chelsea midfielder is not at the training camp in Pretoria, he has been staying in close touch with his teammates.
He is not going to let us down, we are with him on the phone every day, Appiah said, adding that the encouragement goes both ways.…
England s Howard Webb will referee Sunday s World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain at Johannesburg s Soccer City, FIFA said on Thursday.
The 39-year-old from Rotherham, has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2005 and the former policeman regularly keeps law and order amongst the top stars of England s Premier League.
Webb is widely-regarded as one of Europe s top referees and took charge of May s Champions League final between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich in Madrid.
At the World Cup, he refereed Spain s 1-0 defeat to Switzerland in a group match and then oversaw Slovakia s stunning 3-2 victory over Italy which confirmed the first round exit of the defending champions.
He was also the focus of film-makers when a Belgian documentary team recorded…
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp must be patient with Daniel Sturridge, just like he was with Ilkay Gundogan during his time at Borussia Dortmund.
Sturridge has been plagued by injuries during his Liverpool career with at least seven of his stints on the sidelines being for six or more games at a time.
Like Sturridge, Germany international Gundogan was troubled by injuries missing practically all of the 2013-14 season before getting over his back problem and returning to playing regularly.
I had 15 months with Ilkay Gundogan where we had to all wait. It was his back and we had no chance to force it, Klopp explained. It s not a back problem with Daniel, but it s the muscle.
Out of responsibility, we have to do everything we can to give him the phys…
Michael Carrick could be set to quit Manchester United at the end of the season,.
The thirty-four year old’s contract expires in five months time and is considering his options, with sides in England and the MLS monitoring the situation.
Carrick is currently in his tenth season at Old Trafford and recently made his four hundredth appearance for the club in all competitions.
He has scored twenty-three goals for the Red Devils and has won a whole host of major honours including five league titles, the League Cup and the Champions League.
Internationally, the former West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur man has been capped thirty-four times for England and was part of their squads for the 2006 World Cup in Germany and the tournament in South Africa fo…
Speaking in the press conference ahead of their Champions League match with Hoffenheim, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has dismissed rumours linking the Premier League title-holders with Paris Saint-Germain s Kylian Mbappe.
After shining for AS Monaco, Mbappe moved to Paris in 2017, initially on loan with fee for a subsequent permanent deal set to €145million and a potential add-on sum of €35million. That figure has made him the second most-expensive player in the world, behind only his teammate Neymar. Since then, the 19-year-old has won the World Cup in Russia, and he continues to impress at the French capital. It is to be expected his price would have only increased so far.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager was very clear about this particular…