Juventus shares rise over Ronaldo transfer reports
Conte firing imminent
MILAN, July 5, (Agencies): Shares in Juventus FC jumped almost 10 percent on Thursday on the back of reports that Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo might soon join the Italian club.
For a second day running, Juventus, Italy’s most successful soccer team, declined to comment on the reports.
At 1230 GMT, Juventus shares were trading 9 percent higher at 0.81 euros. Over the last three days, shares in the club have surged more than 20 percent in heavy trading volumes, as speculation over a Ronaldo transfer mounted.
Several Italian newspapers said on Thursday that Ronaldo’s agent was expected to meet Real Madrid President Florentino Perez later the same day to discuss the possible transfer.
Juventus won a seventh successive Serie A title in May, bringing their overall tally to a record 34 titles.
The long-running saga over Chelsea manager Antonio Conte’s future is set to be resolved imminently with his sacking to be replaced by fellow Italian Maurizio Sarri, according to British media reports.
Conte’s departure has been long expected, even though he added an FA Cup in May to the Premier League he won in his first season in charge of Chelsea in 2016/17.
Both the Daily Mirror and The Times report on Thursday things are coming to a head.
The Times reports that Conte sent an email stating he is still the head coach and expects players who are not at the World Cup to be at the training ground on Monday when he returns from holiday, countermanding a request from a member of the club’s technical staff for players to report this weekend.
Bayern Munich have secured France defender Benjamin Pavard from the start of the 20192020 season, German football magazine Kicker reported on Thursday.
Bayern reportedly agreed the deal with Stuttgart before the World Cup, where the 22-yearold, who has been playing fullback for France, scored a spectacular goal in the victory over Argentina.
Kicker reported that the deal is worth 35 million euros ($40.9 million), which, it said, was the value of the buyout clause in his contract.
Napoli have signed Spanish midfielder Fabian Ruiz from Real Betis on a five-year deal as the Serie A club’s new coach Carlo Ancelotti tries to end the dominance of champions Juventus.
Napoli, who finished runnersup last season, did not disclose the transfer fee on their website on Thursday but local media said they had met a reported 30 million euros ($35.14 million) buyout clause to bring Fabian to the Stadio San Paolo.
Ruiz is Napoli’s second signing of the close season after striker Simone Verdi joined from Bologna for a reported fee of 25 million euros also on a five-year contract.
Southampton can have an outstanding Premier League season if they can keep the number of draws in check, hopefully converting some of them into wins this term, manager Mark Hughes has said.
Southampton had the joint fewest defeats among the league’s bottom 11 teams last season but 15 draws and just seven wins meant that the south coast club finished just three points above relegated Swansea City in 17th position.
Bournemouth will pay 4.75 million pounds ($6.28 million) to the English Football League (EFL) for a breach of the financial fair play (FFP) rules for the 2014-15 season, both parties said on Thursday.
Bournemouth were deemed to have breached the FFP rules in the 2014/15 season, when they won the second-tier Championship and earned promotion to the Premier League, recording a 38.33 million pound loss in the process.
Former Real Madrid midfielder and youth coach Guti will leave the Spanish club to join Turkish top division side Besiktas as an assistant manager from next season, the 41-year-old has said.
Guti, who was touted to take over from Zinedine Zidane as Real Madrid boss prior to Julen Lopetegui’s appointment last month, will work alongside manager Senol Gunes at Besiktas.
The former Spain international made 40 appearances for Besiktas in a 16-month spell before his retirement in 2012.
Goalkeepers Wayne Hennessey and Julian Speroni have signed new contracts at Crystal Palace, the Premier League club has said.
Wales international Hennessey joined the south-London club in 2014 and has signed a new threeyear contract to keep him at Selhurst Park until 2021.
The Montreal Impact extended the contract of French center back Rod Fanni through the remainder of the 2018 season on Wednesday.
Fanni’s new deal includes a club option for 2019. He joined Montreal on March 5 and was under contract through June 30.
Fanni, 36, was signed by the Impact after Zakaria Diallo ruptured his Achilles tendon just before the start of the season, an injury that has him sidelined for five to six months.